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Last update - 18:43 23/08/2009
Education Minister slams Israeli lecturer's 'apartheid' op-ed
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel News, apartheid 

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Sunday denounced an Israeli academic who published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in which he called for an boycott of Israel for being an "apartheid" state.

Sa'ar deemed the article by Dr. Neve Gordon, a political science lecturer from Ben-Gurion University, is "repugnant and deplorable."

Veteran left-wing activist Gordon wrote in the op-ed published on Friday that Israel today could most accurately be described as an "apartheid state."
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"3.5 million Palestinians and almost half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in 1967," Gordon wrote, "and yet while these two groups live in the same area, they are subjected to totally different legal systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews - whether they live in the occupied territories or in Israel - are citizens of the state of Israel."

"It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli citizen to call to suspend cooperation with Israel," he further wrote. "The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories."

Gordon came to the public spotlight in 2002, during Israel's assault on the Palestinian Authority, as one of the Israelis who stayed with Yasser Arafat in his compound. In 2003, he was a vocal critic of Paratroopers Brigadier Col. Aviv Kochavi.

Israel's Consul-General in Los Angeles, Yaakov Dayan sent a letter of response to the president of Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Rivka Carmi, in which he said the statements made by Gordon could be potentially damaging to the university.

"Since the article was published, I've been contacted by people who care for Israel; some of them are benefactors of Ben-Gurion University," Dayan wrote. "They were unanimous in threatening to withhold their donations to your institution. My attempt to explain that one bad apple would affect hundreds of researchers turned out to be futile."

"I believe that the definitive answer to anti-Zionist lecturers like Gordon is to set up a center for Zionist studies, which unfortunately does not exist in Israeli academia," he continued. "This center would help dispel the lies disseminated by Gordon in the name of your university."

The Ben-Gurion University management in turn denounced Gordon's views.

"We are appalled by Dr. Neve Gordon's irresponsible remarks, that morally deserve to be completely and utterly condemned," Prof. Carmi said. "We disapprove of Gordon's disastrous views and reject his cynical exploitation of the freedom of speech in Israel and the university."

"This vile and audacious criticism of the state of Israel damages the excellent academic work being done in Israel and its universities," she also said. "Academics with such feelings about their country are welcome to look for another home, whether personal or professional."

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      1.   Stop trying to kill the messenger 19:28  |  Janice 23/08/09
      2.   If Not Apartheid, What Is It? 19:38  |  Boyd 23/08/09
      3.   Gideon Sa`ar 19:44  |  Stuart 23/08/09
      4.   Simple Response 20:01  |  Joseph Macedon 23/08/09
      5.   I would be hard pressed to come up with reasons why it isn`t so.. 20:08  |  Josh 23/08/09
      6.   Much Greater Dissemination Of The Gordon Article In The Guardian 20:40  |  chet 23/08/09
      7.   Kudos Josh - An Island Of Sanity In A Sea Of Right-Wing Delusion 20:51  |  chet 23/08/09
      8.   Crusade for an "alternative". 21:03  |  Gilad 23/08/09
      9.   Someone has twisted the Education Minister`s tale. 21:34  |  Rod 23/08/09
      10.   And I thought Israel prided itself on freedom of speech!? 21:59  |  Umm Einav 23/08/09
      11.   Aftonbladet and LA Times 22:14  |  Otto Rand 23/08/09
      12.   Gordon is 100% correct 22:25  |  Sylvie 23/08/09
      13.   Apartheid 22:25  |  Abe 23/08/09
      14.   What lies? 22:46  |  Apa 23/08/09
      15.   To know Neve is to Love him 22:51  |  Joe 23/08/09
      16.   This is nowhere near apartheid...... 22:52  |  Lawyer II 23/08/09
      17.   Gordon article 22:57  |  dee 23/08/09
      18.   Gordon is a renegade 22:57  |  Vitaly 23/08/09
      19.   Apartheid is still apartheid, given any other name 23:02  |  Yesh Prabhu 23/08/09
      20.   BUT----Israel is an Apartheid nation always has been 23:27  |  ivanovich 23/08/09
      21.   The security barrier was the progressive peacenik`s choice,shalom 23:54  |  GOT WHAT YOU DESERVE 23/08/09
      22.   Apartheid 00:22  |  Abe 24/08/09
      23.   Freedom of expression 00:32  |  Michael 24/08/09
      24.   My earlier comment...and to chet 01:41  |  Josh 24/08/09
      25.   Israel`s health 02:16  |  Haaretz Fan 24/08/09
      26.   Neve Gordon 02:21  |  Vladimir 24/08/09
      27.   CHET Guardian wide?? 2nd last out of 11 Brit.national papers!! 03:04  |  PETER SM 24/08/09
      28.   And what did he say that wasn`t true? 05:37  |  Dean 24/08/09
      29.   where do these israeli bufoon ministers come from? what a joke! 05:40  |  palestinian 24/08/09
      30.   Odd response 07:52  |  Victr 24/08/09
      31.   so much for the only democracy in the M.E. 09:03  |  Deborah 24/08/09
      32.   Neve Gordon 11:47  |  Janet 24/08/09
      33.   let`s do a sports team type trade 14:10  |  sethd 24/08/09
      34.   renegades 20:42  |  vlad 24/08/09
      35.   Bravo, Dr. Gordon! 23:12  |  Jack Fertig 24/08/09
      36.   The truth is hard to swollow ! 01:55  |  Monir 26/08/09
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