Barak under fire for granting university status to West Bank college
Move likely to grant new momentum to overseas supporters of an academic boycott of Israel.
By Or Kashti Tags: Israel newsDefense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday ordered a college in the West Bank town of Ariel to be recognized as a "university center," thereby winning praise from the right but an outraged response from both the political left and many academics.
The move is also likely to grant new momentum to overseas supporters of an academic boycott of Israel, leaders of the campaign against the boycott said. However, they added, it will not change the legal realities that have so far prevented any such boycott from taking effect.
The decision was vehemently opposed by the Council for Higher Education, which oversees all colleges and universities inside the Green Line. But because the Ariel University Center of Samaria is located in the West Bank, it is subordinate to a different, parallel, body, the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria - which, like all Israeli institutions in the West Bank, is formally subordinate to the Israel Defense Forces' GOC Central Command, who in turn answers to the defense minister. The CHE-JS approved Ariel's status upgrade back in 2007, and yesterday, Barak - who is also the Labor chairman - ordered GOC Avi Mizrahi to confirm this.
Recognition as a university center moves the college closer to full recognition as Israel's eighth university, and Barak's approval of this step had been part of the coalition agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and a third coalition member, Yisrael Beiteinu.
Aside from prestige, the main advantage that comes from being a university rather than a college is substantially higher funding. But the CHE, in keeping with its protest over the move, announced that Ariel would continue to receive the same amount from the state that it does now. And since the CHE controls the distribution of state funds to all academic institutions, it has the power to make this decision stick.
Last year, Ariel received NIS 75 million from the state, just under a third of its total budget of NIS 240 million. That, due to its unusually large student body, is more than most colleges get.
Prof. Itzhak Galnoor, a former deputy chairman of the CHE, slammed Barak's decision. "The term 'university center' doesn't exist in Israel's law books," he said. "We're in an anomalous situation, where a college outside the state's borders thinks it's possible to write its own rules. The defense minister would have done better to consult the CHE before exercising his authority over educational matters, about which he understands even less than CHE members understand about security issues."
Former education minister Prof. Yuli Tamir was also up in arms, saying the CHE should have been given the final word, and its opposition was well-known. Moreover, she charged, the upgrade will allow Ariel to take funding away from existing universities.
Ariel's president, Prof. Dan Meyerstein, said the college never accepted the argument that the CHE-JS decision to upgrade its status required confirmation by the GOC Central Command, "but now, it seems, that's happened, too."
He also stressed that all of Ariel's study programs are approved first by the CHE-JS, and then by the CHE, and the latter has never yet rejected any program approved by the former. However, he readily agreed that the term "university center" - and how it differs from an ordinary college - is unclear.
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who chairs the CHE, said he "hoped and expected" that Ariel would receive full university status in the next few years. Other CHE members, however, were less enthusiastic - adding that the council had been promised no such thing would happen without it being consulted.
The upgrade process effectively began in 2005, when the cabinet, led by then prime minister Ariel Sharon, passed a resolution saying it "saw national importance" in converting the college to a university. In late 2006, a subcommittee of the CHE-JS concluded that the college "is effectively functioning as a university in every respect" and recommended giving it the temporary status of a "university center" for three years. In summer 2007, the CHE-JS adopted this recommendation.
The subcommittee was comprised of six senior professors from other universities, including Nobel Prize laureate Yisrael (Robert) Aumann and Israel Prize laureates Daniel Sperber and Yuval Ne'eman. The latter is also a former MK, from the now-defunct Tehiya party. At the time, a member of the CHE said, "They're all people of the first rank in research, and they're also all right-wing in their views."
The CHE, however, flatly refused to recognize the CHE-JS decision, because it "contradicts our decision that as of today, and for the next five years, there is no academic need for another university," in the words of the council's powerful Planning and Budgeting Committee.
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Newly recognized Ariel University. |
| Photo by: (Dodo Bahar) |
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... by granting university status to Ariel College... ... worldwide repurcussions will surely follow...
When Barak uses his authority to freeze building that is OK, but when he uses the same authority to approve Ariel becoming an university it is NOT ok? This is a decision that should rest with the government. If the government wants to add two universities (one in Ariel an the other in/near Nazareth) then why not? Giving the Defense Department jurisdiction over Israeli citizens is not only an anachronism but also an abuse of it's citizens. The reason it still exists is that many people like the absolute power it gives the government over life in Judea and Samaria. Rabin wanted the PLO so that it could rule the in a totalitarian manner and succeeded (doesn't work for them either), but his legacy is of one who brought totalitarian rule on Israeli citizens as well.
And who gave Professor Barak the authority to come up with such a resolution? Is it hi academic brightness? Is it his position as a party(is it still one?) leader? Or is it a first step in turning the Ariel colege to a military and security university? In any case he got no authority to turn a college into university, even if he is pushed to it by the Liberman clique.
that the only viable solution is the a single binational state with jerusalem it's capital. and those who dont like it may oppose it democraticaly or go away
The grave is quiet. Barak is not the elected representative of the State of Israel. Fatah was elected to the Presidency of the Palestinian people. Hamas was elected to their Prime Ministership. Who are the "we" that you claim would have had peace if Fatah had expelled its leaders, Cipora?
it's a political decision. I am sure most Israeli's are aware of this. Israel wants to make clear to the Palestinians, The EU, US and all. Ariel ( way beyond the green line ) is ours and here to stay!
This is a situation where the Minister of Defense can decide wether a college is to become a "University". Think about that. Think loooooong and hard about that. Then ask yourself how it is possible that such a decision can rest with a person in his position within a govt i.e. ask how a Minister of Defense can have the authority to make that decision. The answer: because this college is located inside occupied territory and ALL AUTHORITY for what happens INSIDE OCCUPIED TERRITORY rests with the army of occupation. Which. Answers. Only. To. Barak. Don't *dare* to tell me that the West Bank isn't occupied territory, because if it wasn't then Barak couldn't do what he has just done. Because what he has just done is this: he has directed the IDF commander in the West Bank to sign a military order declaring that this college is now "Ariel University". O.C.C.U.P.A.T.I.O.N.
J: "Maybe I`m missing something here, but why is the Minister of Defense making these sort of determinations?" Yeah, you are missing something. You are missing the fact that all authority over occupied territory rests in the hands of the commander of the army of occupation i.e. the buck stops on HIS desk, and no further. So if the IDF commander in the West Bank signs an order declaring that this college is now "Ariel University" then that college is, indeed, now a university. Q: So what would make an IDF commander sign such an un-military order? A: A directive from his superior ordering him to sign just such an order. Q: So who is this dude's superior? A: Barak, Ehud.
if it had, we might have had peace.
left wing propagandists teaching nonexistent subjects of "political sciences". Nobody is going to boycott the real scientists in say, structural biology, applied mathematics, etc May be boycott is not so bad - though of course the idea of academic boycott is the most stupid.
- Ariel college is and will remain a regular college, no matter how it calls itself. The level and output of research is actually below that of several other colleges in Israel, not to even compare it to real universities. - As much as I have lost respect for Barak, he did NOT agree to the establishment of a University in the occupied territories. He just approved the decision of a right-wing settler committee (made up of so-called 'respected' - but still right-wing - scientists) to upgrade Ariel from a college to a college that's named 'university center'. See, even those right-wing scientists could not ignore the fact that the level of science at Ariel is so low that it would put real Israeli academics in a very bad light if Ariel would be called a University. - Petty politics cannot change actual facts: if it waggles like a duck, babbles like a duck, it is and will remain a duck without a Ph.D. Michael
Doing so might have saved it from this inevitable last gasp. There is no room for three Likud parties.
This isn't a political issue it is an educational one...This college should have been upgraded to university status long long ago...but instead we have politically radicalized professors and politicians deciding what deserves recognition as quality education and what isn't...absurd, bolshevik styled grading scale...ITS ABOUT TIME!
Israel has shown itself hopelessly incapable of administering the West Bank fairly for all its occupants. It has chronically abused its position of control to promote the interests of Jewish settlers at the expense of the indigenous population. It has no intention whatsoever of ever leaving all the land it took through war in 1967. It is in breach of numerous UN rulings, international court rulinsg and elements of the Geneva Convention. The only thing that has saved it so far from international sanctions is the power of Jewish pro-Israel lobbies in key western countries. For the sake of all concerned, put the WB under UN administration, like Kosovo was, NOW!
I disagree with people who say academics shouldn't be involved in politics. I think academics should be the most influencial people of politics. Why shouldn't the most educated and cultivated people give their point of vue on matters that affect everyone? Thank god the educated part of the western world disagrees with land theft.
... and it's still far from that according to academic standards, all the more so situated on requisitioned Pal land...
1) A simple reading of the CHE decision leads one to conclude that the main obstacle to CHE recognition is the desire to prevent existing universities from sharing the funds with other institutions. There is a conflict of interest here between the CHE 'haves' and the needs of Israeli academics and prospective students. 2) Academic freedom like freedom of speech when small 'cliques' impose an ideological filter over what is acceptable. This relates to both to the automatic prejudice against Ariel University due to it's location (which is as much a prejudice as principle) and to the selective refusal of posts to the talkbacks.
... an Israeli college on Pal territory gets itself declared a "university"... when the regular official higher education authority does not deem it adequate for such status, it avails itself of defence min 'authority'!... this defence min edict was born-out-of-sin by partisan pressure from the foreign min... we really are fast becomimg a banana republic, where even university status is abused...
"Academia" is really a joke of a term...just examine the "academia" of Europe or the leftist blatantly biased universities of the US...I wouldn't be upset that Barak is manipulating the academia to grant legitimacy to settlements...the settlements are already as legitimate as any arab enclave in Israel/formerly British mandated Palestine, and "academia" has been manipulated in the West for leftist purposes for the past, oh, say fifty years.
DM Barak is simply following through with what was decided during the tenure of PM Sharon. Who can doubt what our esteemed Nobel Laureates have agreed and truly believe in this vital necessity. Those silly academic bureaucrats who are against this new status of said de facto university argue mostly about funding. Its doubtful whether we are envisaging a political ploy, rather more of a last minute ditch at having their respective voices heard in the media. I totally agree with DM Barak. A campus to compete with others inside the green line.? Maybe, we will witness yet a Nobel Laureate that was educated in said University. A nice day to all, from snowy Swiss Alps.
No less than the Jewish students. Withtheir high-level academics and research, granting Ariel university status is long overdue.
Barak has done more damage to peace prospects while engaging in the "peace process". He is the worst enabler of the occupation because he does it under the guise of being in favor of a negotiated settlement
The criminal Israel govt does not know when enough is enough and the most legitimate response is a boycott of the now politicized Israeli academic institutions.
A large student body attends AU but CHE says a university is not needed: pretty darn contradictory ! and stupid . Obviously there is a need for such a unversity
Maybe I'm missing something here, but why is the Minister of Defense making these sort of determinations? I think it would do Israel a world of good to adopt a political culture in which it falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Education to grant to institutions university status,
I've never been a supporter of the academic boycott, believing that academia should rise above political issues. However, this has to change that stance. Barak is clearly attempting to use academic prestige to add legitimacy to settlements that are illegal under international law. If Israel wishes to abuse academia for political reasons then an academic boycott of Israel is a reasonable response.
I feel ashamed. I voted for the Labor party, because I didn't believe in Kadima and did have the guts to vote for Achmed Tibi, as the Compass program told me I should. This is a slap in the face to the great (well not bad at least) universities we have. He isn't a bad defense minister (better than Sharon or Peretz), but this, this is crazy. Bring on the devaluation of all Israeli degrees and the academic boycott - you schmuck!
It may be that academically the College in Ariel deserves to be upgraded to university status, or perhaps, not. But the decision is being made by Minister Barak is essentially political. I have never warmed to the minister, but now I wonder how American Joe Lieberman has so successfully disguised himself as an Israeli Quisling.