Rightist pressure prompts Tel Aviv University head to examine syllabi
Professor says believes university ordered the check in order to 'protect academic freedom against McCarthyism.'
By Or KashtiThe president of Tel Aviv University asked to see the lists of reading material taught in several sociology courses at the university last week, in the wake of allegations that Israeli universities have a "post-Zionist" bias in their sociology departments.
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Students at Tel Aviv University. |
| Photo by: David Bachar |
The Institute for Zionist Strategies, which issued the report, defines post-Zionism as "the pretense to undermine the foundations of the Zionist ethos and an affinity with the radical leftist stream."
This was the latest in a string of complaints by right-wing groups against Israel's universities over the past year.
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar has at least partly backed similar criticism. The founding chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies is Israel Harel, a former Yesha Council of settlements head and a Haaretz columnist.
Several Tel Aviv University lecturers criticized president Joseph Klafter's request yesterday.
"Right-wingers are trying to divide and label people in academia in a process designed mainly to sow fear. The university president shouldn't have cooperated with such an attempt," one said.
The university administration said that after it received the report from the Institute for Zionist Strategies, the president's office approached the relevant parties to ascertain the situation in a routine manner.
The university has stated that since this is Klafter's first year as president, he is intensively studying what is being taught at the university, and this includes reviewing course syllabi.
About a week ago, the institute published a nearly final draft of its report, called "Post-Zionism and Academia." The report surveyed various articles used in courses about Israeli society and categorized the authors of the articles as either Zionist or post-Zionist. The draft states: "The group of critical sociologists has gradually taken control of the sociology departments on some of the campuses, and this continues to this day, despite the Israeli public's weak identification with [the group's] positions.
"At all of the universities other than Bar-Ilan, there is a clear post-Zionist bias in the sociology departments, which is especially great at Tel Aviv [University] and [at Ben-Gurion University in] Be'er Sheva."
The paper says final figures from the courses examined shows syllabi contained 146 sources the authors defined as Zionist and 440 sources deemed post-Zionist. It adds that the group has been conducting consultations over recommendations for decision makers in Israeli academia.
Several days after the latest draft was published, the secretary of the Tel Aviv University sociology department wrote to the department's lecturers, saying that Klafter's office had requested syllabi for several courses and that anyone who wanted more information as to why this was being done should contact the president's office directly.
Students studying for a bachelor's degree in sociology are required to take all but one of the Tel Aviv University courses noted in the report.
One of the department's lecturers took issue with the report on the grounds that researchers cannot be "categorized as Zionist or post-Zionist, as if those are the only two possibilities."
Yehouda Shenhav, one of the professors whose course reading list was requested, said: "I have no doubt that the president and rector requested [the syllabi] to protect academic freedom against McCarthyism."
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isracampus. org.il where a whole ongoing study is in progress about Israeli bashers in professorial positions at Israeli universities. Of course, Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Universities are prominent. It's a very enlightening website.
Maybe the Rector and President of Bar Ilan University should set up a Committee of Inquiry to examine all the courses that Yigal Amir studied.
This has been going on for years. It is simply a question of those who believe there is a right for the Jews to have a state and those who don't. It says nothing about their politics. There are plenty of people who are "left" and think the Jews ought to have a state.
Universities should realize that they should abstain from politics and above all (sociology) departments should strive for diversity rather than just emphasize on line of thinking of they really claim to be cradles of freedom of speech and mind!! Moderate maistream Jews who pay taxes and the salaries in the end of the university personel are concerning by the sharp turn to the extreme left and anti Israeli bias of certain departments at universities!! This investigation indeed is in line with common sense and is done to bring the balance back to decent research and to limit (anti Israel) politics at universities!!
Lectures should never be tarnished by professor's individual opinions to events, past and future, if the lecturer expresses his/her opinion on the subject it should be clearly marrked as their opinion, not the fact. We should raise thinkers, not blind followers, the reading list should be balanced.
Call it modern Zionism if you want, it will be defined by the Pals, Not by Academia
Of course we are in the post Zionist era. How many successful battles do you think it takes? We won, we are here, and we will not be moved. note: the above is true only if, have won the wars, we use our position of strength to show compassion, wisdom, enlightenment, humanity and a finely honed sense of cause and effect.