Protecting academia
As education minister and chairman of the Council for Higher Education, Sa'ar must go beyond his feeble condemnation of the attempt to sabotage the universities' balance sheets.
Haaretz EditorialPresenting his plan for NIS 7.5 billion in additional funding for higher education on Wednesday, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the reform program as "putting higher education back on the right track." Sa'ar's comment came at a critical juncture in relations between civil society and the higher education system: Right-wing groups that presumptuously claim to be defending the Zionist ethos are threatening to derail academia from its proper track.
Haaretz revealed earlier this week that the Council for Higher Education gave university heads the Institute for Zionist Strategies' report on the "post-Zionist" curricula prevalent in sociology departments. In response, Tel Aviv University's president asked sociology lecturers to provide him with their course syllabi. Following an uproar from within and without the university, this order was retracted.
Also this week, the president of Ben-Gurion University revealed a letter she had received from the Im Tirtzu organization threatening to urge foreign donors to withhold contributions unless the university took action "to correct the anti-Zionist tilt" of its politics and government department. The education minister, who once praised a report the group had drafted on what it termed the "post-Zionist" bent of political science departments, is now railing against Im Tirtzu's threat to intimidate donors, "independent of any arguments about pluralism."
The higher education system is not immune to external criticism over the quality of its academics or the proficiency of its administration. But a pluralistic, democratic society is incompatible with external interference in course curricula or lecturers' political views.
As education minister and chairman of the Council for Higher Education, Sa'ar must go beyond his feeble condemnation of the attempt to sabotage the universities' balance sheets. No financial assistance can preserve Israeli academia's prestige or ensure its excellence if the government, including the prime minister, does not unequivocally censure this attempt to undermine the independence of higher education.
Granting even tacit legitimacy to an internal boycott of institutions and lecturers that espouse "unpatriotic" narratives will merely legitimize a foreign boycott of Israeli academia.
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A media like Haaretz, that exists solely to censor everything positive about Israel and Jews condemning moderates and the right for saying they have had enough of left-wing onslaughts against Judaism? Rather disingenuous that the editorial board of Haaretz plays the martyr. Reality is that most pro-Israel talk backs are effectively censored from here in favor of the foreign left and Islamists. Maybe one day, Haaretz will fess up to its own hypocrisy.
Haaretz.. usualy liberal but fair newspaper, you are lately loosing touch with reality and any comon sense.
A good lecturer must not impose his or her political views on students. Most lecturers outside of political science are not political experts and should limit themselves to teaching their expertise. They should not push their opinions and prejudices on captive student audiences.
freedom to criticize Israel everywere and anytime, freedom to call to dondemn Israel anywere, freedom to be in the academy, get fat salaries and call from there to boycot Israeli academy. freedom to teach the students "post zionism" text and not to be criticized for that. Are you sure that the academy need the protection in this case?
Haaretz time and time again censors me for writing the 'ugly' truth while allowing hate emails of non Jews claiming the Jews are the evil and filth of the earth. Academic freedom and freedom of speech also means a true pluralism and acceptance of other opinions and not just in the name but truly giving other voices a platform to express oneself!! Sociology departments in Tel Aviv and BG university have become safe havens of intolorance versus mainstream Jews and rightist Jews!! This should not and cannot be defended by Haaretz under the banner of freedom of speech and academic freedom!! Haaretz act now and demand pluralism and not just onesided extreme leftist anti zionist views!!
....whether they are Left or Right; communists or capitalists; pro-Jewish or anti-Jewish; pro-Muslim or anti-Muslim..... FOR or AGAINST..... but have those convictions so strong, that they flout reality and common sense. They will accept polls they like but strongly reject those that go against their prejudice... balance, for them, is 100% agreement with them.... right here, on the talkback....AND THEY TEACH IMPRESSIONABLE YOUTH. Like in some madrasas...
but that is your problem/choice...
Academic and freedom of speech have their limits!! No country has unlimited freedom of speech or academic freedom!! Haaretz for instance not even once had the guts to show Mohammed cartoons while everybody knows Mohammed married a 9yr old gurl and as a result in Yeman child marriage = rape is legal!! Academia should realize that their sociology departments have become onesided anti Israel rather then for instance focus on the backwardedness of the Arab sector, the lack of women rights in the Israeli Arab sector the anti homo bias in the Arab sector and we can go on and on!! To portray the sociology departments as saints is wrong and shows a narrow mind which underestimates the intelligence of the common moderate Jewish majority!! Supporting boycots is an act against academic freedom as one should be able to exchange academic ideas world wide but they do want Israelis to get a stamp of non Jewish approval for their anti Israel stance before being allowed to exchange their views if it is up to Irish boycotters!! Haaretz take responsability and demand a balanced approach toward this problem many Israeli's see and get down from your ivory tower!!
The academic freedom Haaretz is speaking about is a distortion of democracy as it allows individuals, not elected by anyone, to wield massive amounts of influence on others. In a democracy positions of power need to be a result of the masses saying what they want. The arrogance of some professors who believe that only they understand the ways of the world is sickening. Go get a job.
not only academic freedom, but also G*d-given freedom...
Let me get this straight. Left-wing anti-Jewish "professors" should be able to preach to the youth all types of anti-Jewish values, while RABBIS aren't allowed to state Torah laws? (Not even allowed to write a Halahic book?) What a country. What a shame.
moreover, they don't believe in rights for others... just do what they tell you...
...author is referring to, I'm guessing it's the one about when it's permissible to kill women and kids (and if I'm wrong, I stand corrected)--but anyway, that whole business reminded me the medieval monks who argued about "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin"--which has sort of gone out of vogue--either because (a) the precise number of angels was finally determined, or (b) there are more women and children readily available to kill than there are pins to dance on.
any political ideologicall or religious intrusion is very soon going to cause a brain-drain of free-thinkers(they are the ones who change the world view with new concepts), and preventing others to developp new theories, be they social, financial, economic or even religious.
why are they suddenly relevant to this discourse...?
Curiously, Haaretz has not taken principled stands against anti-right efforts or even the more troubling steps taken by pressure by left-wing professors against students, including those in uniform.
Right. But you have the bizarre situation when the head of the political science department calls for a boycott of his country, thus of his institution. Is it not naive to think that this does not need to be addressed somehow?
hope that our Education Min is capable of grasping that... also the law-keeping authorites...
...academic institutions (with the exceptions of those "religiously based") have (at least for the last half-century, or so) been more "liberal" than the nation as a whole--and a regular "whipping boy" of the more conservative elements in our society. (Fortunately, at least in my opinion, a combination of our laws protecting basic freedom of speech and a populace that is by and large "middle of the road" has kept the ultra-conservatives' attacks pretty much limited to "verbal" ones--not that they wouldn't love to have it be otherwise.)
The charge is that a leftist clique has taken over some academic departments and is using its power to censor opinions which are not radical left. Surely the govt, which pays for the colleges, must investigate. The people who really need protection are those who teach in religious schools and resist the imposition of a government (leftist) 'core' curriculum, and rabbinical scholars who are hauled into police stations after they write about the morality of killing enemy civilians in time of war.
Let the religious schools teach the torah and their students live off welfare supplied by the leftist scum.
What has Im Tirtzu had the temerity to do? They are "threatening to urge foreign donors to withhold contributions". How would they do this? By showing those donors how their contributions are actually used at BG. So what is Haaretz effectively saying? That it is 'fascistic' and it 'threatens democracy' for these donors to find out how their money is actually used. Reeaaaallly??
...it cannot be choked or run-away-from... it is not inherently 'bad'... let's study it, analyse it and understand it... Israel is not built on academic zionism alone... there are plenty of exemplary Israelis to be proud of... yet not all of them stand on hillocks and crow their 'zionism' morning and night...
They are no more entitled to abuse their positions then the rest of us mere mortals
The most surprising thing about all this is that Israel’s academic extremists do all this damage while being funded by the Israeli taxpayer and by Jewish contributors from around the world, most notably in the United States. (University students pay only about 15 percent of the costs of their education, with the remainder coming from these taxpayers or donors.) Donors making philanthropic gifts to Israeli universities do so to assist with the Zionist enterprise; obviously, such persons will want think twice before permitting their funds to further promote anti-Israel extremism.
Haaretz is right that academic independence is very important and should be protected. Alas, Haaretz has been championing outside intervention in academic affairs , for other reasons, for many years.