After the Boycott... What?

London

The move to boycott two Israeli universities by Britain's Association of University Teachers (AUT) was a bad idea, but the faculty union's decision on May 26 to reverse the boycott did little to advance academic freedom while handing a victory to the defenders of Israeli domination. Indeed, the whole episode was a tragedy that needn't have happened.

The initial boycott was problematic for a number of reasons. By singling out Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities, proponents of a boycott ended up arguing specific cases rather than general principles. By scheduling the vote on the original boycott motion for a Saturday--and on the eve of Passover--despite objections from Jewish members that they would not be able to attend, the pro-boycott forces seemed to rely on procedural shenanigans rather than open debate. By letting British activists rather than Palestinians take the lead, they weakened the analogy to South Africa, their supposed inspiration. Whatever the merits of their case, the boycotters' tactics made defeat inevitable, raising and then cruelly dashing Palestinian hopes for the sake of a sanctimonious gesture.

Even Jews who don't immediately think of the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses might recall the Arab boycott against Israel--a boycott that long predated the 1967 war, and whose echo in the current campaign made many suspect that the ultimate object was not just the end of the occupation but the liquidation of the "Zionist entity." Palestinians are under no obligation to defer to Jewish sensitivities, but anyone interested in creating a broad, effective campaign to end the occupation ought to at least pause before picking up the boycott weapon. Still, there were Jews on both sides of the debate.

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