The Times Higher Education Supplement

Israeli actions

Andrew Chitty and Judith Watson

The Times Higher Education Supplement - Published: 28 May 2004

This has continued unabated for three and a half years and caused the ruination of hundreds of Palestinian families. The situation is now at crisis point. In the past week, tanks and bulldozers have gone deep into the city demolishing houses and killing 25 people.

As academics, we have a responsibility to help fellow academics and students everywhere and to defend academic freedom. At present, education of any kind is impossible in Rafah. We call on the Israeli government to put an immediate halt to the killings and demolitions in Gaza, and we ask people everywhere in the world to join us in calling for an end to the war crimes in Rafah.

Andrew Chitty
Sussex University

Judith Watson
Brighton University

On behalf of more than 340 academics

Israeli actions 2 Jacob Amir Published: 28 May 2004

In his article "Why I ... urge academics to support Israeli academics' right to free expression" (April 30), David Newman writes: "Academics have been accused of being anti-Israeli...". Accused? One academic, Illan Pappe from Haifa University, recently published a book, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. It is dedicated to: "Ido and Yonatan, my two lovely boys. May they live not only in a modern Palestine, but also in a peaceful one." Another, Ran HaCohen from Tel Aviv University, writes for the antiwar.com website. His articles carry a logo depicting the map of Israel. One can see the areas occupied by Israel in 1967, and see Israel within the green line labelled as "occupied by Israel in 1948". Both are Israeli academics in Israeli universities; one wishes Israel to be replaced by Palestine, and the other believes all Israel is occupied territory. If these are not anti-Israeli positions, what is? Neither has been fired and both continue to enjoy complete freedom of expression. Jacob Amir Jerusalem, Israel