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Blunt Boycott

(Guardian-UK) Editorial - Feelings are likely to be running high this week when members of the [British] Association of University Teachers debate whether to boycott three Israeli universities. Universities should shun such methods in principle and remain open to free thinking and intellectual exchanges across frontiers and cultures. While a case can be made for the use of boycotts as a tactic to put pressure on oppressive regimes, in this case, they are right to question whether it is either appropriate or effective. AUT members are not proposing to boycott universities in North Korea, Zimbabwe, or Sudan, where the government has been accused of perpetrating genocide against its own people. Supporters of boycotts often argue that Israel should be treated like apartheid South Africa. That is a controversial parallel which many Israelis see as delegitimating their state. Friends of the Palestinians should question whether this kind of boycott is not a blunt instrument that is unlikely to serve their cause well.
2005-04-22 00:00:00
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