blog 8: Israel

Israel has recently come under much criticism due to their strife with Australian academics Jake Lynch and Stuart Rees.  The Israeli Hebrew University approached the academics in hopes of working with them on a certain project but was subsequently denied due to their personal beliefs regarding Israel.  The Hebrew University currently lies partly on land that is actually owned by Palestine and was never removed which legally violates the Geneva Accords.  The university also sponsors archaeological digs on Palestinian land which them removes and keeps artifacts and disallows other Palestinians from going back to their sacred lands.   The Israeli government subsequently attempting to publicly slander the gentlemen, but this has caused a major revolt within Australia.  Over 2,000 academics in Australia have publicly gone against Israel.  Israel has in turn started to try and approach the Australian government in order to remove their funding.  Overall, the Israeli Hebrew School has attempted to approach professors from Australia who said no due to their personal beliefs against Israel and the way they have mistreated Palestine. 

The Israeli Palestinian strife is one that is commonly not publicized in America due to America’s strong ties with the Jewish homeland.  Israel has fought with Palestine ever since it’s founding, and now it has taken on a new form.  The political power of Israel is wonderfully strong which is why they have now tried these varying power moves.  The recent political/academic struggle highlights the extensive use of dirty politics as a way to try and force a personal agenda.   The struggle also brings to light the fact that international democracy typically leans into a weird gray area versus domestic democracy issues due to the explicit law system regarding countries respective citizens.  The debate certainly shows how if enough political pressure is applied then the government will at first consider removing some rights of a minority but when a sizable minority forms in opposition it will go completely against its first ideas.  Overall, it seems as if the Australian citizens have fully gained the support of their government but the reputation of the academics that were originally approached will forever be tarnished. 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/israel-erosion-democracy-an-australian-story-2013101511625981682.html

ryan clark

11/2/2013