Israel’s Tenured Radicals Exposed

          ● A 2002 statement declared: ‘We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by the U.S. buildup of aggression toward Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership’s enthusiastic support for it. . . . We are deeply worried by indications that the ‘fog of war’ could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to FULL-FLEDGED ETHNIC CLEANSING. . . . Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated. . . .’

          It was signed by sixty Israeli academics. Needless to say, Israel did not take the actions they fantasized.

          Important as Campus Watch and other sites monitoring abuses on North American campuses undoubtedly are, Israel’s situation as a lone democracy amid a sea of Arab and Muslim hatred, and a target of growing anti-Semitic movements in Europe and all over the globe, is especially precarious. Having its young minds poisoned is a luxury Israel cannot afford.

          The ideas taught by the radicals – that Israel is a criminal ‘colonial’ entity responsible for the Arab violence against it, that the Arabs are the victims, and that Israel can end the violence by satisfying Arab demands – have already penetrated Israel’s more mainstream Left as represented by the Labor and Yahad parties. It was such ideas that led to the disastrous Oslo accords, which glorified Yasir Arafat as a peacemaker and brought a rain of death and destruction on Israel that continues to this day.

          Israel’s academic institutions are, indeed, a crucial resource for the state, but if they become nests for people who identify with Israel’s enemies and promote their causes, they risk harming the Jewish state more than they benefit it and, ultimately, contributing to its destruction. These universities are highly dependent on overseas donors and contributors. The IAM site seeks to bring to these people’s attention some of the atrocious things being done with their money, hoping they will condition their future contributions more carefully.