Monday, February 16, 2009
This is just a quick link to follow -- an "aside." These are links to interesting things that, for one reason or another, I didn't place into a full posting. Click the link to visit the full article. Go to the blog index for a regular listing of posts.
Alan Dershowitz: Hampshire Divests from Israel, So Contributors Should Divest from Hampshire - 'Several months ago, a rabidly anti Israel group on the Hampshire College campus began a campaign to try to get the college to divest from six companies that they claim helped "the Israeli occupation of Palestine." Those who came up with this formulation regard all of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ben Gurion Airport, as "occupied Palestine." In other words, their goal is to end the existence of Israel. This divestment effort is part of an international campaign against Israel. Until now, every American university administration has categorically rejected this attempt to single out Israel in a world filled with massive human rights abusers. But Hampshire caved in to student and faculty pressure and as Board of Directors agreed to divest from these six companies along with a series of others that did not meet the standards of Hampshire College. The student group, supported by many faculty members, claimed total victory, issuing a press release that boasted that Hampshire has become the first college in the United States to divest from Israel. It urged other universities to follow its lead...'
There's less to this story than meets the eye. The real story is that the divestment advocates are falsely claiming victory to get publicity.
http://adamholland.blogspot.com/2009/02/hampshire-college-did-not-divest-from.html
The bottom line is, on February 6th, Hampshire College was invested in the Occupation, and on February 7th, it was not. The assimilation of 2 years worth of campaigning on the part of SJP into a generalised divestment of "200 companies" was made at the last minute to de-politicise the decision.
Hampshire College has continued in its legacy of social activism and responsibility in the tradition of its other historical divestment, of which it was also the first: South Africa in 1977.
Oh.
So the Arab/Israeli conflict is equivalent to the situation in South Africa?
Hampshire College, Alex, arrogated and sneered and they then reified that sneer into a certain agenda and investment policy - quite literally, nothing more.
Yet another example of self-enamored, blow-fish trumpetings based upon extraordinarily tendentious analyses which also happen - mirabile dictu - to conform to pre-determined ideological/political templates and likewise serve to inflate the egos of the chin-pullers and furrowed-brow, moralistic pretenders at Hampshire College.
Nothing more.
Which, Alex, is why you provide literally no substantial thought or counter-argument whatsoever, opting instead for this vapid pretense, this "bottom line" of yours.
Dershowitz has been brazenly lying since at least as far back as 1973. In his 1973 exchange with Noam Chomsky in the pages of the Boston Globe, he transparently falsified a court decision, as can be verified by anyone who reads the correspondence.
I'm not sure I understand how Dershowitz is "brazenly lying" in this correspondence.
It does seem that he and Chomsky have different opinions on the matter and also on Shahak himself, whose opinions are not without controversy in any case, especially concerning fine points of (rabbinical) law which I don't pretend to understand.
In any case does a difference of opinion constitute "brazen lying"?
Can you provide other instances thereof?
Are you really saying, I prefer Chomsky's world view?
Do you support the boycott efforts? If so, own it.
I don't think it's wise to accuse somebody of "brazen lying since 1973" which implies many "brazen lies" for decades on the basis of one rather unclear argument (via this linked correspondence) which does seem to expose a difference of opinion or perhaps different views of a certain court case.
I've read your link and am trying to figure out how you get from a to z here.
hampshire college is trolling for saudi (home of 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers) petrodollars, and internships.