Stephen Hawking boycotts Israeli academic conference

[Brakeman]

...thereby joining the ranks of brilliant anti-Semites like Bobby Fischer. (IMO)

So the Palestinians aren't semites anymore?

Besides, there is no such thing as a Jew. It is a imaginary religious construct. Israel is a country full of nutters.

[A_Nony_Mouse]

ADL: Hawking's Israel boycott a 'slap in face of academic freedom'
Citing Israeli treatment of Palestinians, renowned physicist canceled planned appearance at Presidential Conference in Jerusalem.
By DPA and Yarden Skop | May.09, 2013 | 5:53 PM | 29

The New York-based Anti-Defamation League has slammed British physicist Stephen Hawking for pulling out of an Israeli conference because of pressure from pro-Palestinian activists.

Hawking "has delivered a slap in the face to academic freedom," the ADL said in a statement Wednesday. The boycott campaign "relies on an abhorrent and false comparison of Israeli democracy to Apartheid," charged the group, which fights against defamation of Israel and Jews.

The renowned physicist canceled his planned appearance at next month's Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, apparently in response to the urging of Palestinian activists and academics.

Hawking informed President Shimon Peres of his decision last weekend, but decided not to make it public. Thus it became public knowledge only on Wednesday, when it was reported on the website of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine and picked up by the British daily The Guardian.

According to the statement published with Hawking's approval by BRICUP, a group that works to promote an academic boycott of Israel, the cancellation was "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there." The group didn't publish Hawking's letter to Peres, but said it would do so if it received his permission.

Conference chairman Israel Maimon told the Guardian that Hawking's decision was "outrageous and wrong."

"The use of an academic boycott against Israel is outrageous and improper, particularly for those to whom the spirit of liberty is the basis of the human and academic mission," he continued. "Israel is a democracy in which everyone can express their opinion, whatever it may be. A boycott decision is incompatible with open democratic discourse."

In a subsequent conversation with Haaretz, Maimon noted that Hawking was being more Palestinian than the Palestinians: While he was boycotting the conference, other Palestinians had agreed to attend it as speakers.

"Hawking's stance strengthens the extremists," Maimon added. "After all, extremists don't talk; moderates talk. This boycott isn't a path that encourages dialogue, it only encourages the extremists."

The three-day conference, which will open on June 18 at Jerusalem's International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha'uma), is being cosponsored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It will bring together people from the fields of government, economics, technology, science and entertainment to discuss the question of how to shape a better future for the world, the Jewish people and Israel.

Among the guests who have confirmed their attendance are singer and actress Barbra Streisand, who will sing at the opening event in honor of Peres' 90th birthday; former U.S. President Bill Clinton; former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev; actress Sharon Stone; Prince Albert of Monaco; Daniel Kahneman, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics; and a number of senior executives from the high-tech world.

ADL: Hawking's Israel boycott a 'slap in face of academic freedom'

Barbara Streisand? Sharon Stone? That is sufficient reason not to appear in a fluff meeting intended solely as a public relations exercise.

And the whine about Israel being a democratic country when the issue is the ruthless, jewish dictatorship over the lives of millions of non-jews.

---

I have no problem with the use of the word apartheid for what the Israelis do to their own citizens of Palestinian descent. What they do to the Palestinians in the occupied territories is simply criminal.
...

And not just criminal is the common adjectival sense. Criminal in the war crimes hanging offense Nuremberg sense.

---

I have no problem with the use of the word apartheid for what the Israelis do to their own citizens of Palestinian descent. What they do to the Palestinians in the occupied territories is simply criminal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/opinio...equal.html

The failure of Israeli and American leaders to grapple with this nondemocratic reality is not helping. Even if a two-state solution were achieved, which seems fanciful at this point, a fundamental contradiction would remain: more than 35 laws in ostensibly democratic Israel discriminate against Palestinians who are Israeli citizens.

Does Israel persecute Palestinians? Of course not. So any country can do all of these things to Jews and not be accused of persecuting Jews. Sounds like a plan.

[Minimalist]

Not exactly on point but close enough.

Religious fuckwittery running amok...as usual.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Thous...yer-312747

Haredim heckle and harass Women of the Wall during prayer

[A_Nony_Mouse]

Not exactly on point but close enough.

Religious fuckwittery running amok...as usual.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Thous...yer-312747

Haredim heckle and harass Women of the Wall during prayer

It all depends upon the self-censorship of the newspaper. That is why it is useful to read the story from more than one source.

But even the more complete story below is highly censored. Notice how they describe the fact that Israeli government officials organized felony assault with intent to maim. The penalty for this is at least a year in prison under Israeli law -- if one is a non-Jew.

Reform, Conservative leaders urge probe into roles of rabbis in Kotel clashes
Non-orthodox movement heads to petition AG Yehuda Weinstein to investigate involvement of state-appointed rabbis in protest against Women of the Wall; Western Wall Rabbi Rabinovitch denies allegations.
By Judy Maltz and Yair Ettinger | May.10, 2013 | 12:08 PM | 2
The heads of the Reform and Conservative movements will demand that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein investigate the involvement of rabbis on the government payroll in Friday’s violent demonstrations at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators showed up at the Western Wall on Friday morning to protest against Women of the Wall, a pluralistic women’s prayer group that holds a monthly prayer service at the wall, in which many of the participants wear prayer shawls and phylacteries. The ultra-Orthodox maintain that these practices are against Jewish law.

The demonstrators jeered at the women as they prayed, some throwing water bottles and chairs in their direction. Dozens of riot police were on hand to separate them from the women’s prayer group and they grew increasingly violent. After the women exited Dung Gate,]AKA shit gate] ultra-Orthodox demonstrators ambushed them with rocks.[AKA assault with intent to maim.]

“I think it is very clear today who came to worship and who came to create provocations,” Gilad Kariv, the executive director of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, told Haaretz. “The troubling aspect of it all is that the rabbi of the Western Wall and his team, all public officials, [AKA government officials] were deeply involved in organizing this Haredi protest. We intend to address the matter with the attorney general and have him investigate.”

Yizhar Hess, head of the Masorti-Conservative movement in Israel, said that Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Western Wall rabbi and government appointee, was playing both sides. “In the Knesset, he talks about his support for the Sharansky compromise, but outside, he undermines peace in Jerusalem, as he did today.”

Hess was referring to the proposal drafted by Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky to set up a new section for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall.

Rabinovitch later denied the allegations, saying that he was not involved in organizing the protest and that the accusations are part of an incitement campaign by Women of the Wall. The only connection he had this week with the ultra-Orthodox leader Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman was meant to send a calming message. "I asked that rabbis and Knesset members don't come here," he said, and added: "I feel terrible for what happened here. I did not wish for it, did not expect it and I hope it will not repeat itself."

Rabinovitch said that that the conclusion he draws from the events on Friday morning has to do with a future arrangement being drawn up by Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett. "I wish everybody would regain self-control and find the way to restore what was, that how the Attorney General interpreted the rulings of the High Court will continue," he said, referring to the rules saying that women are prohibited from wearing prayer shawls and reading from the Torah in the central prayer plaza at the Western Wall.

Bennett announced this week that he intends to draft new regulations for prayer at the Wall, in wake of the landmark Jerusalem District Court that it is not a violation of the “local custom” for women to wear prayer shawls at the Kotel.

“If what he means is unilateral legislation,” said Kariv, “then we have no intention whatsoever of continuing to participate in this dialogue around finding a solution to the controversy over prayer at the wall.”

Hess echoed his words. “If Bennett’s intention is to provide a very narrow interpretation of the court ruling, it will turn the whole compromise into an empty vessel,” he said.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ref...m-1.523368

[A_Nony_Mouse]

Boycott of Israel is small for now, but gets higher profile with Hawking

Many celebrities have ignored boycott appeals, such as Elton John, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Paul McCartney. Some academics say that the impact of the movement has been overstated.

By Joshua Mitnick, Correspondent / May 9, 2013

Tel Aviv

Stephen Hawking’s refusal of an invitation to a star-studded Israeli conference has handed pro-Palestinian activists a major victory in the campaign to isolate the Jewish state, but Israeli experts and officials are divided on whether it marks a tipping point or a one-time public relations coup.

Hawking ducked out of the annual Israeli Presidential Conference, which will draw the likes of Barbara Streisand and former President Bill Clinton this year to fete the 90th birthday of President Shimon Peres – Israel’s best known dove. Mr. Hawking’s status as an international bestselling author of books on physics and cosmology makes him one of the most prominent figures to join the boycott movement.

"He is a mega-celeb. Few people in the world don’t know who he is," says Alon Liel, a former Israeli diplomat and director general of the foreign ministry who believes Mr. Hawking’s statement will resonate with other intellectuals.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Israel? Take the quiz

Mr. Liel believes that is likely to give momentum to the cultural boycott of Israel – a decade-long effort to isolate Israeli academics and universities, and pressure prominent artists not to visit. That said, the efforts to isolate Israel economically through boycotts, divestment, and sanctions – known as BDS – have not caught much traction. Says Mr. Liel, "Look, [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu is in China" to drum up commercial ties.

Mr. Hawking joins cultural figures like rock star Roger Waters and jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson, who backed out of a show in Israel last year after most of the tickets had been sold.

Nevertheless, a longer list has ignored those appeals, such as Elton John, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Paul McCartney. Indeed, some academics say that the impact of the boycott movement has been overstated.

Bar Ilan University Political Science professor Jonathan Rhynhold, who traveled to the UK eight years ago to defeat a motion at a British university to sever ties with his school, insists that academic ties between the United Kingdom and Israel have expanded over the last decade in spite of the boycott.

He believes that the core of the boycott movement represents a small minority of public opinion because it opposes Israel’s existence. However, the movement is able to reach the mainstream of international sentiment because of the overwhelming opposition to Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank. (Indeed, the government reportedly advanced plans this week to build about 300 new housing units in the settlement of Beit El.)

"Israel’s real legitimacy problem is in the West Bank. The issue of settlements is indefensible," he says. "Therefore when we expand settlements, we give more air to the BDS to get people like Hawking."

Many Israelis see in the boycott movement a dangerous threat to delegitimize Israel’s very existence abroad. Amos Yadlin, a former military intelligence chief, said last year efforts to turn Israel into a pariah state are a strategic threat to the country on the level of missiles and rockets.

Ben Dror Yemini, a prominent centrist columnist at the Maariv newspaper, wrote that the Hawking boycott decision should be a "wake up call" to the government. "Intellectual terrorism works."

Asked to explain how Israel could counter such a campaign in a phone interview, Mr. Yemini says that the government is mistakenly content with overwhelmingly pro-Israel approval ratings in the US.

"There is a campaign and they are beating us," he says. "The most important thing are the elites. What is happening in academia and the media. There we are failing. Israel doesn’t look like it's in the game."

The University of Cambridge professor informed the office of the Israeli President on Friday that he had reconsidered "based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott," according to a statement released by the head of media relations Tim Holt.

The campaign has also polarized the political environment in Israel, as right-wing politicians have assailed dovish critics of the settlements as one in the same as the pro-Palestinian boycott movement. Two years ago, Israel's parliament passed a law enabling the filing of civil lawsuits against individuals who call for boycotts of settlement products, and sanctions for companies and non-profits that participate in boycotts. Mr. Hawking’s move is likely to strengthen that tendency, some say.

"Netanyahu wants us all to believe that Israel is threatened by BDS and 'delegitimization,'" tweeted Anshel Pfeffer, a reporter for the liberal Haaretz newspaper. "Thank you Stephen Hawking for helping him."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-Ea...topStories

[Tiberius]

Being against Israel's policies makes one an anti-semite?

If you compare Israeli policy with apartheid South Africa, then I say yes. But I acknowledge that reasonable people can disagree with that assessment.

Do you even know what the word "anti-Semite" means?

I'm fine with Israel existing btw, but disagreeing with their policies doesn't make me an anti-Semite. Disagreeing with them and using them to make racist comments about Jews would. I'm not sure Hawking has done that (Bobby Fischer certainly has).

[A_Nony_Mouse]

If you compare Israeli policy with apartheid South Africa, then I say yes. But I acknowledge that reasonable people can disagree with that assessment.

Do you even know what the word "anti-Semite" means?

The term refers to native speakers of semitic languages of which Arabic, ancient Aramaic and the greek pidgin hebrew are members. As modern hebrew is an artificially imposed language adopted for political reasons, that is no Jews spoke it as a native language prior to zionism, Israeli Jews are not legitimately native speakers of a semitic language and are thus not semites.

In the late 19th c. a newspaper reporter named Marr or some such coined antisemitism and it stuck. Originally he used it to refer to the people east of the Dardenelles, generally the Arab world as Jews in his time did not speak any semitic language unless they were from the Arab world and spoke Arabic. Unfortunately it morphed in the popular mind into something other than the original meaning and contributed to the idea that Jews were other than members of a religion and fueled both Zionist and Nazi tyranny.

The Zionist revival and creation of modern, i.e. non-biblical hebrew, was touted by the Zionists as what Jews had always spoken in private (bullshit!) which lead to the Jews of eastern Europe who mostly spoke the yiddish dialect of German to be considered a "semitic" people.

Modern Hebrew differs from biblical Hebrew in that the latter has only about 1/3 the words needed for a working language. This is before adding words for electricity and steam engine. To fill in these missing words the Zionists drew mostly upon Arabic but modified the pronunciations to be more in line with Yiddish.

With the world support of Zionist tyranny the term has lost most all of its original meaning and come to be used to refer to Jews only. It has gone so far that those who discuss the origin and development of the word and who challenge the Zionist political usage of the word are declared to be antisemitic. The word has come full circle.

I'm fine with Israel existing btw, but disagreeing with their policies doesn't make me an anti-Semite. Disagreeing with them and using them to make racist comments about Jews would. I'm not sure Hawking has done that (Bobby Fischer certainly has).

Israel is only its policies. The issue is not the existence of the country but the rights of the private property owners to the return of their property even when it leaves the murdering thieves who hold it presently with only a one way ticket back to Europe where they or their ancestors came from.

Jews are not now nor have they ever been a race. Using the term racism in this context is terminally ignorant and stupid.

[A_Nony_Mouse]

Noam Chomsky helped lobby Stephen Hawking to stage Israel boycott US professor Noam Chomsky expressed regret at Hawking's initial acceptance of invitation to speak at conference in Israel
Fair use excerpt:
Noam Chomsky was among 20 academics who privately lobbied Professor Stephen Hawking to boycott a major Israeli conference, it has emerged.

Chomsky, a US professor and well-known supporter of the Palestinian cause, joined British academics from the universities of Cambridge, London, Leeds, Southampton, Warwick, Newcastle, York and the Open University to tell Hawking they were "surprised and deeply disappointed" that he had accepted the invitation to speak at next month's presidential conference in Jerusalem, which will chaired by Shimon Peres and attended by Tony Blair and Bill Clinton

Hawking boycott of conference in Israel sparks controversy By Sara Sidner and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN updated 8:14 PM EDT, Thu May 9, 2013
Fair use excerpt:
(CNN) -- A decision by world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking not to attend a conference in Israel in support of an academic boycott of the country has sparked controversy in Israel and a vitriolic debate online.

Looks like everyone and his brother, not just Hawking, is supporting the boycott of totalitarian Israel. It is not just Palestinians as was initially reported. And of course the participation of entertainers like Barbara Streisand and politicians like Blair and Clinton negates the claim there is anything academic about the conference. It is nothing more than an israeli PR display.

Note also this popular refrain

"Israel is a democracy in which all individuals are free to express their opinions, whatever they may be. The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with open, democratic dialogue."

Everyone is free to express their opinions EXCEPT people like Hawking and Chomsky do not have the correct opinions. Expect soon a malicious campaign against Hawking organized by Jews. It always happens in matters like this.

While Israel is still a backwards country
Israel Moves to End Gender Segregation in Public Spaces By JODI RUDOREN Published: May 8, 2013
which enforces segregation of women as second class citizens what it does to its own people is up to its own people their resort of civil war to overthrow their primitive, repressive government, what it does to millions of non-Israeli, non-Jews is the interest of the world. As much the interest of the world as Bosnia are the people living under jewish tyranny. While the actions of the jewish military are despicable the government of Israel assures us its atrocious behavior is the highest standard which Jews can achieve. Even Israel agrees Judaism is a primitive religion although not explicitly.

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Stephen Hawking is right, it's time to end international support for Israeli impunity As long as Israel can count on a blank cheque from the international community, it will continue to displace more Palestinians and further abuse and curtail their rights. By Rafeef Ziadah Published 11 May 2013 13:11
Fair use excerpt:
Stephen Hawking’s decision to withdraw from Israel’s President Conference deals a huge blow to Israel’s attempts to whitewash its crimes by branding itself as a technologically advanced liberal democracy. His decision highlights the growing consensus that Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is intolerable. More than that, Hawking has made an immensely significant contribution to the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel that has in recent years won support from musicians, artists, trade unions, faith groups and people all over the world.

This whole BDS movement has some very simple goals. Israel must comply with international law. It must end the occupation, respect the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and guarantee equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Is that so hard? Very straightforward and simple requirements. Else send Israel the way of Apartheid South Africa. It hardly seems a difficult choice for westerners. It asks only western standards in Israel.

[A_Nony_Mouse]

Targeting Stephen Hawking and Dustin Hoffman: Right-wing 'pro-Israel' advocacy as hate speech Increasingly, the rabid far-right 'pro-Israel' camp is carrying out repulsive, hate-filled attacks on Jews whose most cherished wish is to see a stronger, more democratic Israel. It is time to take a stand

As predicted the ritual condemnation is underway.

Fair use excerpt:

"I have a suggestion," Plaut wrote on Wednesday, in a reference to the wheelchair-bound noted scientist, and to a 1985 incident in which Palestinian gunmen commandeered an Italian cruise ship, murdering a disabled American Jewish passenger and throwing his body overboard:

"I suggest that the people of Israel send Hawking for a free trip on the Achille Lauro!!"

So incitement to murder is the natural response of Jews over such trivia.

Burston of course takes a realistic point of view, that saying things like that are counter productive. They should not be said because it is bad PR for Israel but he goes no further than that.

The rituals must be performed. The curses must be laid.

[Brakeman]

If you compare Israeli policy with apartheid South Africa, then I say yes. But I acknowledge that reasonable people can disagree with that assessment.

Do you even know what the word "anti-Semite" means?

I'm fine with Israel existing btw, but disagreeing with their policies doesn't make me an anti-Semite. Disagreeing with them and using them to make racist comments about Jews would. I'm not sure Hawking has done that (Bobby Fischer certainly has).

So, calling someone a filthy (mormon) is not racist.
calling someone a filthy (christian) is not racist.
calling someone a filthy (muslim) is not racist.
calling someone a filthy (buddhist) is not racist.
calling someone a filthy (scientologist) is not racist.
But! Calling someone a filthy (jew) is racist!

OK, I got it.. and by the way, the majority of the jews I've seen are not of semitic ancestry.