Stephen Hawking accused of hypocrisy over Israel conference boycott
Scientist's critics say he should stop using Israeli technology in computer equipment that allows him to communicate
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Wednesday 8 May 2013 13.12 EDT
Stephen Hawking
British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose decision to boycott a conference in Israel has been described as hypocritical. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Stephen Hawking's decision to boycott an Israeli conference in protest at the state's 46-year occupation of Palestine was derided as hypocritical by some, who pointed out that the celebrated scientist and author uses Israeli technology in the computer equipment that allows him to function.
Hawking, 71, has suffered from motor neurone disease for the past 50 years, and relies on a computer-based system to communicate.
According to Shurat HaDin, an Israel law centre which represents victims of terrorism, the equipment has been provided by the hi-tech firm, Intel, since 1997.
"Hawking's decision to join the boycott of Israel is quite hypocritical for an individual who prides himself on his whole intellectual accomplishment. His whole computer-based communications system runs on a chip designed by Israel's Intel team. I suggest if he truly wants to pull out of Israel he should also pull out his Intel Core i7 from his tablet," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat HaDin.
Intel could not be reached for comment, but their website quotes Justin Rattner, chief technology officer, as saying earlier this year: "We have a long-standing relationship with Professor Hawking." He added: "We are very pleased to continue to … work closely with Professor Hawking on improving his personal communication system."
Cambridge University declined to comment on allegations of hypocrisy regarding Hawking's communications system.
• This article was amended on 9 May 2013 to remove a reference to Intel being an Israeli firm. It is a US multinational with bases in Israel.
Stephen Hawking accused of hypocrisy over Israel conference boycott
The Israeli ego knows no bounds. The Israeli team regarding Intel CPUs of which the iSeries is but one has always been limited to testing one aspect of the traffic control micro-code for inter-core communication. Nothing more than that. Here they claim the entire CPU.
The gap between Israeli fantasy and reality appears unbridgible. A while back I found some of them claiming the entire concept of Intel's multi-core computers which was the first time I bothered looking up the exact contribution, that part of the testing of part of the chip.
Before anyone tries to defend it. AMD released their first and thus the first multi-core CPU four months before Intel.
Scientist's critics say he should stop using Israeli technology in computer equipment that allows him to communicate
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Wednesday 8 May 2013 13.12 EDT
Stephen Hawking
British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose decision to boycott a conference in Israel has been described as hypocritical. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Stephen Hawking's decision to boycott an Israeli conference in protest at the state's 46-year occupation of Palestine was derided as hypocritical by some, who pointed out that the celebrated scientist and author uses Israeli technology in the computer equipment that allows him to function.
Hawking, 71, has suffered from motor neurone disease for the past 50 years, and relies on a computer-based system to communicate.
According to Shurat HaDin, an Israel law centre which represents victims of terrorism, the equipment has been provided by the hi-tech firm, Intel, since 1997.
"Hawking's decision to join the boycott of Israel is quite hypocritical for an individual who prides himself on his whole intellectual accomplishment. His whole computer-based communications system runs on a chip designed by Israel's Intel team. I suggest if he truly wants to pull out of Israel he should also pull out his Intel Core i7 from his tablet," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat HaDin.
Intel could not be reached for comment, but their website quotes Justin Rattner, chief technology officer, as saying earlier this year: "We have a long-standing relationship with Professor Hawking." He added: "We are very pleased to continue to … work closely with Professor Hawking on improving his personal communication system."
Cambridge University declined to comment on allegations of hypocrisy regarding Hawking's communications system.
• This article was amended on 9 May 2013 to remove a reference to Intel being an Israeli firm. It is a US multinational with bases in Israel.
Stephen Hawking accused of hypocrisy over Israel conference boycott
The Israeli ego knows no bounds. The Israeli team regarding Intel CPUs of which the iSeries is but one has always been limited to testing one aspect of the traffic control micro-code for inter-core communication. Nothing more than that. Here they claim the entire CPU.
The gap between Israeli fantasy and reality appears unbridgible. A while back I found some of them claiming the entire concept of Intel's multi-core computers which was the first time I bothered looking up the exact contribution, that part of the testing of part of the chip.
Before anyone tries to defend it. AMD released their first and thus the first multi-core CPU four months before Intel.
