From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) John Chalcraft | The Guardian | 30 May 2007 An international, non-violent movement supporting divestment, sanctions and boycott of Israel is gathering strength. While progress has been made in Northern Ireland and South Africa, Israel continues to settle and occupy Palestinian land in defiance of international law. The question for British academics is whether they should join this international movement, and refuse to do business as usual with Israeli academic institutions.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) BBC News | 29 May 2007 Academics are being urged to reject calls from colleagues for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The University and Colleges Union is debating a motion that academics should consider the "moral implications" of links with Israeli universities. The proposal condemns Israel for its "denial of educational rights" for Palestinians, citing invasions, curfews, checkpoints and arrests. But Sally Hunt, UCU's new general secretary, criticised the demands.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Charlotte Halle | Haaretz | 17 May 2007 Prof. Miriam Shlesinger, the translation scholar from Bar-Ilan University who was fired from the board of a British journal for being Israeli, sees herself as one of the lucky ones. "At least I had the luxury of knowing why I was being boycotted," she says, recalling the e-mail she received in May 2002 from erstwhile friend Prof.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Charlotte Halle | Haaretz | 4 May 2007 A delegation of Israeli academics will head to the U.K. later this month in a bid to fight a proposed boycott of Israeli universities by British academics. Seven academics from six Israeli universities plan to meet with members of the 120,000-strong union ahead of its vote to boycott Israeli academic institutions at its annual congress in Bournemouth at the end of the month.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) James Bowen | Haaretz | 13 April 2007 In the late 19th century, changes in Ottoman law created a new class of large landholders, including the Sursuq family from Beirut, which acquired large tracts in northern Palestine. A similar situation had long existed in Ireland, where most land was controlled by absentee landlords, many of whom lived in Britain. The 1880s, however, initiated dynamics that led the two lands in different directions.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Editorial | Daily Star, Lebanon | 1 July 2003 The Israeli government and its apologists are expert in the art of playing the martyr, especially when it comes to castigating any and all media outlets that fail even briefly to fawn over the Jewish state like lovesick teenagers. The latest target of the world's most fearsome "David" is the British Broadcasting Corporation, which recently re-aired a documentary about Israel's weapons of mass destruction programs.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Aidan White | IFJ | 29 May 2003 To: Ariel Sharon Prime Minister Government of Israel Dear Mr Sharon, On behalf of the International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest organisation of journalists’ groups, I express the sincere hope that the efforts being made to end the violence that has destroyed the lives of so many Israelis and Palestinians over the years will succeed in creating conditions for a lasting solution to the conflict in the region.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Borzou Daragahi | AP/Salon.com | 40 June 2003 BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Faced with a freewheeling Iraqi media, the U.S.-led occupation authority is devising a code of conduct for the press, drawing protests from Iraqi journalists who endured censorship under Saddam Hussein and worry for their newfound freedom. Coalition officials say the code is not intended to censor the media, only to stifle intemperate speech that could incite violence and hinder efforts to build a civil society.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Sean Penn | voice4change.org | 31 May 2003 In early October of 2002 -- when the radio sputtered and whined with accusations by the Bush Administration declaring a direct link between the terrorist activity of Al Qaeda and the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein; I was sitting beside my 11-year old daughter in a car. It continued, with charges that Hussein's Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in violation of U.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Chris Hedges | Common Dreams/Rockford Register Star | 21 May 2003 I want to speak to you today about war and empire. Killing, or at least the worst of it, is over in Iraq. Although blood will continue to spill -- theirs and ours -- be prepared for this. For we are embarking on an occupation that, if history is any guide, will be as damaging to our souls as it will be to our prestige, power, and security.