Israel as a Rogue State 108

Israeli ties: a chance
to do the right thing 
by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Times Live
26 September 2010
The University of Johannesburg's Senate will next week meet to decide
whether to end its relationship with an Israeli institution, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, on the grounds of that university's active support
for and involvement in the Israeli military. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
supports the move. He explains why
“The temptation in our situation is to speak in muffled tones about an issue
such as the right of the people of Palestine to a state of their own.

We can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as meaning
parity between justice and injustice. Having achieved our own freedom, we
can fall into the trap of washing our hands of difficulties that others
face. Yet we would be less than human if we did so. It behoves all South
Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of generous international
support, to stand up and be counted among those contributing actively to the
cause of freedom and justice." - Nelson Mandela, December 4 1997

Struggles for freedom and justices are fraught with huge moral dilemmas. How
can we commit ourselves to virtue - before its political triumph - when such
commitment may lead to ostracism from our political allies and even our
closest partners and friends? Are we willing to speak out for justice when
the moral choice that we make for an oppressed community may invite phone
calls from the powerful or when possible research funding will be withdrawn
from us? When we say "Never again!" do we mean "Never again!", or do we mean
"Never again to us!"?

Our responses to these questions are an indication of whether we are really
interested in human rights and justice or whether our commitment is simply
to secure a few deals for ourselves, our communities and our institutions -
but in the process walking over our ideals even while we claim we are on our
way to achieving them?

The issue of a principled commitment to justice lies at the heart of
responses to the suffering of the Palestinian people and it is the absence
of such a commitment that enables many to turn a blind eye to it.

Consider for a moment the numerous honorary doctorates that Nelson Mandela
and I have received from universities across the globe. During the years of
apartheid many of these same universities denied tenure to faculty who were
"too political" because of their commitment to the struggle against
apartheid. They refused to divest from South Africa because "it will hurt
the blacks" (investing in apartheid South Africa was not seen as a political
act; divesting was).

Let this inconsistency please not be the case with support for the
Palestinians in their struggle against occupation.

I never tire of speaking about the very deep distress in my visits to the
Holy Land; they remind me so much of what happened to us black people in
South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints
and roadblocks, suffering like we did when young white police officers
prevented us from moving about. My heart aches. I say, "Why are our memories
so short?" Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their own previous
humiliation? Have they forgotten the collective punishment, the home
demolitions, in their own history so soon?

Have they turned their backs on their profound and noble religious
traditions? Have they forgotten that God cares deeply about all the
downtrodden?

Together with the peace-loving peoples of this Earth, I condemn any form of
violence - but surely we must recognise that people caged in, starved and
stripped of their essential material and political rights must resist their
Pharaoh? Surely resistance also makes us human? Palestinians have chosen,
like we did, the nonviolent tools of boycott, divestment and sanctions.

South African universities with their own long and complex histories of both
support for apartheid and resistance to it should know something about the
value of this nonviolent option.

The University of Johannesburg has a chance to do the right thing, at a time
when it is unsexy. I have time and time again said that we do not want to
hurt the Jewish people gratuitously and, despite our deep responsibility to
honour the memory of the Holocaust and to ensure it never happens again (to
anyone), this must not allow us to turn a blind eye to the suffering of
Palestinians today.

I support the petition by some of the most prominent South African academics
who call on the University of Johannesburg to terminate its agreement with
Ben-Gurion University in Israel (BGU). These petitioners note that: "All
scholarly work takes place within larger social contexts - particularly in
institutions committed to social transformation. South African institutions
are under an obligation to revisit relationships forged during the apartheid
era with other institutions that turned a blind eye to racial oppression in
the name of 'purely scholarly' or 'scientific work'." It can never be
business as usual.

Israeli Universities are an intimate part of the Israeli regime, by active
choice. While Palestinians are not able to access universities and schools,
Israeli universities produce the research, technology, arguments and leaders
for maintaining the occupation. BGU is no exception. By maintaining links to
both the Israeli defence forces and the arms industry, BGU structurally
supports and facilitates the Israeli occupation. For example, BGU offers a
fast-tracked programme of training to Israeli Air Force pilots.

In the past few years, we have been watching with delight UJ's
transformation from the Rand Afrikaans University, with all its scientific
achievements but also ugly ideological commitments. We look forward to an
ongoing principled transformation. We don't want UJ to wait until others'
victories have been achieved before offering honorary doctorates to the
Palestinian Mandelas or Tutus in 20 years' time.

LINK: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article675369.ece/Israeli-ties--a-chance-to-do-the-right-thing

Sonja Karkar
Editor
Australians for Palestine
http://www.australiansforpalestine.com