Tel Aviv Professor Calls For Boycott Of Israel

Chloe Markowicz - Friday 29th January 2010


Dr Anat Matar

An Israeli professor is set to call for a boycott of the Jewish state during a talk at a London University.

Dr Anat Matar will give a lecture at the Palestine Society of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) next month. The university has frequently been accused of being a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment.

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In her talk, entitled Supporting the Boycott on Israel: A View from Within, Matar, who teaches at Tel Aviv University's Philosophy department, intends to "expose the audience to more intelligent objections to the boycott".

Matar told the Jewish News that a boycott is the only way to ensure that "occupation should end".

She added: "I think this is the only thing that may work. Israeli society is going more and more to the right. The Zionist left is gone."

The UK government and British Jewish leaders have repeatedly condemned boycotts of Israel.

Jeremy Newmark, Jewish Leadership Council CEO and a board member of the Fair Play Campaign Group, an organisation set up in opposition of Israel boycotts, has been in touch with the president of Tel Aviv University, who insisted Matar does not speak for the university or its vast majority of lecturers and researchers.

Newmark said: "Just as in Britain, Israel's academic community includes a tiny minority who promote boycotts of Israel. Most academics know that boycotts do nothing to promote peace and only undermine academic freedom. The fact that Professor Matar is able to engage in these activities is itself a sign of Israel's commitment to academic freedom."

Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.

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