Prof. Ben-Artzi is perfectly correct. Both Muslims & the Left have joined forces with the exact intent. of turning Israel into a pariah state. They work every angle they can dream up. Israel had better slip it into gear by mustering up a first-class, non-stop PR & propaganda offensive.

Norway is scarcely an enlightened state. They are proud of their Viking heritage, but those Vikings invaded most of Europe and were the original barbarians. Following the defeat of the Vikings (ultimately by the Swedes in the 11th century, interestingly enough), Norway faded into oblivion and basically stayed there until the discovery of North Sea oil (which is running out, by the way). It was the Norwegian traitor, Vidkun Quisling, that lent his name to the word "quisling," synonymous with "traitor." The Norwegians have for generations severely persecuted the native Sami people, and only two or three years ago allowed them their own Parliament. They have yet to allow them to secede and form their own country. One does wonder why Norway adopts such virulent anti-Israel policies? Methinks they doth protest WAY too much, considering their own despicable behavior with respect to the Sami, who have a far better claim to independence than the Palestinians have ever had. Until the discovery of oil in the North Sea, Norway was the second-poorest country in Europe. Unproductive farms and salt cod processing were their chief claims to fame. That is why there are six times as many Norwegians living in the United States as there are in Norway. There are, however, nearly one million Moslems and Arabs, who have quadrupled the crime rate in Norway and show absolutely no inclination or desire to be Norwegian. Look for them principally in Oslo and Bergen, where they constitute a most raucous minority. There's also several thousand in Grimstad. Norway doesn't matter. It is estimated that North Sea oil will be completely depleted within a decade, and Norway can go back to operating hardscrabble farms and salting cod for export. In the last three years alone, no fewer than six Norwegian shipping companies have gone into bankruptcy and one of the largest, Green Reefers -- a public company -- is about to file as well. Norway is a never-was. Not even a has-been. I see no benefit to any intellectual exchange between Israel and Norway; Norway has nothing to offer. None of their universities have international renown. Why should Israel waste time on fourth-rate universities?

And should only be applied to the universities in the WB. Focus should be on an economic boycott, all goods and produce from the illegal settlements in the WB should be clearly labelled as such. All preferential trade agreements with Israel should be put on hold. The economic boycott should only end when Israel removes all its settlers from the Palestinian WB and a comprehensive and fair peace agreement has been reached.

to add a bit: King Stephen [?] of England defeated the Norse invaders in 1066, killing their king in the north of England only to turn around rushing south to Hastings -and defeat by William the Conqueror . The attempted academic boycott is loathsome

You may merit honorary viking status yourself! I had not heard that North Sea oil reserves were projected to be that finite. They are very, very proud of that North Sea oil. Also not aware of that many Norwegians grubbing for work in the States. Not surprised though. I have run across enough Europeans over the years here because there was no employment in their former progressive utopias.

The settlers are not the problem, they never have been. There were no settlers before 67, and still Israel was attacked. There are no settlers in Gaza now, and still Israel is attacked. There are no settlers in Southern Lebanon, and still Israel is attacked. "The settlers" is a non-argument. Making the Westbank judenrein will not solve the problem and will not bring peace.

Cameron, it wouldn't work. Anti-Semitism -- which has morphed into anti-Zionism and hatred of Israel -- is almost a racial memory among non-Jews. We have always been a relatively insignificant percentage in terms of population, but we have always had a unique sense of who we are. We are Jews. We have always preferred death to being anything but Jews, and have died in significant numbers for that loyalty to our identity. It has served to strengthen us. The rest of the world doesn't understand it, and has tried to write it off in any number of scurrilous ways, including accusations of world-wide conspiracies and the like. It's not true, you know that, but most people are not quite as intelligent as you are. Blood libel charges, "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," "Zionist Occupational Government," accusations of Jewish domination of the media, or of international banking .... that's a direct outgrowth of the failure on the part of non-Jews to understand why we are what we are. Despite centuries -- no, millennia -- of vicious persecution, Jews have consistently been in the forefront of medicine, philosophy, law, the arts, the sciences -- and that scares non-Jews in some way, which I cannot fathom, therefore cannot counter. But we are still here. Some of the ethnicities that populated the earth alongside us are long gone -- Hittites, Sumerians, Assyrians, Moabites, Jebusites, Canaanites, Amalekites -- all gone. Jews are still here. We'll be here in a thousand years, too, and we will have our Israel. The focus is on maintaining our identity in the face of a hostile world (we've had a long time to practice this, and are rather good at it). The secret is in not engaging in public relations or a propaganda offensive. That won't change anyone's mindset, because for the most part, we are dealing with rather primitive people who prefer to cling to their beliefs and remain bogged down in centuries past. Besides -- if you are not guilty of something, you need not put forth a defense. If Norway doesn't want academic contact with Israel -- fine. Guess who comes out on the losing end of that one! (Hint: not Israel). Thank you, though. It is refreshing to know that some people are not blinded by Arab and Euroweenie propaganda. Truly it is. I hope you get to visit Israel some day, and see what a wonderful, energetic and moral place it is. We reclaimed it from a barren, deserted and hostile place and turned it into a modern Western democracy, against all odds. No one's taking it away anytime soon. I think you know that.

Re: Declining production -- Here's a link; it's a quick Google, you can find more by searching "declining North Sea oil reserves." It is actually becoming more expensive to operate the rigs in the North Sea than the price that the UK (including Scotland) and Norway can get on the spot market for the oil. They've cut production massively, but that's supposed to be a great big national secret. http://www.dieoff.org/page180.htm Actually, I was referring to the millions and millions of Norwegians who emigrated to the United States over the last two centuries. (Ever been to Minnesota?) Although you are correct -- educated Norwegians come to the U.S. and Canada in droves. Battle-axe? Oh yeah. I'm taking a week vacation, and here it is Monday and I am already bored. Gotta have something to keep me out of the bars and pool halls! (Only kidding.)

Ah, thanks for the added bit of information. I know they tangled with the Danes under Canute and with the Swedes, but I didn't realize they tangled with the Normans, too. I'd always thought it was purely William of Normandy against King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Thank you for the education. I shall now go read up on it a little more. It's interesting, and I love European history. Thanks again, Eric.

thanks for the brief but very educated history comments about that little northen country..

Well Sir Patrick your previous post was very simplistic but let me respond: Agreed they are only 'part' of the problem, a problem in that they terrorize the innocent civilians in the WB and also destroy their farmland and livelihoods. The main problem is Israel's unwillingness to make peace. This is borne out of the fact that Israel is happy to continue the occupation of Palestinian land and the suppression of the Palestinian people regardless if this brutal suppression leads to more violent Palestinian resistance and the deaths of further Israelis. Apparently Israel is more concerned about stealing more land and resources from the Palestinians than the lives and safety of Israelis.

No, fate never placed me in Minnesota, but I did spend some time in Ohio years ago, and saw enough flippin' cornfields to last me a lifetime. No real interest in Norway, though I have always had a desire to tour some of the nearby Baltic countries, like Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland. Hey, had some great adventures roaming bars & pool-halls on occasion. Nothing wrong with steppin' out for a drink, some 8-ball, and the ladies now & again. Few cities beat Chicago in that respect.

It sounds terrible: a university in Norway wants to boycott a symposium about " israeli occupation".... symposium shared with Israeli academics. The sylabus of the symposium is, anti Israel, anti Zionist rant.. This boycott is the result of vocal Israeli radicals who called to boykott Israeli products, Israel academia and Israeli officials and artists. But here, in Norway, the anti Israel, anti Zionist symposium is the one which is blocked. Many radicals in Israel such as Anat Matar called to sign a petition to exempt this symposium from this "justified" anti Israel meeting. This is hypocrisy because if supporting Israel it is crime against humanity the call for Israel destruction is OK. I agree with the boycott since it shuts up reckless irresponsible self serving Israel radical academics by their own doings. It bumeranged of them. Thanks Norway.

Even if you are right about the declining North Sea oil reserves, I wouldn't view this as good news, as this would mean, of course, more dependence on Saudi and Iranian oil. And between enriching Norway vs. Saudi Arabia and Iran, I think I'll opt for the lesser evil in Norway.

Singling out a people, a race is a form of racism. Israel is the nation-state of a people - based on UN resolutions and based on the self-determination of the people of Israel - and to single it out and deal with it in a way no other nation-state, no other people no other race is being dealt with, is a pure form of racism. We, members of the Jewish people, have been affected by racism, anti-Jewish racism, for many centuries and we know one when we see it. It appears, behind this thin veil of "enlightenment", "progress", the drive for "human rights", the human rights of the Jew is being spit on, trampled upon, torn to pieces. You see, the Jew is also a human being with the right to live - the very first of all human rights - and to defend his life and the life of his family: man, woman and child. But I suspect the driving force behind the need to single out the Jew in society and his collective home, his nation-state of Israel, is not the defence of these grand ideals but a mind infected by an old illness: anti-Jewish racism, this time with a Scandinavian flavour.

Whether or not to boycott should depend on Universities ties with Occupation. http://www.alternativenews.org/the-economy-of-the-occupation/2223

nothing good came out of that country the salmon we eat today don't even come from there anymore, they stink from fish.

writes one of the "enlightened" racists, anti-Jewish racist in this case, and obsessively and relentlessly, without any proportion to Israel's geographic and demographic size - that of Wales and Slovenia, with only 5.5 million Jews and with no natural resources but for its people - and without any relationship to Israel's importance or lack thereof in world affairs continues to sling dirt at Israel, and by extension at the Jewish people whose nation-state it is. Israel, mind you, accepted UN Resolution 181 of 1947 which called for the setting up of a "Jewish state" and and "Arab state" in the Land. The Arabs were the ones who rejected the resolution and began to attack the Jewish civilian community of the country the following day. Israel accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 that called upon the warring states to recognize each other's right to exist within secure boundaries based on negotiations. Israel thus signed a peace agreement with Egypt and vacated as a result an a geographic area three times its size, i.e. Sinai, and with Jordan. Israel, furthermore, offered the Arabs of the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria as well as those of the Gaza Strip an autonomy, 1978, which in time could have evolved into statehood, but the Arabs of Eretz Israel (Land of Israel / Palestine) rejected the offer. They also rejected Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak's offer of 2000 for 95% of the territory on which they could establish their independent state. They rejected Ehud Olmert's offer of 2008 to set up their political entity on 97% of the territory in question. And all of these offers, mind you, have been over and beyond UNSC Resolution 242 which does not mention even once the concepts of "Palestine", "Palestinians" or "Palestinian state". Indeed, it does not mention at all the setting up of yet another state between the River and the Sea. Jews worldwide, within and without Israel, have been eager, very eager to achieve an accommodation of peaceful coexistence between Arab and Jew, between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The Muslim-Arab world however has refused, consistently and persistently to accept Israel's RIGHT to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people. To state here, in full daylight that the main problem is Israel's refusal to achieve peace is preposterous, and if it were not a serious matter it would be laughable. But the motive is obvious: to single out a particular tiny people, a race and to sling mud at its most important achievement during the 20th and 21st centuries: the return to Zion and Jerusalem and the re-establishment in Eretz Israel its sovereign national home can only be described as a form of racism, anti-Jewish racism.

You are receiving strong support from Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. In just three days, 1,485international academics plus 10 Nobel Laureates have signed a petition refuting and condemning Norway's Trondheim University anti-Israel boycott. This boycott campaign is discriminatory, unethical and is drawing negative attention to the school from academics worldwide. I suppose this experience will be part of the learning experience for your students but I'm confident they will be well received at other highly respected universities.

You are more than welcome, David. My pleasure.

Thank you very much for your excellent analysis. Truth will out, every time. Maybe the "enlightened" Jew-haters will fold up their tents and steal off into the night when their "arguments" are so thoroughly proven spurious and without foundation. Thanks again.

The summer of my sophomore year in college, I drove cross-country with two friends. I know what you mean about the cornfields ... and the wheat, rye, soy and whatever the hell else is grown in the midwest. I love the fact that America is breadbasket to the world, though. When we reached California, I realized, too, that California is the produce market for the world. Interestingly -- you can get the same sense traveling through Israel. Acres and acres of orange, grapefruit and clementine orchards; banana fields; cotton .... not the legacy of lush fertile soil as is the case in the United States, but rather the result of hard work pushing back the desert and draining swamps. Even on the West Bank, you see olive groves and strawberry fields -- all planted since 1967. I love Chicago, except for the pizza. I'm from New York, and thin-crust IS the way to go! Nothing against the occasional drink, but I'm a terrible pool player and ladies don't do it for me. You've never indicated where you are from. Not sure why, but I always figured Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, or some place like that. Your personality, I suppose. Anyway, it doesn't matter and you certainly don't have to say.

...your unwillingless to realize the facts, coupled with a strong leaning towards oversimplification and generalisation. It is not all settlers that "terrorize" what you call "innocent civilians" in the West bank. If at all it is a small group of radicals. And, to remind you, no settlers in Gaza and Lebanon... Concerning Israels unwillingness to peace, the facts also prove you wrong. How can one see the withdrawal from so many areas and the wide concessions offered as an "unwillingness to peace"? While the land actually controlled by Israel is getting smaller and smaller, how can one see this as "stealing more land"? And compare the quality of live in Israel with that in Gaza and in the West Bank and then realize who's leaders care more for the lives of their people... Start having a little less 6X and do a little more thinking, little Matty Groves.

Bravo sarah b. Now talkbackers will know a little about the subject. under discussion .

Thank you. Always a pleasure to educate the uninformed (kind of a Jewish thing, I guess)!

made the sheep they steal from Israel teritory. including cares and children toyes. don't say I didn't warned you.

There's a fine of about $12 on every bottle of wine produced in the WB, yet it's so good that people continue to buy it anyway. It's just like the huge fines EU imposes on Intel and Micrisoft - that's how you Europeans make money, by playing cop and taxing people. I'm praying that the EU multiculturalism will spill into something like the Middle East, I'll have fun watching you suffer like we do.

sounds like pretty medieval to me. Well done Norway

Very informative narrative Sarah, but are the Sami people treated by Norway the same way as Israel treats the Pallestinians? I think not, as there is no other people that treat their neighbours as sadistically as Israel treats the peoples of Gaza and the West Bank. Go Norway, and more boycotts of Israel please!