Opinion
Academics on rampage
Isi Leibler
Published: 20.05.10, 18:25
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1. To be accepted in certain circles worldwide today one must
Yehudit ,   Ramt-Aviv, Tel-Aviv   (05.20.10)
be an anti-Israel/anti-Jewish/anti-Zionist (you may choose one or all) and since some academics in this sweet Land of ours are eager to be accepted in the circles of their peers who hate the people of this Land, they must show solidarity with them; they must bow down and kiss their feet. So they do. I feel sorry them.
2. Bravo!
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (05.20.10)
I am sick and tired of the leftists subverting freedom of speech to the point it has become freedom to agree with them only. In no other field are employees allowed to castigate their employer in a public forum at the same time announce their affiliation to that employer. In any other field they would be fired for such actions and deserve it. I spent most of my life in the military defending their right to free speech. I will be damned if I will allow them to take anyway mine.
3. about time the sane center, center-right hit back. we have t
ralph   (05.20.10)
to save ourselves from the loony left. and this is only the begining.
4. & Rabin's murderer was educated @ Bar Ilan!
(05.20.10)
and no one smears that university in the same manner that Mr. Leibler is smearing TAU just because Anat Kam was educated there. really! Mr. Leibler you have comprised the value of your entire article simply because you weren't able to resist the typical right wing need to over personalize everything!
5. Israel must break the evil chains of leftist dominance.
Chaim ,   Israel   (05.20.10)
Leibler is 100% correct. Israel is fighting for survival against foes who wouldn't think twice about murdering every Jew if they had the opportunity. Yet our universities are full of vile far leftists who assist our enemies in every possible way. This situation is intolerable. It is way past time not only to fire seditious academics but to put them on trial. Israel must break the evil chains of leftist dominance. We are a centre right country. Israel must be governed by centre right policies.
6. No More USA Donations to universities that foster such snake
TAUpresidentKlaffter ,   firehim, israel   (05.20.10)
oil salesmen. Tel Aviv University should get one cent of $ from donors.
7. JOKE: Israel must break the evil chains of leftist dominance
david ,   los angeles   (05.20.10)
Leftist dominance? What planet are you on?
8. haha
Brian ,   Cincinnati, USA   (05.20.10)
This article is hilarious, and makes the Israeli right look like the loony ones. The article states that leftists and academics compare Israeli policies to the Nazi regime, and on the other hand, the article expounds limitations to the freedom of expression, which is a cornerstone to any tyrannical (i.e. Nazi) government. The opinion articles on this website show a continued hypocrisy which I find amusing.
9. The left wants to destroy Israel
Roger ,   USA   (05.20.10)
10. We have no choice
Yossef ,   Rehovot, Israel   (05.20.10)
that to fight ideas with ideas.
11. Israeli Moral Decline and the Academia
Alan Smith ,   UK   (05.20.10)
Perhaps it's only the Israeli academia that can stop the moral decline of the Israeli state. The rest of the Israelis apparently live in a dream world, where God has given them the right to indulge themselves in illegal occupation and settlements. Perhaps they should wake up, and face the reality that religious fantasy has no credence under International Law.
12. cut funding to har bracha yeshiva, but not TAU?
Avi Steinson ,   Tel Aviv   (05.20.10)
the solution is very simple, cut govt funding.
13. This just shows we are having an impact...
Michael Hess ,   Charlotte, NC   (05.20.10)
...and being called "infantile" and other such nonsense is having no other impact except to encourage people to seek the truth. Facts, and right and wrong are what truly matters. The Ynuts have fantasy, we have the facts. Israel ends its vile occupations, then there will be peace and no need for stupid articles such as this one. Israel attempts to keep the stolen land instead of going back to Israel proper, and you will lose it all.
14. Liberalism is a disease.
ben Ish   (05.20.10)
It is a self-perpetuating mental illness. Liberals are highly emotionally invested in their opinion, because emotions specifically overturn logic and reason. This is why liberals are the first to resort to crude behavior, name calling, and childish behavior in general. A recent study showed that there are behavioral differences between liberal and conservative students as well. Liberals tend to favor bright primary colors and a disorganized workspace. Conservative students tend to prefer muted, earth tones, and an organized workspace. Maturity anyone? Liberalism is the overturning of intellect in favor of an emotional response to defend an illogical conclusion. An invested liberal will probably -NEVER- see the incongruity of their conclusions, because defending them is the basis of their own self-esteem. A liberal would sooner self-destruct than admit fault, although they really prefer to destroy -you- first, because your presentation of fact and logic represents a threat to their self-security. Don't argue or debate with liberals because admission of fact and fault is definitively impossible with them.
15. Pure yellow journalism.
A Jerusalemite ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (05.20.10)
16. #4 I didnt know Peres was educated @ Bar Ilan!
Jay3 ,   Israel   (05.20.10)
17. True enough, ben ish
Cameron ,   USA   (05.20.10)
"Liberalism is the overturning of intellect in favor of an emotional response to defend an illogical conslusion." There it is in a nutshell. Without fail, when one speaks with these progressive types, the converstion always spins off into a supremely self-righteous fuss, and fantasizing demand of how affairs "should be", at the expense of logic, pragmatism, and blunt facts on the ground. The Left wears such a pompous cloak of absolute certainty around it's shoulders that they are really starting to slip into a mode of irrationality and spooky sillyness. I for one have simply given up trying to find points of agreement & mutual interest with the Left.
18. Bravo, bring on the BDS
BDS Activist ,   NYC   (05.20.10)
I love that the paranoid wing of Israeli politics is now attacking academic freedom, such as the freedom to criticize government policy on the territories... as a BDS activist, this only amplifies the argument that BDS is not attacking academic freedom, Israel itself is a repressive climate where such freedoms do not exist. The firing of a few critical professors (along with your brilliant policy of expelling foreign scholars who disagree with you, such as Chomsky or many others) only makes my case that much clearer to the public. So thank you, I can't wait til Ynet's articles incite the firings of critical professors, for the isolation and rejection of Israel will only be accelerated. BOYCOTT DIVEST AND SANCTIONS
19. Politically Correct Left
Joe ,   Israel   (05.20.10)
Israel is a country at war. As usual, the Jews worst enemies are the Jews themselvs. These people should be charged with treason. What they are doing is not academic freedom. Where are these leftists when rockets are falling on civilians in Sederot? Their double standard - where Israel is concerned - makes me want to vomit.
20. Isi Liebler should pay attention to what they are saying
John R ,   NYC USA   (05.20.10)
It isn't simply academics in Israel who call for a boycott of Israel, academics all over the world are also advocating it. The question is why?Most object to Israeli WB settlement policies which every credible international forum has labeled illegal. The UNSC has three times called for a total economic boycott of Israel only to be stopped by a US veto. Not a single one of the 162 countries which recognize Israel accept Jerusalem as its capital. Apparently Isi believes the entire world is wrongheaded and the left thinking professors should be banished for thinking like the rest of the world. Maybe Isi Liebler should be fired or at the very least, censored for not thinking like the rest of the world. That makes about as much sense as the nonsense he's writing about. Are these professors causing uncontrollable riots in the streets?Call out the army.
21. Academic Israeli treason
Dr I. Barr ,   Michigan USA   (05.20.10)
As a graduate of The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School I am ashamed of the moral treason, ACUTE INTELLECTUAL DEFICIENCY that some Israeli deranged academics show. When these academic suggest a suicidal course for Israel in the name of free speech we have to admit the existence of a malignancy in our schools. Our universities have to close until such time that academic free speech is introduced. This is accuracy, fairness, balanced, responsible and criticism of the criticism. The University cannot be a stage for personal propaganda and opinion. There has to be accountability of Israeli academia. Israeli parents beware: when sending your kids to an Israeli university you will get in return a Marxist anti Zionist anti Israel graduate. Oh, do the Israeli radical academics pay income tax on the money that they get from Hanan Ashrawi and others? Note:Israel Academia Monitor and Prof S. Plaut warned about this situation for years
22. #4
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (05.20.10)
In what university did GSS agent Raviv, Yigal Amir's best friend, study?
23. #7 a few examples
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (05.20.10)
Attorney General spends millions of dollars and tens of years investigating Right-wing Lieberman and finds no evidence of anything. Same Attorney General investigates much greater theft by Left-wing Ehud Barak. After 1 day, the case is closed. Arbel wants to prosecute Sharon for Greek Island Affair. After Sharon agrees to ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Mazuz closes the case. Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak, Sharon and Netanyahu again all elected on Right-wing promises. After they are elected, all five change their mind and implement their Left-wing opponent's plans.
24. the left is our only option
marko ,   tel aviv   (05.20.10)
the left is our only relevant potion if we dont want a haradi/right wing jewish Iran
25. ISRAEL NEEDS THAT RADICAL LEFT TO MAKE PEACE WITH WORLD
ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU   (05.21.10)
WHAT RADICAL MEANS ? have an idea have a plan and to work according to the plan 24 hours 7 days thats all. the important thing is IF THE LEFT IS OKAY ! no need to talk much. THE ISRAELI LEFT IS OKAY. so ! calm down. relax. help the left for better days IN HOME & IN WORLD.
26. Ah ATILLA
Cameron ,   USA   (05.21.10)
What would we do without your perceptive clarity in these matters?
27. academics on rampage
e l pratt ,   atlanta usa   (05.21.10)
At last! A voice of reason is heard. One might suspect that the voices of the left are in fact the voices of enemy spies. How long will Israel tolerate sedition and treason under the guise of academic freedom?
28. More hypocrisy from the left
R ,   Israel   (05.21.10)
1) "I question whether such approach would apply to an academic telling his students that Arabs are racially inferior or that Hitler's genocidal policies were justified." The left would be yelling bloody murder. 2) I don't feel that students should have to listen to a left-wing rant at university any more than I should have to listen to my boss' right-wing rants at technical meetings at work. 3) If I was donating to TAU and heard that my money is supporting subversion, I'd stop the flow immediately. 4) Maybe the left is digging its own grave there's not a lot of the left left.
29. sometimes we have only one choice
hala ,   jerusalem   (05.21.10)
it is to tell the truth it is not academic or freedom it is the truth which is depends first on logic second on experiment third on benifit ... but if you want it to depends on the opposit system it is only academic freedom
30. Michael Hess' letter writing campaign:
Robert Haymond ,   Israel/Canada   (05.21.10)
Talk about "impact"! Congratulations, Michael, you and Kandy (Kandy Ringer, Michael's partner) managed to secure four votes out of 414 in the U.S. House of Representatives against Israel's recieving the missile defense system. Your letter writing/telephone/email publicity campaign managed to do quite well. Kindly congratulate Kandy on my behalf, also. And I hope you've put sufficient time aside to raise those watermelons and squash on your hobby farm outside Charlotte as I wouldn't want your "campaign" to influence American congressmen to get in the way of your gardening. All the best, Michael.
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