Opinion
Dishonest or incompetent?
Martin Sherman
Published: 12.10.10, 17:39
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1. True!
Ricardo Macher ,   Karnei Shomron IL   (10.12.10)
Absolutely true! Time has come to clean Israeli universities!
2. Israeli academia
Michael ,   NY   (10.12.10)
Perhaps it is true and data supports Martin's argument. I object however to the generalizations. That sociology, political sciences, or some other fields of studies in the social sciences and perhaps in some cases in the humanities and arts are dominated by scholars who are not such, with a lack of academic integrity, who indoctrinate and impose their undocumented and unsubstantiated views on their students, does not mean that all programs and all departments, in particular in the sciences, but also in the humanities, are to be judged because of biased sociologists or political scientists. I hope that Dr. Sherman clarifies it not only with a sentence about "expertise relevant to the Oslo process," since the sensationalist title accuses the academy as a whole... not the way an academic should write. however, indeed Martin is right and Israeli academia should review how is it that such travesty of academic honesty was conducted when providing tenure to very poor scholarship (tenure is not a right) or how tenure was not taken away when demonstrated that fabrications and lies were utilized in place of real data.
3. dishonest and cowardly
alexi   (10.12.10)
every so often, convict olmert opens his moth uttering more appeasement-agree to the freeze extension, don't upset the US its bad for the economy, give in on jeruslame and take in some arabs as a goodwill gesture. Otherwise, it will be doom and gloom. Concede, concede, concede. How did jews produce such a bloody coward like olmert who has friends like merridor, associates livni and of course the whole of haaretz . What kind of a gutless society produces such a coward.His t hinking is what enabled antisemitism-the weak jew. olmert is the defintion of a rear end politician. He is worse than a quisling or traitor. Continue with olmert's concessions and israel will implode.This from the PM who appointed Amir peretz as minister of defense. Do yoiu remember??!!
4. Lack of Integrity more like it
Larissa ,   South Africa   (10.12.10)
If it was simply an issue of intellectual imcompetence regarding the outcome of the Oslo accord, well then the major figures of Israeli acadamia would have taken back their rosy predictions of peace and prosperity, and long since admitted their failure to head the so-called "heretics". But clearly this is not the case. They still ingrain Israeli students with vicious, left-wing, anti-Zionist dogma to the tune of Israel is the Oppressor, Palestine is the hapless "Other" victim, and if only we give them our heads they will love us. The facts of reality clearly have not changed their ideological trajectory, so clearly they dispay academic dishonesty, which is far worse than incompetence. It is knowing that what they preach is false but preaching it anyway in order to bolster the party line. And that's not just irresponsible, its down-right immoral.
5. Liberals tend to be immune from self-criticism
Raymond in DC ,   Washington, USA   (10.12.10)
There are many endeavors for which one pays a penalty for an error of judgment. Farmers who plant the wrong crops or don't properly irrigate can have a bad harvest. Doctors who don't apply the appropriate treatment can lose their patient. Businessmen who make a bad investment can lose everything. A military commander can lose a battle. But what price is there to pay for an error in political judgment or a faulty analysis among the intellectual elite. Usually none. If they have tenure, they don't lose it. They continue to publish. Their friends in the media provide them with a forum. And they continue traveling to conferences to spout their nonsense. One can also pose a question to one of these "scholars": If they were not able to teach, what would they be qualified to do to make a living?
6. not just in Israel
AT ,   Boston, MA   (10.12.10)
This is a general phenomenon in academia, tied to a general lack of self-criticism that allows dishonest behavior to run amuck. These days, academic integrity is more of a buzzword than a realistic ideal.
7. Wrong: most academics are not involved
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (10.12.10)
Sherman does us a disservice. Which faculty members were polled? Which universities? I find it impossible to accept this article without knowing: -how many academics are in Israel -who polled them, and what was the sample size -what were the questions asked (any pollster will tell you that biased questions will skew the results in favor of a specific outcome) There are hundreds or thousands of math, engineering, chemistry, dental, medical, and other professors in dozens of disciplines. Is Sherman talking about political science departments only? How are we supposed to figure this out? And are social sciences and humanities professors the majority or minority on our campuses? Could it be that it's simply the loud mouthed minority that are getting a bad name for all "Israeli academics"?
8. Some Israeli Professors lack both traits
Yardena Anat Even   (10.12.10)
Who are the worst academic offenders against Israel? A. Several hundred people, most of them documented and exposed on www.Isracampus.org.il, are spread among Israeli universities and colleges. The very worst centers of academic radicalism are Ben Gurion University and Tel Aviv University, while the University of Haifa and the Hebrew University are only slightly behind. The worst faculty offenders are usually employed in the humanities or the soft social sciences, as well as in law and education. Many of them openly call on the world to boycott Israel. Some openly support terrorist attacks against Jews. Almost all the offenders are Israeli Jews; very few are Arabs. Some are Israelis living outside Israel. Rather recently, a professor at Sapir College kicked a student out of class for wearing an IDF uniform. http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/8941
9. Premise is overly general - Sciences are very competent
Eric ,   Tel Aviv & New York   (10.12.10)
Although there the premise may be true of political science or humanities, the sciences and engineering are all very premise is overly general - Sciences are very competent.
10. or maybe you Mr.Sherman suffer from hubris and arrogance !!
Salma ,   Palestine   (10.12.10)
Wake up and smell the tea! we're in 2010 NOT 1917 !
11. JMO
XYZ ,   ZYX   (10.12.10)
Thank You! MR. Martin Sherman.
12. Just don't call it scieneces
Inyaki ,   Bilbao, Basque   (10.12.10)
Social sciences are no sciences at all, just call it socilology, astrology, politology etc. But, please, don't insult our intelligence by calling it sciences. There is little scientific about all that.
13. Posturing academics are always a dubious lot
Cameron ,   USA   (10.12.10)
One of those important life lessons most of us learn in college.
14. Michael #2: You might be interested in
Robert Haymond ,   Israel/Canada   (10.12.10)
visiting the following website in order to expand your information base if, in fact, you're not already aware of it: isracampus,org.il. I, personally, have always found it to be a solid source of information on the post-modern approach to Israeli society by current academics as well as those in power to admit those whose political perspectives are not in line with their own.
15. THE JUNGLE WORLD SOUL NEED HIM
THE LAMB SOUL ,   THE LION SOUL   (10.13.10)
JESUSALEN!
16. TRUTH
Jae ,   Lynn US   (10.13.10)
17. Echoes of the past
SLZ ,   NY   (10.13.10)
Sherman echoes the warnings of Paul Eidelberg (and to a lesser degree Mordechai Nisan) about the leftist lurch of Israeli academia. As a student at Bar-Ilan University in the early 80s, I was surprised by the left-leaning bias of so many instructors (except for Eidelberg). The same holds true in the US.
18. Shut down the dens of academic treason! Save Israel!
seth ,   London   (10.13.10)
Shut down the dens of academic treason! Save Israel!
19. Sherman
Michael ,   Haifa   (10.13.10)
Sherman of course is impartial and objective, ergo, he is competent and honest
20. Not just...
Ron Rico ,   Florida USA   (10.13.10)
Not just the academic who in a paper wrote, "Israeli soldiers don't rape Palestinian women because they are racists," is stupid and dishonest beyond belief but also other academics who accepted that premise are stupid and dishonest beyond belief. Also the fact that these guys are still saound is beyond belief. Clean Israel's academic mess now!
21. both. and add fools, useful idiots.
ralph   (10.13.10)
22. Oslo postponed the third inifada -- it did not CAUSE it
PZ ,   New York   (10.13.10)
Mr Sherman shares an affliction with most of Israel's "fact-based, centerist" media commentators: complete inability to make the basic logical distinction between correlation and causation. To speak with Mr Sherman's casual certainty regarding the supposed "consequences of Oslo" forgets there are two unrecoverable datapoints missing from any such analysis: (i) the timberbox of a Middle East we'd face in a hypothetical world were Oslo had never happeded (say where, for example, had Shamir stayed PM to this day) and (ii) the incalculably more stable world we would inhabit if Oslo had managed to succeed as planned (say where, for example, Bibi had never been elected in the 1990s). Anyone not considering these counter-scenarios is merely blathering as usual.
23. #22 PZ. Oslo Disaster skyrocketed anti-Israel terror.
Chaim ,   Israel   (10.13.10)
#22 PZ. Prior to Oslo, Israel suffered an average of about a dozen terror casualties annually. After Oslo, terror casualties soared into the tens of thousands. Oslo skyrocketed anti-Israel terror. There is no rational defense of the abomination known as the Oslo Disaster.
24. It's not just Israeli academia ...
michael redbourn ,   Arad Israel   (10.14.10)
It's probably ALL academia. In general professors are totally out of touch with the realities of life. They think in utopian terms but fail to realize that their ideas failed miserably everywhere they were tried. There is a new thread on this very subject at, http://tiny.cc/dumb-profs
25. Academics are given tenure for JUST ONE THING
Deborah ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (10.14.10)
Being good at their jobs. Being good at teaching , research and publishing. What the hell has any academic’s views on the Oslo process got to do with their teaching history, their research into Hebrew literature, or their writing books about archaeology? Do we quiz a bus driver about his views before getting on the bus? Do we insist on knowing how a bank’s employees voted before opening an account with them? Do we refuse to let a hairdresser cut our hair unless we agree with them about politics? Certainly not. We expect them to be good at their jobs. Ferreting around in people’s political views is completely beside the point and a waste of time.
26. You assume that Academics are actually Intelligent
Jonny ,   SA   (10.14.10)
There is a basic false assumption that academics are actually intellectually intelligent. For the most part, having a string of degrees behind ones name does not imply that a) There is some intelligence behind the degrees, other then to absorb and regurgetate. b) That the academic has any clue whatsover as to REAL life situations.
27. The defense of ignorance is alive and well...
Miikesailor ,   Miami, FL   (10.15.10)
So, all academics, merely because they know their subject matter better than you do, should be disregarded because your ignorance and 'common sense' is superior? Therefore why be educated at all? Ignorance is knowledge; War is Peace. Orwellian? Not at all because we don't know who Orwell is. Nor should we care because he isn't on our list of 'approved' pundits. Amazing what passes for 'intellectualism' and the 'seardh for knowledge' in Israel these days. We don't need no educashyun.
28. They want to believe no matter what the facts are
LA ,   LA   (10.18.10)
While some are hard core wanting the destruction of the country and could care less about the facts, most are just dreamers who don't want to be confronted with the facts; as it will not be congruent with their idealistic belief systems. They can't handle the truth.
29. Where is the national pride?
Nurit Greenger ,   Beverly Hills USA   (10.18.10)
It is not the lack of professional integrity or professional competence, it is the lack of nationalism and patriotism and the love of the land AND, the lack of true Jewishness. How infuriating and embarrassing…here my late mother would have said: Shush, schtiel,…do not let anyone know this…This is a terrible cancer spreading in the veins of the Israeli society
30. howler
hilarious ,   tel aviv   (10.20.10)
This is a howler. So the measure of academic competence is support or opposition to Oslo – enough of silly universal standards like publications, teaching, research, international and peer acclaim – in that person’s field of expertise. The personal views of any academic are not legitimate, unless they agree with that those of Martin Sherman – indeed, there is no such thing as a legitimate personal political opinion at all, only some sort of dark academic conspiracy. Maybe we should make swearing dis-allegiance to Oslo a condition of getting a university appointment? Why stop there – make people swear dis-allegiance to Oslo to receive citizenship? It really does solve the Jewish and democratic state problem. And please, please somebody find a cruel and unusual editor for this kind of writing.
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