{"id":47096,"date":"2014-09-08T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=47096"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:30:37","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:30:37","slug":"how-to-boycott-israel-updated-guidelines-for-academics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/09\/how-to-boycott-israel-updated-guidelines-for-academics\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Boycott Israel: Updated Guidelines for Academics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A Palestinian man inspects a classroom damaged by an Israeli air strike at a school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, 24 August. (Abed Rahim Khatib \/ APA images)<\/p><\/div>\n

2 Sep 2014 – <\/em>The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel<\/a> (PACBI) recently updated its guidelines on how to apply the international academic<\/a> and cultural boycott<\/a> of Israel.<\/p>\n

This comes at a crucial moment \u2013 in the wake of Israel\u2019s latest spasm of horrifying destruction and mass killing in Gaza, and after a period of unprecedented growth in support for boycott, divestment and sanctions<\/a> (BDS).<\/p>\n

Calls for academic boycott<\/a> will resonate more than ever particularly in light of Israel\u2019s recent bomb attacks on university facilities in Gaza<\/a>, its violent raids<\/a> on universities in the West Bank and the financial and political support<\/a> Israeli universities have themselves given to the carnage.<\/p>\n

Right now, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza are not going back to school on time as a direct consequence of the Israeli devastation, while in the West Bank young children face such violence as tear gas fired at them on their way to class<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The school year in Gaza was scheduled to begin on 23 August but has been postponed; Israeli attacks since 7 July killed more than 500 children and injured thousands. In total 220 schools were damaged<\/a>, 22 of which were completely destroyed.<\/p>\n

Children will not be able to go back to class until \u201cwar-damaged schools\u201d are repaired and \u201cunexploded ordnance\u201d removed, the UN says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When children do go back to class, learning will certainly be an even bigger challenge due to the fact that virtually the entire child population in Gaza is in need of psychosocial support<\/a> due to the trauma of Israel\u2019s 51-day bombardment.<\/p>\n

Practical guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The updated PACBI guidelines are important for two reasons: they provide a practical reference that can be used to decide if a specific activity is boycottable and they can be used to debunk false claims made by opponents of the boycott, for example that the boycott stifles \u201cacademic freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

A common false claim is that PACBI has called for a blanket boycott of Israeli individuals or even of Jewish individuals.<\/p>\n

But, PACBI states: \u201cAnchored in precepts of international law and universal human rights, the BDS movement, including PACBI, rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity (such as citizenship, race, gender, or religion) or opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

A person\u2019s activities are boycottable, however, when \u201can individual is representing the state of Israel or a complicit Israeli institution (such as a dean, rector, or president), or is commissioned\/recruited to participate in Israel\u2019s efforts to \u2018rebrand\u2019 itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are other circumstances as well, as the guidelines detail.<\/p>\n

The PACBI guidelines \u201care mainly intended to assist conscientious academics and academic bodies around the world to be in harmony with the Palestinian call for boycott, as a contribution towards upholding international law and furthering the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n

PACBI urges:<\/p>\n

academics, academic associations\/unions, and academic \u2013 as well as other \u2013 institutions around the world, where possible and as relevant, to boycott and\/or work towards the cancellation or annulment of events, activities, agreements, or projects involving Israeli academic institutions or that otherwise promote the normalization of Israel in the global academy, whitewash Israel\u2019s violations of international law and Palestinian rights, or violate the BDS guidelines.<\/p>\n

Normalization and \u201cfig-leafing\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many Palestinians reject initiatives that they say constitute \u201cnormalization<\/a>.\u201d But what does this mean? Here is the definition provided by PACBI:<\/p>\n

Academic activities and projects involving Palestinians and\/or other Arabs on one side and Israelis on the other (whether bi- or multilateral) that are based on the false premise of symmetry\/parity between the oppressors and the oppressed or that claim that both colonizers and colonized are equally responsible for the \u201cconflict\u201d are intellectually dishonest and morally reprehensible forms of normalization that ought to be boycotted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Far from challenging the unjust status quo, such projects contribute to its endurance. Examples include events, projects, or publications that are designed explicitly to bring together Palestinians\/Arabs and Israelis so they can present their respective narratives or perspectives, or to work toward reconciliation without addressing the root causes of injustice and the requirements of justice.<\/p>\n

The guidelines gives examples of forms of joint activity that are and are not<\/em> normalization and also warn against \u201cfig-leafing\u201d:<\/p>\n

International academics who insist on crossing the BDS \u201cpicket line\u201d by pursuing activities with boycottable Israeli institutions and then visiting Palestinian institutions or groups for \u201cbalance,\u201d violate the boycott guidelines and contribute to the false perception of symmetry between the colonial oppressor and the colonized.\u00a0The BNC (including PACBI) rejects this attempt at \u201cfig-leafing<\/a>\u201d and does not welcome such visits to Palestinian institutions.<\/p>\n

PACBI\u2019s updated guidelines for cultural boycott are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The full academic boycott guidelines are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"(Wissam<\/a>

(Wissam Nassar \/ Maan Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

__________________________<\/p>\n

Ali Abunimah: Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of <\/em>The Battle for Justice in Palestine<\/a>, now out from Haymarket Books. Also wrote <\/em>One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 electronicintifada.net<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join the<\/em><\/strong> BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS <\/em><\/strong>campaign<\/em><\/strong><\/span> to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/strong> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/strong> BARCODE<\/strong> STARTS WITH<\/strong> 729<\/strong>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Sep 2014 – The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) recently updated its guidelines on how to apply the international academic and cultural boycott of Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}