Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel

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LateX'Dog

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Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.

Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions.

In April the Teachers' Union of Ireland became the first lecturers' association in Europe to call for an academic boycott of Israel, and in the United States members of the Association for Asian American Studies voted to support a boycott, the first national academic group to do so.

In the four weeks since Hawking's participation in the Jerusalem event was announced, he has been bombarded with messages from Britain and abroad as part of an intense campaign by boycott supporters trying to persuade him to change his mind. In the end, Hawking told friends, he decided to follow the advice of Palestinian colleagues who unanimously agreed that he should not attend.

Hawking's decision met with abusive responses on Facebook, with many commentators focusing on his physical condition, and some accusing him of antisemitism.

By participating in the boycott, Hawking joins a small but growing list of British personalities who have turned down invitations to visit Israel, including Elvis Costello, Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Annie Lennox and Mike Leigh.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/08/stephen-hawking-israel-academic-boycott

Whats it going to take for the international community to do something about this horrific situation Israel is allowed to enforce? :(
 
How can people go and then abuse him on facebook and take the mick out of him for how he is? Theres some warped people out there, sickens me.
 
Several years too late and I'm not really sure how an academic boycott is going to do much.

What's more of a shame is there aren't many viable states around there to challenge Israels position.
 
pingwing said:
Several years too late and I'm not really sure how an academic boycott is going to do much.

What's more of a shame is there aren't many viable states around there to challenge Israels position.
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There were...and they chose to challenge israel militarily and got spanked into dust..which is why there are now no viable states left.

and youre right, an academic boycott will do nothing whatsoever except make a few people feel better about themselves.
 
Ripjaw said:
How can people go and then abuse him on facebook and take the mick out of him for how he is? Theres some warped people out there, sickens me.
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Its a hugely polarising issue and it rustles a lot of jimmies. His physical condition doesnt make him immune from criticism when he takes a controversial position on something. but people who talk politics on facebook are often a special kind of person so them focusing on his disability doesnt surprise me.
 
"he has been bombarded with messages from Britain and abroad as part of an intense campaign by boycott supporters trying to persuade him to change his mind"

I think he may of thought "I'm fed-up of all these moaners so I'm going to stay in bed **** em"
 
The thing that really ticks me off about Israel is that if anyone criticises them in any way, shape or form, they immediately play the antisemitism card.

Uhhhh no! We dont hate jewish people! We hate human rights abuse, no matter who it is doing it!
 
Good for him. Also holy crap he's 71!


Only the likes of America taking action could possibly make any difference, even then Israel has had blanket immunity for so long it would take a while before the reality of it hit them.
 
Can't believe he is 71, Think his health should be the main consideration now but it's good that at least some people are finally speaking out. What good it'll do we'll have to wait & see but it would be nice if there was more public discussion & an opening for protests that will eventually have some effect on the situation.
 
As others have said, I am more amazed at his age! What a trooper. I am sure some are labeling him as an Anti-Semite already.
 
=XDC=FluphyBunny said:
Good for him. Also holy crap he's 71!


Only the likes of America taking action could possibly make any difference, even then Israel has had blanket immunity for so long it would take a while before the reality of it hit them.
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America usually support Israel, which means it is probably even less likely for something to change.
 
Von Smallhausen said:
He's expressed his opinion and good on him. I'm not anti-Semitic but Israeli handling of Palestine and Human rights abuses are terrible.
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This.

I go to Jerusalem regularly and it isn't simply the Palestinians that are being treated poorly, it is pretty much anyone with Arab descent, Israeli or otherwise. They are running headlong into a type of apartheid and hiding it under the mantle of self-defence and any criticism is automatically dismissed as antisemitism...even from moderate Israeli Jews themselves. Israel is a strange place, attitudes in Jerusalem are totally different to that in Tel Aviv for example.
 
Good on him. About time people started standing up to one of the most aggressive, yet diplomatically immune, nations on Earth. Unfortunately, however, it'll take a lot more than this to prevent the terrible actions of the Israeli military and politicians - but better something than nothing of course.
 
Hopefully it will give more people who are in powerful enough positions to do something about it the strength to stand up and be counted.

Lets face it most politicians (especially in the USA) are as good as requesting their P45 when they voice any opposition towards Israel, when Netanyahu last spoke to US congress he got 29 standing ovations, talk about brown nosing.
 
Indeed. I actually can't blame Iran for planning to build a nuclear weapon (if they are) now given the actions of Israel and their constant lust for military action. That may sound very controversial, but history has shown that when a country does actually acquire nuclear weapons they are generally left alone - thus, Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon(s) may actually prevent another messy war in the already chaotic, disorderly middle east.
 
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