THE UK ACADEMIC BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL

Heinrich Heine once remarked that "philosophical thoughts nurtured in the stillness of a professor's study can destroy civilizations". In light of the Nazi destruction of European Jewish civilization his observation was a portent of things to come. The seeds of the latest recommended academic boycott of Israeli academics by their British counterparts were likewise nurtured in the stillness of an academic's study – and they too are ultimately aimed at destroying Jewish Civilization in Israel.

The sponsor of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education in the United Kingdom is a lecturer in Philosophy by the name of Tom Hickey. One wonders what philosophical thoughts Mr Hickey has been nurturing in the stillness of his study at the University of Brighton where he lectures? It is only logical to ascertain that from Hickey's weltanschauung the academic boycott of Israel would only be the start of greater things to come - a grand pilot scheme which would progress to a wider boycott Israel per se. The ultimate boycott objective does not end with Israel's policies in Judea and Samaria. The end game theory must be to destroy the state of Israel as Jewish State or to put it euphemistically to create one "secular democratic state" between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean. That in a nutshell is the logical ultimate aim of the boycott.

Mr Hickey and his elk lack the real integrity (academic or otherwise) to put their sorry cards on the table and admit it is not only "Israeli policies in the occupied territories" that troubles them so greatly but rather the very existence of the Jewish State and its attendant Jewish Civilization in this part of the world. No other explanation can account for Israel alone being singled out for boycott.

In China common thieves are put to death on regularly for their crimes. Tens of thousands of Chechnians have been murdered by Russia in Chechnia. The Sudanese government supports the ethnic cleansing of black Muslims in Dofar. Yet no mention is made of boycotting any of the above-mentioned countries.

If the boycotters are only concentrating on academic institutions then why not boycott the Palestinian academics responsible for the primitive anti Semitic text books with which Palestinian children are weaned on at school? Needless to say that no interest is shown in Iran or its President's threats to wipe out Israel and his denial of the Holocaust. The biggest irony of the boycott is that it targets a sector of Israel's population (its academics) who have always been (in stark contrast to Arab academics) at the forefront of efforts to seek a peaceful solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Mr Hickey would no doubt scorn at any accusations of anti-Semitism on his part with regard to the boycott resolution. But consider this – if one were to ask the hundred and six delegates who voted in favour of the boycott if they thought that Aipac influenced US foreign policy, how many would answer yes? How many would answer yes if asked whether Aipac had too much influence on US foreign policy? And how many would answer yes if asked whether Aipac caused the US Government to act in a manner contrary to its own best interests. In light of the recent paper by Mearsheimer and Walt regarding the influence of the American Jewish lobby over US foreign policy, one could put a fairly safe bet on the answer to all three of the above questions being in the affirmative. Replace Aipac with the word Jewish Lobby and then drop the word Lobby and you have anti-Semitism shed of its "anti-Zionist" garb.

A final thought for Mr Hickey and his fellow boycotters. The last time that there was an all too effective boycott of Jewish academics as a group was in Germany in the 1930s when Jewish teachers, lectures and professors were hounded out of their positions. One wonders what their non Jewish German counterparts felt at seeing their colleagues being thrown out of their academic positions for no other reason than their Jewish identity. Did they feel embarrassed, or smug or grateful for an opportunity provided by a lack of academic competition? I wonder how Mr Hickey and his hundred and five colleagues will feel when their Israeli academic counterparts are not around.