Editorial Note

Hagar Kotef is a fellow at Columbia University. She completed her PHD in philosophy at Tel Aviv University under the guidance of Professors Adi Ophir and Anat Biletzki. Her article, “Engendering Checkpoints: Checkpoint Watch and the Repercussions of Intervention,” was co-authored with the radical academic Merav Amir. She also wrote another article alongside Merav Amir entitled “Between Imaginary Lines: Violence and its Justifications at the Military Checkpoints in Occupied Palestine”. Kotef independently wrote an article entitled “Baking at the Front Line, Sleeping with the Enemy: Reflections on Gender and Women’s Peace Activism in Israel”.

In June 2010, Kotef signed onto a petition calling upon the world to prevent Israel from interfering with the MV Rachel Corrie or any other future vessel being able to dock in Gaza. This same petition claimed that Israeli society is racist, referred to the Gaza War as a massacre, called Gaza a prison, and claimed that Israel was punishing Gazans for the crime of being Palestinians. This petition was initiated by Boycott: Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within. She also signed a Jewish Voice for Peace petition that would prevent the United States from selling cluster bombs to other countries, which would adversely affect Israel’s military strategic advantage. The Anti-Defamation League listed the Jewish Voice for Peace as one of the ten most anti-Israel organizations within the United States. In 2009, Kotef spoke at Bar Ilan University alongside Merav Amir at an anti-Israel conference on gender and security, where they gave a lecture entitled “Mothers, Mistresses, and Whores: When Resistance Collapses into Gender: the case of Machsom Watch.”

IAM recently reported in an article entitled TAU Adi Ophir together with Minerva Humanities fellows and other anti-Israel activists at a Columbia U Conference, that Hagar Kotef has organized a conference together with TAU Prof. Adi Ophir in Columbia University entitledReworking Political Concepts II: A Lexicon in Formation. This was an academic conference about political concepts, but is it a mere "coincidence" that in the past the Lexicon fellows and their associates have produced some of the most delegtimizing critique of Israel? Ophir found Israel to be on the same ontological plane of evil as Nazi Germany. Ariella Azoulay, a "lexo-photographer" has "imagined" torture when describing a pictures of Palestinian prisoners and called Anat Kam, the solider imprisoned for leaking secret information an "archivist" who shared the IDF "archives" with the world. Hagar Kotef argues that the checkpoints are a destructive mean of control and therefore violence against them seem to be justified. The other conference participants have also a long activist record. Anat Biletzki is involved in the BDS movement; she also hopes to "change minds" of American Jews and policy makers who don't believe in thepossibility of making a deal with the Palestinians. Ann Stoler has endorsed the Palestinian call for BDS in 2010, as has Gil Anidjar in 2009. Susan Buck-Morss expressed support for the "non-violent" acts of 'Midnight on Mavi Marmara' activists. In 2009, Stathis Gourgouris sent a letter to president of his university asking him to publicly denounce Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip as it represents a threat to academic freedom. Jacques Lezra signed a letter calling to divest from Israel: "All the above companies actively enable Israel’s ongoing occupation and assaults on Palestinian communities and homes." Oded Schechter signed the petition "Free Gaza - In support of the Palestinian Human Rights Community Call for International Action". The petition complained about the occupation, the brutal ongoing repression of the Palestinian population, etc. Neferti Tadiar is on the advisory board of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).

In her work, Kotef thanked TAU professor Adi Ophir "for providing the conceptual framework through which we think."