02.12.21
Editorial Note
Last year, the Iranian newspaper Ettelaat published a series of articles by Ilan Pappe, translated to Persian, including “What is Post-Zionism?” The article discusses how Arabs in Western universities espoused anti-Israel theories, and Israeli academics adopted them. For example, the well-known Jewish MIT’s linguist Noam Chomsky promoted Edward Said’s anti-Zionist themes. Chomsky’s student, late Professor Tanya Reinhart, a linguist from Tel Aviv University, attracted like-minded colleagues, Rachel Giora, Mira Ariel, Anat Biletzki and Anat Matar. Soon after, the post-Zionist trend spread to other Israeli universities. For the Iranian regime, such anti-Zionist academics have been a gift as they echoed the fervent anti-Zionism of Ayatollah Khomeini, who called to destroy Israel.
To recall, Dr. Matar is a Philosophy lecturer who spent much of her time on political activism. While tenured, she had a meager publication record, not qualifying for further promotion. She remade herself into a Human Rights expert, co-published a book on the alleged mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, Threat: Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel, without having academic qualifications. Although Matar has not fulfilled her obligation to research and publish in her field, a standard requirement in all universities, the TAU administration did not challenge her. She later co-established Academia for Equality, a group of radical academics that promote the cause of Palestinians accused of terrorism.
Matar and her colleagues from Academia for Equality have lately taken up the defense of NGOs that raise money for terror groups.
Last month, Juana Ruiz Sánchez-Rishmawi, a Spanish citizen married to a Palestinian, was sentenced at the Israeli military court for 13 months in jail in a plea bargain after admitting to raising funds for an NGO that funneled some money to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist revolutionary organization founded in 1967. PFLP was designated a terrorist entity by several Western countries: in 1997 by the U.S. and in 2003 by Canada. Sánchez-Rishmawi worked for the Health Work Committees. Israel declared the organization illegal in early 2020 after a worker had helped finance an attack against Israelis.
Also last month, after lengthy investigations and soon after the Rishmawi case went to court, Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, announced that six Palestinian NGOs had ties to the PFLP: Bisan Center for Research and Development; Union of Agricultural Work Committees; Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; Al-Haq Law in the Service of Man; Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees; Defense for Children-International.
Defense Minister Ganz said: “The State of Israel and the defense establishment respect human rights, and respect the activities of human rights organizations that have an important role in a democratic society. Whitewashing terrorism under the guise of human rights activities is a double sin – it fuels terrorism and harms organizations that do important work. We will continue to act against terrorism wherever and in whatever form it wears.”
Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior project director at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, noted that already in May, the Shin Bet security agency presented the international community with hard evidence of NGOs collaborating with the PFLP. While some countries took note and cut off their aid, other countries ignored it.
In 2019, when the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs published the dossier Terrorists in Suits on “The Ties Between NGOs promoting BDS and Terrorist Organizations,” it listed Addameer, Defense for Children and Al Haq as having ties to the terrorist FPLP.
But Matar and her colleagues strongly oppose the view of the Israeli government. She and Prof. Aeyal Gross from the Law Faculty recently organized a conference at Tel Aviv University to discuss the issue with their comrades. Matar also participated in a webinar by Scientists for Palestine, where she described Israel as a terrorist state. Smadar Ben Natan, a TAU lawyer working for the Palestinians, has also spoken.
In the webinar, Matar said her group promotes justice and democracy in Palestine and beyond and will continue to support the NGOs. “We’ve been shouting this in demonstrations all along that Israel is a terrorist state.” During the 65 years of the occupation, she said, there was a continuous atmosphere of ongoing settler violence. She said the settlers are violent, and then the army protects them. Nothing happens at the higher level, the Knesset or Ministry of Defense total silence and protection of everything the violent settlers do. Also, there are 500 detainees taken in the middle of the night. Israel is terrorizing the whole Palestinian population, she said. Matar urged people to support BDS.
Ben Natan, who works at the Law Faculty at TAU, talked in support of the accused human rights groups. That Israeli academics and human rights activists initiated solidarity visits organized by B’tselem; one hundred academics signed a petition on Haaretz; Tel Aviv University organized a panel challenging this declaration. She said, “we have worked with these Palestinian organizations for 15 years… and no one can convince us that these organizations are terrorists… We stand by these organizations.” She blamed Israeli far right-wing organizations such as NGO Monitor that took credit for providing information to the security forces; and Im Tirzu issued official complaints against groups that collaborate with the six Palestinian human rights groups.
According to Gross, the Zionist underground organizations pre-1948 should also be included in the definition of terrorism. Israel and Israelis, such as the settlers, are engaged in terrorism against the Palestinians and should be included in the definition of terrorism.
Tel Aviv University, a state-funded institution, should not have tolerated these political-activists-pseudo-scientists that embark on pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel careers and abuse their positions at the university.
Israel sentences Spanish woman for aiding banned group
By JOSEF FEDERMANNovember 17, 2021
Juana Ruiz Sánchez, right, a Spanish citizen accused of raising money for a banned Palestinian militant group, is brought to a courtroom for sentencing, at the Israeli Ofer military base near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Ruiz, who lives in the West Bank, was sentenced to 13 months in jail in a plea bargain in which she admitted raising funds for a nonprofit group that funnelled some of the money to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli military court on Wednesday handed down a reduced sentence to a Spanish woman who admitted in a plea bargain to raising funds for a West Bank charity that were diverted to a banned militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Juana Ruiz Sánchez was sentenced to 13 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 shekels, or roughly $16,000. With credit for time already served, she could be released in the coming weeks.
Israel has tried to seize on the conviction as proof that it was justified in branding six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups last month — all due to alleged connections to the PFLP.
But Ruiz’s employer, the Health Work Committees, was not among those six groups. And in the plea bargain, she said she was unaware of the alleged fund-raising scheme and she was not implicated in any militant activities by the PFLP.
Her lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, said the plea bargain “clarified very clearly” that Ruiz was not involved in passing money to the PFLP and had no idea that the alleged transfers had taken place. He also accused Israeli officials of slandering his client and said he would demand that they take back statements implying she was a PFLP agent.
“The whole case is a political case. They tried to use it to justify the outlawing of the human rights organizations,” he told The Associated Press after the hearing at the Ofer military court in the occupied West Bank.
The PFLP is a secular, leftist political movement with an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis. Israel, the U.S. and European Union consider it to be a terrorist group.
Ruiz was a longtime worker for Health Work Committees, a Palestinian nonprofit group that provides medical services in the occupied West Bank.
Prosecutors say she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the group from foreign donors, an unspecified amount of which was then diverted to the PFLP. One accusation was that she she raised $4,000 for what she thought was medical equipment that was then steered to the PFLP. Few details on any other alleged misuse of funds were available.
Ruiz was quoted in the documents as saying she was unaware of any wrongdoing and “simply erred.”
But prosecutors noted she continued her work for the Health Work Committees even after learning a co-worker had helped finance an attack and after Israel declared the organization illegal in early 2020. In the end, she was convicted of “performing a service for an outlawed organization” and illegal money transfers into the West Bank.
Feldman said his client, who is in her 60s and has been imprisoned since her arrest in April, agreed to the watered-down charges to help close the case and get out of jail. He said he plans to appear before a parole board to seek a sentence reduction that could get her released in about two weeks.
Her daughter, Maria Rishmawi, said the family was eager to put the episode behind them. “We can’t wait to have her home,” she said.
Israeli officials, referring to Ruiz by her married name of Juana Rishmawi, have trumpeted the conviction as a victory in their war against the PFLP. Israel says the group raises funds from unwitting Western donors under the guise of humanitarian work.
Last month, Israel designated six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups, saying they were tied to the PFLP. It so far has not yet taken further action against the groups. But Wednesday’s plea bargain could serve as a template for future moves.
The six groups, some of which have close ties to rights groups in Israel and abroad, deny the allegations. They say the terror designation is aimed at muzzling critics of Israel’s half-century military occupation of territories the Palestinians want for their future state.
A confidential Israeli dossier detailing alleged links between the groups and the PFLP contains little concrete evidence and relies almost entirely on the interrogations of two former workers at the Health Works Committees.
Feldman, Ruiz’s lawyer, said Israel appears to be going after groups that have been working to press war crimes charges against Israel via the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The ICC has launched a preliminary investigation into Israeli practices in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
“This is part of an overall effort to outlaw any organization in the West Bank that is actually cooperating with international law in the Hague,” he said.
The Spanish government, which provided consular assistance to Ruiz during the trial, has said it has controls to prevent aid money from reaching militant groups. The foreign ministry declined comment on Wednesday’s sentencing.
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AP video journalist Ami Bentov contributed reporting.
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Israel stands by Palestinian NGOs’ terror designation despite international criticism
The United States and Europe apparently believe that Israel is criminalizing Palestinian civil society and undermining the Palestinian “struggle for freedom.”
By Israel Kasnett , JNS and ILH Staff Published on 11-03-2021 08:30 Last modified: 11-04-2021 11:32
The international criticism against Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s decision last week to designate six Palestinian groups affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as terrorist organizations continued this week, with the United States and European Union demanding evidence and accusing Israel of “criminalizing Palestinian civil society” and undermining the Palestinian “struggle for freedom.” 01
Israel has now sent an envoy to Washington to meet with administration officials on the matter. Joshua Zarka, deputy director-general of strategy at the Foreign Ministry, told Army Radio that the envoy would “give them all the details and present them all with the intelligence.”
Ministry spokesperson Lior Hayat told JNS Tuesday, “We are sharing information with countries and organizations that prove beyond all doubt the different connections of those NGOs to the PFLP terror organization.”
The PFLP has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Union.
The Defense Ministry designated the following six NGOs as terrorist organizations: Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Al-Haq, Addameer, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) and Bisan, sparking rebukes from the PA and human rights groups that argued the NGOs in questions were operating solely in the civilian sphere.
“These organizations present themselves as acting for humanitarian purposes; however, they serve as a cover for the PFLP’s propaganda and financing,” Gantz said in a statement. “These organizations received large sums of money from European countries and international organizations, using various methods of forgery and deceit,” it continued, adding that the funds are used to support PFLP activities.
Israel has for years either suspected or known about these NGOs’ links to the PFLP but stopped short of labeling them as terrorist groups. This latest move indicates a change in that approach.
These organizations have been described by Nour Odeh, a former spokesperson within the Palestinian Authority government offices, as the “crème de la crème of the human rights community.”
Based on its response to Israel’s announcement, the international community appeared to agree with Odeh’s assessment and her belief that by designating these NGOs as terror organizations, Israel is criminalizing Palestinian civil society and undermining the Palestinian struggle for freedom.
According to Yochanan Tzoreff, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, “some of the six NGOs have gained a good reputation in international human-rights forums, earned professional recognition and many awards … and enjoyed the assistance and funding of many governmental and non-governmental entities.”
The question then is whether this is a trust issue. Do the United States and the European Union not believe Israel’s assessment; are they truly incredulous of the accusations that these six NGOs are connected to the PFLP? The evidence supposedly is precise, with these organizations having already been exposed as having prior connections to the PFLP.
Or is it a political issue? Are America and Europe simply downplaying the accusations by Jerusalem because they want to be able to continue funding these organizations, which serve a larger political purpose in keeping the dream for a Palestinian state alive?
Furthermore, the fuzzy series of events that have taken place since Gantz’s announcement begs the question of why Israel needs to explain anything at this point if it did indeed inform the United States of its decision in the first place.
At a press briefing last week, a few days after Gantz’s announcement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price denied that they had received advance information on the matter.
“It is to the best of our knowledge accurate that we did not receive a specific heads-up about any forthcoming designations,” he said.
Adding to the confusion, Zarka said he personally updated U.S. officials on Israel’s intention to outlaw the groups and believed that perhaps Washington simply wanted a more thorough explanation of the decision.
‘What will we have achieved?’
Tzoreff told JNS he believes that while there may be enough evidence to place these organizations on the list of terror supporters or collaborators, “this is not the issue.”
According to him, Israel needs to consider the ramifications of such a decision and should also consider the strategic aspect, which in this case involves multiple NGOs, the European Union and the United States.
Tzoreff expressed worry that Israel may come under so much pressure that it will be forced to reverse its decision “and then what will we have achieved?” he asked.
He suggested that instead of outlawing the NGOs, Israel needs to sometimes learn to live with contradictions in order to avoid these types of international blowups.
The question, he posed, is “how do we do it in a smart way and not in a way that complicates the situation?”
“The Israeli security establishment is known for professionalism and caution in its long deliberations before taking steps such as the closure of Palestinian bodies and institutions,” he wrote for INSS. “It is possible to arrest people on a terrorist charge, but closing an association or public body on a similar charge requires further thought and the inclusion of additional levels of government.”
In contrast to Tzoreff’s opinion that Israel should have perhaps taken a different route, Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior project director at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS designating these organizations “was the right thing to do” since they serve as fronts for the PFLP.
“Many of their operatives are PFLP members,” he emphasized.
If Israel is justified in its designation of these NGOs as aiding and abetting terrorism, the question must also be asked as to why Europe and America aren’t vetting these organizations? Or if they have been, then why are they pouring millions of dollars of taxpayer money into them?
Kuperwasser said the Shin Bet security agency presented the international community with hard evidence in May of NGO collaboration with the PFLP, and while some countries did take note of the information and cut their aid, others ignored it.
He added that “those Europeans who insist on supporting these organizations don’t do due diligence.”
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
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https://www.voanews.com/a/european-rights-group-palestinian-civil-society-workers-phones-hacked/6304801.html
MIDDLE EAST European Rights Group: Palestinian Civil Society Workers’ Phones Hacked November 08, 2021 1:32 PM Ken Bredemeier
WASHINGTON —
A European human rights group alleged Monday that Israeli-made Pegasus spyware was used to hack the phones of staff members of six Palestinian civil society groups that Israel’s defense ministry has designated as terrorist organizations.
Dublin-based Front Line Defenders said its allegation was confirmed independently by researchers for Amnesty International and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.
Front Line Defenders stopped short of blaming the Israeli government for installation of the spyware on the phones of the Palestinian human rights workers. But it condemned Israel’s designation of their organizations as linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, a Marxist group labeled as a terrorist organization by many Western nations, including the United States.
Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz designated six Palestinian civil society territory groups in the occupied West Bank territories as “terrorist organizations.” The groups are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children – Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees.
Israel declined Monday to comment on the allegation that Pegasus was used against the groups’ staff members but pushed back against international criticism of the terrorism designation against the organizations, saying it had an “excellent file” of evidence linking the groups to the PFLP.
Front Line Defenders said use of the Pegasus spyware made by NSO Group turns cell phones into pocket-spying devices, giving attackers “complete access to a phone’s messages, emails, media, microphone, camera, passwords, voice calls on messaging apps, location data, calls and contacts.”
The U.S. Commerce Department sanctioned the NSO Group last week, putting in on a blacklist that prohibits the company from receiving American technologies. It acted after U.S. officials determined that the NSO Group’s phone-hacking tools had been used by foreign governments to “maliciously target” government officials, journalists and activists around the world.
Asked about the new allegations, NSO Group said, “As we stated in the past, NSO Group does not operate the products itself … and we are not privy to the details of individuals monitored.” The company said it only sells to law enforcement and intelligence agencies and that it takes steps to curb abuse.
Front Line Defenders said it examined 75 iPhones and found six of them contaminated with the spyware, including phones used by Ghassan Halaika, a field researcher and human rights defender working for Al-Haq; Ubai Al-Aboudi, an American who is executive director of the Bisan Center for Research and Development; and French national Salah Hammouri, a lawyer and field researcher at the Jerusalem-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
Three other Palestinians whose phones were hacked declined to be identified.
Front Line Defenders said that use of the Pegasus spyware “means that, in addition to the targeting of Palestinians, including dual nationals, non-Palestinians (including foreign nationals and diplomats) with whom these victims were in contact, including Israeli citizens, could have also been subject to this surveillance, which, in the case of its citizens, would amount to a breach of Israeli law.”
In a statement, Front Line Defenders said it “strongly condemns the decision and allegations of terrorism brought against these Palestinian human rights organizations in response to their peaceful human rights work. Human rights defenders are not terrorists.”
Some material in this report was supplied by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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https://socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed-video/in-defense-of-palestinian-civil-society/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=195591546061253
https://www.facebook.com/Scientists4Palestine/videos/195591546061253
Scientists for Palestine was live.
6 November at 19:02
On Friday October 22nd, in a troubling decision Israel’s Ministry of Defense designated six prominent Palestinian human rights organizations as “terrorist organizations”. This move has sent shockwaves across Palestinian civil society and raised alarms throughout the international community.The decision was made based on “secret evidence” that is essentially impossible to verify. Opposition to the extremely alarming decision has been remarkable, including among Israeli civil society and academics.Among the organizations included in this designation, is the Bisan Center for Research and Development, one of Scientists for Palestine main partners in Palestine. The Bisan center has many international partners and an exemplary reputation among scholars and educators. The other five organizations are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International-Palestine, The Union of Agricultural Work Committees and The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.Join us for an exceptional and salient webinar where we will be given the chance to hear directly from Ubai Aboudi from the Bisan Center and Sahar Francis from Addameer. As directors of some of these organizations, they will discuss the consequences of this decision. We will also host Anat Matar, Israeli professor and long term activist for Palestinian rights, who will discuss the response of Israeli academia.We believe that as member of the international scientific and academic community, we must respond firmly to this unprecedented attack to academic freedom. Join us in this opportunity to learn first hand, how best to connect, and no longer remain silent!
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https://www.pishkhan.com/Archive/1399/04/13990410/Ettelaat6911610810111649524868205.pdf
https://www.ettelaat.com/new/index.asp?fname=2020%5C06%5C06-29%5C20-38-47.htm
Ettelaat Newspaper
Tehran Mirdamad BoulvardEttelaat International
News Date: Tuesday 10 July 1399- 8 Dhi Al-Qaeda 1441-30 June 2020- No. 27592
What is post-Zionism? Ilan Pape – Translated by Mohsen Karbasforoshan – Part 6
News Date: Tuesday 10 July 1399- 8 Dhi Al-Qaeda 1441-30 June 2020- No. 27592
What is post-Zionism? Ilan Pape – Translated by Mohsen Karbasforoshan – Part 6
The more the researcher university takes a position, the better the result will be. If clear and important positions are not taken, the research may be interpreted to the detriment of certain groups. The best way to understand and understand the nature of stance is to compare the result with the work of researchers we do not know. Criticism has allowed scholars in Israel to apply the Zionist interpretation of the idea of Israel as a text that can both destroy and enhance the lives and happiness of the people. The summary of this approach was that the power of Zionism – whether as a national movement in the eyes of some, or as an immigrant colonial movement in the eyes of others – is a powerful narrator. As a result of this approach, human emotions, actions, and cognition can be examined and criticized as a literary text, in which anyone can identify conspiracies, heroism, and crimes.
From the critic’s point of view, Zionism is a powerful story of an idea. In this story, each person’s position determines his or her destiny in real life in the Jewish state. If you are a Palestinian, then in this story you are considered a villain; But if you are a Mizrahi or Eastern Jew, you are a primitive relative. Comparing these definitions and examples, as seen in everything from research to cinema, was the first step in applying and implementing the methodology of cognition. The second step was an attempt to link practical political activities and strategies announced and imposed from above. This work was accompanied by ideas in the general culture and in the high culture of the society. Thus, if you were marginalized or hostile, it was a reflection of the way the centers of power treated you, both in worldly matters and in matters of originality. This meant that the power of interpretation could discover any aspect or aspect of life, whether in heterogeneous areas such as commercials on the radio, or in the characters of comics and television series, children’s literature and textbooks, or in newspapers, newspapers and magazines. Lectures by politicians and the like.
In addition, it is possible to see whether something has been omitted from the texts by looking at what is written or in visual form. As Edward Said has shown, the attitude of Jane Austen and her contemporaries to the issue of colonialism clearly indicates the lack of mention of colonies in books. Similarly, the absence of Arabs, Palestinians, Jewish Jews, and women has been seen in the works of Zionist scholars, as well as in films, museums, books, national celebrations, and signs and symbols. What was criticized in the 1990s was not based on fantasy. In fact, what was seen was criticized in such a way that the feeling was created that the process of investigation and investigation had gone beyond the realm of legitimate research. Overall, the review, analysis, and critique of documents was a kind of effective rescue operation against silent, absent, or unheard voices in texts written by rulers and usurpers. In doing so, oral history was accepted as a legitimate scientific method and source. In this way, even people who, due to illiteracy or lack of facilities due to the destruction of their land, could not keep a written record of the events, could now narrate their experiences and observations through the works and books of these researchers.
However, the academic researcher has more tasks ahead of him. Taking a stand, the social action that entered Israel in the 1990s, is a task that the researcher must bear. Taking a stand means that you have to put yourself in a position that is not in the national Zionist narrative, but against it. When you defend national claims to a collective and common past, identity, and future, you enter the realm of political activity around multicultural identity and order. The most vivid example of this came in the 1970s in the United States. In those years, only a few American universities were involved in what became known as the Cultural Wars (or Campus Wars). Hot debates over identity and equality and alliance and related political activities were identified as legitimate criteria for evaluating issues such as university admission, promotion, curriculum development, and the quality of work or academic textbooks.
In Israel, academics tried to follow suit. They wanted to represent the Palestinians, masseurs and feminists in this way, to announce their presence in the national tradition of the country and even to open a place for them in the cultural standards of the country. They firmly believed that representing these groups within Israeli academia would not only expose them to abuse in the past and present, but also ensure that they would be saved from suffering in the future. The first goal, that is, to show the trials and tribulations imposed on marginalized, oppressed, repressed, and repressed groups, was achieved on a large scale. Not achieved. The only group in Israel today that is better off than it was in the 1990s are women. The Palestinians, the Eastern Jews, and especially the Palestinian and Mazrahi women, formed a small, factional section of tens of thousands of Israeli university staff. Of these, one percent are Palestinians, nine percent are Jewish surgeons, and one percent are women surgeons.
Many Israeli academics are becoming anti-Zionist activists in pursuit of the truth. For many, however, political activity goes beyond writing articles and books; Because it may cost them dearly. Noam Chomsky has fluent prose. He has demonstrated the dominance of American universities in the face of the dominant ideologies in his work. In Israel, Ms. Tanya Reinhart, following Chomsky, wrote a book of fluent prose. In this book, he demonstrates the obedience of Israeli universities to their employers and political leaders. In addition, Chomsky’s dual involvement, who is both an expert linguist and a conscientious commentator on world affairs, has set an example for Reinhart and some of his colleagues, such as Rachel Giora and Mira Ariel in the linguistics department at Tel Aviv University. They joined members of the university’s philosophy department, such as Anat Biletzki and Anat Matar, professional moral philosophers, and questioned and denounced Israeli academics’ indifference to human issues. They even denounced the academics’ cooperation with the Israeli government in the occupation and discrimination against the Palestinians as ugly. “As academics, we must never forget our political duty,” Biletzki wrote. We have a duty to eradicate evil, ugliness and evil in all its forms. The occupation of Palestine is a manifestation of this evil. As academics, we must always sympathize with Palestinian professors and students who are in a state of repression. As academics, we must always criticize the satisfaction of others in Israel with the issue of occupation. “We, as academics, must always shout for the occupation to be condemned and blamed.”
However, Biletzki did not support the idea of boycotting Israeli universities; But at the same time, her colleague at the University of Tel Aviv, Anat Matar, in the Department of Philosophy, while calling for more academics to work against the occupation, also endorsed a call by Palestinian civil society for cultural sanctions. The flag of scientific freedom has been raised, it is the oppressor, not the oppressed, who is among those who raise this flag. What is this scientific freedom that calls for so much of the scientific community? Who cares about the quality and manner of scientific freedom in the Occupied Territories? Members of the Israeli academic community, on the other hand, are steadfastly defending their right to pursue what the Israeli regime expects of them, and are appointing former army commanders to academic positions. “Tel Aviv University boasts that 55 percent of its research funding comes from the Department of Defense, and says that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (APRAD) in the U.S. Department of Defense only funds 9 percent more for similar research!”
https://www.ettelaat.com/new/index.asp?fname=2020%5C06%5C06-29%5C20-38-47.htm
Ettelaat Newspaper
Tehran Mirdamad BoulvardEttelaat International
| صفحات پي دي اف روزنامه اطلاعات فردا، ساعت 11 هرشب آپلود ميشود |
| تاريخ خبر: سه شنبه 10 تير 1399- 8 ذی القعده 1441ـ 30 ژوین 2020ـ شماره 27592 |
پساصهيونيسم چيست؟ايلان پاپه – ترجمه محسن كرباسفروشان – بخش ششم
دانشگاه محقق هر چه بيشتر موضعگيري كند، به همان ميزان هم حاصل کار بهتر خواهد بود. اگر مواضعي روشن و مهم اتخاذ نشود، ممكن است تحقيق به زيان گروههاي خاصي تعبير و تمام شود. بهترين راه براي مغتنم دانستن و درک طبيعت موضعگيري اين است که نتيجه حاصله از آن را در قياس با حاصل کار محققاني قرار دهيم که آنها را نميشناسيم. نقد به پژوهشگران در اسرائيل امكان داد تا تفسير صهيونيستي از ايده اسرائيل را به مثابه متني که ميتواند زندگي و خوشبختي مردمان را هم تخريب کند و هم ارتقا دهد، مورد عمل قرار دهند. چکيده اين رويکرد اين بود که قدرت صهيونيسم ـ چه به عنوان جنبش ملي در چشم برخي، و چه به عنوان جنبش استعماري مهاجر از نظر ديگران ـ يک راوي قدرتمند است. در نتيجه اين رويکرد، احساسات، عملکرد و شناخت انساني ميتواند به عنوان يک متن ادبي، که در آن، هر کسي ميتواند توطئهها، قهرمانيها و تبهکاريها را بازشناسي کند، مورد بررسي و نقد قرار گيرد.
از ديد نقّاد، صهيونيسم داستان قدرتمند يک انديشه است. در اين داستان، جايگاه هر فرد سرنوشت او را در زندگي واقعي در كشور يهود تعيين ميکند. اگر شما فلسطيني هستيد، در اين صورت در اين داستان تبهکاري رذل به حساب ميآييد؛ اما اگر يهودي مزراحي يا شرقي باشيد، يک خويشاوند بدوي محسوب ميشويد. مقايسه اين تعاريف و مصاديق، آنگونه که در همه چيز ـ از تحقيق و پژوهش گرفته تا سينماـ ديده ميشد، نخستين گام در کاربرد و پيادهسازي روش شناخت بود. دومين گام، کوششي بود که براي ربط دادن فعاليتهاي سياسي عملي و راهبردهاي اعلام و تحميل شده از بالا، به انجام ميرسيد. اين كار، با پنداشتهايي در فرهنگ عمومي و در فرهنگ بالاي جامعه، همراه بود. بدين قرار اگر شما جزو به حاشيه راندهشدگان يا دشمنان بوديد، اين امر انعکاسي از روش و رفتار مراکز قدرت با شما، هم در مسائل دنيوي و هم در موضوعات مرتبط با اصالت وجود بود. اين امر بدين معنا بود که قدرت تفسير ميتوانست هر وجه يا جنبه از زندگي را کشف کند، چه در محدودههايي نامتجانس همچون آگهيهاي بازرگاني در راديو، يا در شخصيتهاي طنزها و سريالهاي تلويزيوني، ادبيات کودکان و كتابهاي درسي، و چه در روزنامههاي سياسي دولتي، سخنرانيهاي سياستمداران و نظاير آنها.
علاوه بر اين، ميتوان با مراجعه به آنچه به صورت نوشته يا در فرم بصري موجود است، دريافت که آيا از متون چيزي کاسته شده است يا خير. همانگونه که ادوارد سعيد نشان داده است، طرز برخورد جين آستين و معاصرانش به مسأله استعمار، از فقدان ذکر کُلُنيها در کتابها بهروشني حکايت ميکند. به همين ترتيب غيبت اعراب، فلسطينيها، يهوديان مزراحي و زنان در کارهاي پژوهشگران صهيونيست و نيز در فيلمها، موزهها، کتابها، جشنهاي ملي و علائم و نشانهها، ديده شده است. آنچه در سالهاي 1990 نقد شد، بر خيالات و موهومات تکيه نداشت. در حقيقت آنچه ديده ميشد، نقد شد، بهگونهاي که اين احساس بهوجود آمد که روند تحقيق و بررسي فراتر از حوزه تحقيق مشروع پيش رفته است. در مجموع بررسي، تحليل و نقد اسناد و مدارک يک نوع عمليات نجات مؤثر نسبت به صداهاي خاموش و غايب يا شنيده نشده در متون نوشته شده به دست حاکمان و غاصبان بود. با اين كار، تاريخ شفاهي به عنوان شيوه و منبع علمي مشروع، پذيرفته شد. به اين ترتيب حتي مردماني که به واسطه بيسوادي يا فقدان امکانات ناشي از تخريب و انهدام سرزمينشان، نتوانسته بودند شاهد مکتوبي از رخدادها باقي گذارند، اکنون ميتوانستند تجربيات و مشاهدات خود را از طريق کارها و کتابهاي اين پژوهشگران روايت کنند.
با اين حال، پژوهشگر دانشگاهي، وظيفهاي بيش از اين، پيش رو دارد. اتخاذ موضع، کنش اجتماعياي که در سالهاي 1990 وارد اسرائيل شد، وظيفهاي است که پژوهشگر بايد بار آن را بر دوش کشد. موضعگيري به اين معناست که شما مجبوريد خود را در موضعي قرار دهيد که در روايت صهيونيستي ملي جاي نگيريد، بلکه عليه آن باشيد. وقتي شما از ادعاهاي ملي نسبت به يک گذشته، هويت و آينده جمعي و مشترک دفاع ميکنيد، در اين صورت وارد عرصه فعاليتهاي سياسي پيرامون هويت و نظم و نسق چندفرهنگي ميشويد. پر جنب و جوشترين نمونه دانشگاهي در اين مورد، در سالهاي 1970 در آمريكا بروز كرد. در آن سالها، فقط چند دانشگاهي آمريكايي در رخدادي درگير شدند که به جنگهاي فرهنگي (يا جنگهاي پرديسهاي دانشگاهي) شهرت يافت. مباحثههاي داغ پيرامون هويت و يکساني و اتحاد و فعاليتهاي سياسي مرتبط با آن به عنوان ضوابط و معيارهاي مشروع براي ارزيابي موضوعاتي چون پذيرش در دانشگاه، ترفيع، تدوين برنامه تحصيلي، و کيفيت کار يا کتاب دانشگاهي تعيين شدند.
در اسرائيل، دانشگاهيان کوشيدند از اين وضعيت پيروي کنند. آنها ميخواستند فلسطينيان، مزراحيها و فمينيستها را در اين راه نمايندگي کنند، حضورشان را در روايت ملي کشور اعلام و حتي جايي براي آنان در معيارهاي فرهنگي کشور باز كنند. آنها عقيدهاي محکم داشتند که با نمايندگي کردن اين گروهها درون محيطهاي دانشگاهي اسرائيل، نهتنها بدرفتاري با آنها در گذشته و حال آشکار ميشود، بلکه نجات آنان از شر اين مصائب در آينده نيز تضمين خواهد شد. نخستين هدف، يعني نشان دادن محاکمات و عذابهاي تحميل شده بر گروههاي به حاشيه رانده شده، مظلوم، سرکوفته و واپس رانده شده، در سطحي وسيع به دست آمد، دومين خواست و آرزو، يعني رهايي اين گروهها از شرارتها و زشتيها در آينده، اصلا حاصل نشد. تنها گروهي که در اسرائيل امروزي وضعيتي بهتر از سالهاي 1990 دارد، زنان هستند. فلسطينيان، يهوديان شرقي و بهويژه زنان فلسطيني و مزراحي، بخش کوچک و فراکسيوني شامل دههزار نفر از کارمندان دانشگاههاي اسرائيل تأسيس کردند. در اين تعداد، يک درصد فلسطيني، نُه درصد يهودي مزراحي و يک درصد زنان مزراحي حضور دارند.
بسياري از دانشگاهيان اسرائيل در راه دستيابي به حقيقت، فعال ضد صهيونيست ميشوند. با اين حال، براي بسياري از آنان، فعاليت سياسي فراتر از نوشتن مقاله و کتاب نميرود؛ چراكه ممكن است بهاي آن کار برايشان سنگين باشد. نوآم چامسکي نثري روان و روشن دارد. او سلطهپذيري دانشگاههاي آمريكايي را در رويارويي با ايدئولوژيهاي برتر و مسلط در آثار خود نشان داده است. در اسرائيل، خانم تانيا رينهارت به تبعيت از چامسکي، کتابي با نثري روان و روشن نوشته است. او در اين کتاب فرمانبرداري دانشگاههاي اسرائيل را از کارفرمايان و رؤساي سياسي خود به نمايش گذاشته است. علاوه بر اين، مشغوليت مضاعف چامسکي، که هم زبانشناسي خبره است و هم مفسري باوجدان در مسائل جهاني است، از او سرمشقي ساخته است براي رينهارت و برخي همکارانش، نظير راشل جيورا و ميرا آريل در بخش زبانشناسي دانشگاه تلآويو. اين اشخاص به نفراتي از بخش فلسفه دانشگاه، مثل آنات بيلتسکي و آنات متار، که فيلسوفان اخلاقي حرفهاي بودند، پيوستند و بيعاطفگي دانشگاهيان اسرائيلي را نسبت به مسائل انساني، زير سؤال بردند و محکوم كردند. آنها حتي همکاري اين دانشگاهيان را با دولتهاي اسرائيلي در زمينه اشغال و تبعيض عليه فلسطينيان، زشت و ننگين برشمردند و محکوم کردند. بيلتسکي نوشت: «ما به عنوان دانشگاهي، نبايد هرگز وظيفه سياسي خود را فراموش کنيم. ما موظفيم بدي، زشتي و شرّ را در همه اشکالش ريشهکن کنيم. اشغال فلسطين مظهر اين شرّ است. ما بايست به عنوان دانشگاهي، همواره با استادان و دانشجويان فلسطيني که در شرايط بد سرکوبي به سر ميبرند، احساس همدردي کنيم. ما بايد به عنوان دانشگاهي، همواره رضايتمندي ديگران را در اسرائيل، نسبت به مسأله اشغال مورد انتقاد قرار دهيم. ما بايد به عنوان دانشگاهي، همواره محکوميت و قابل سرزنش بودن اشغال را فرياد کنيم.»
با وجود اين، بيلتسکي از ايده تحريم دانشگاههاي اسرائيل حمايت نکرد؛ اما در همان حال، همکارش در دانشگاه تلآويو، آنات متار در بخش فلسفه، ضمن اينکه همچون او خواستار فعاليت هر چه بيشتر دانشگاهيان عليه اشغال بود، فراخوان جامعه مدني فلسطيني را هم که مبني بر تحريم فرهنگي بود، تأييد کرد و نوشت: «وقتي پرچم آزادي علمي برافراشته است، اين ستمگر است و نه ستمديده که در جمع كساني قرار دارد که اين پرچم را برافراشته ميدارد. اين آزادي علمي چيست که اين همه جامعه علمي را به خود ميخواند؟ کي به کيفيت و چگونگي آزادي علمي در سرزمينهاي اشغالي اهميت داده شده است؟ از سوي ديگر، اعضاي جامعه دانشگاهي اسرائيل از حق خود براي تحقيق آنچه رژيم اسرائيل از آنان انتظار دارد، با ثبات کامل پاسداري ميکنند و فرماندهان سابق ارتش را به منصبهاي دانشگاهي منصوب ميکنند. دانشگاه تلآويو به اينکه 55درصد بودجه تحقيقاتياش را وزارت دفاع تأمين ميكند، به خود ميبالد و ميگويد آژانس پروژههاي تحقيقاتي پيشرفته دفاعي (APRAD) در بخش دفاعي ايالات متحده فقط 9درصد بيشتر از اين مبلغ براي تحقيقات مشابه تأمين بودجه ميکند!»
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