Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘sari nusseibeh’

The British Association of University Teachers voted to reverse their boycott of Haifa University and Bar-Ilan University, after getting a severe amount of egg on their face.

Of course, the Palestinians are reacting predictably:

Meanwhile, Palestinian professor Sari Nusseibeh, who last week urged an end to the boycott, has been under attack by many Palestinians who have been calling for his dismissal from his job as president of Al-Quds University.

Several Palestinian political and academic groups issued statements strongly condemning Nusseibeh, accusing him of normalizing ties with Israel and acting against the interests of the Palestinian people.

Leaflets distributed in some areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip branded the widely respected Nusseibeh a “traitor” and “collaborator.”

Nusseibeh co-signed a letter with the president of Hebrew University calling for an end to the AUT boycott, which is what some think was the deciding factor in the reversal. The letter called for “problems to be resolved through dialogue”. Needless to say, those passing out leaflets branding Nusseibeh as a “traitor” don’t agree with that statement.

(Hat tip: Lynn).

Dr. Sari Nusseibeh is going to be speaking at McGill University on Wednesday.

I wonder if they’ll riot this time . . . after all, Nusseibeh has publicly called for an end to Palestinian violence. Then again, MIB calls him a “prominent intellectual voice of reason calling for peace between Palestinians and Israelis”, and I think that’s going a bit too far. After all, he called “martyrdom operations” a form of resistance and refused to condemn them.

Most people have listened to Nusseibeh’s statements in Arabic and interpreted them, and concluded that he only plays the moderate. He’s been given that role, in order to make it seem like there are dissident voices in Palestinian society. But he’s just play-acting, and it seems like the Montreal Jewish Community is buying his act hook, line, and sinker.

Still, I somehow don’t predict any riots.