Campaign to Boycott the Oral History Conference at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Campaign to Boycott the Oral History Conference at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Campaign to Boycott the Oral History Conference at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

By : Jadaliyya Reports

[The following petition was organized by Palestinian, Israeli, and other oral historians and academics from Europe, South Africa, and North America in regards to June 2014 "International Conference on Oral History" at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. See complete list of signatories below. It has garnered 100 signatures and counting.] 

Campaign to Boycott the Oral History Conference at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

hebrewUboycott@gmail.com

August 12, 2013 (Updated with signatures on August 25, 2013)

Dear Colleagues:

We are a group of Palestinian, Israeli, and other oral historians and academics from Europe, South Africa, and North America calling on you to boycott the June 2014 ‘International Conference on Oral History’ organised by the Oral History Division of the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While all Israeli universities are deeply complicit in the occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is particularly noteworthy, as we explain below. 

Your actions have a direct impact on our joint struggle for a just peace in Palestine-Israel and on our solidarity with fellow Palestinian academics whose universities have been closed down, blockaded and even bombed by Israeli aircraft in the last three decades; universities which have been subjected to a lengthy and brutal Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Specifically, the land on which some of its Mount Scopus campus buildings and facilities were expanded was acquired as a result of Israel’s 1968 illegal confiscation of 3345 dunums of Palestinian land. [1] This confiscated land in East Jerusalem is occupied territory according to international law. Israel`s unilateral annexation of occupied East Jerusalem into the State of Israel, and the application of Israeli domestic law to it, are violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and have been repeatedly denounced as null and void by the international community, including by the UN Security Council (Resolution 252, 21 May 1968). Moving Israeli staff and students to work and live on occupied Palestinian land places the Hebrew University in grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Conventions.

Further, the university is complicit in the unequal treatment of Palestinians, including those who are citizens of Israel. [2] For instance, it does not provide teaching services to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas in contrast to those provided to Jewish groups; no courses are offered in Arabic. [3] Additionally, the Hebrew University has chosen to remain silent when the entire population of Gaza has been excluded from the possibility to enrol and study in the university by the Israeli government. Palestinian students from Gaza have a better chance of getting into a university in the U.S than into Hebrew University.

The Hebrew University administration restricts the freedom of speech and protest of its few Palestinian students. For example, it had forbidden a commemoration event for the invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009 in which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces. [4] On the other hand, the Hebrew University offered special considerations and benefits to students who participated in that invasion as soldiers.

In December 2012 Israel’s Minister of Defence approved recognition of Ariel University in the illegal colony of Ariel as an Israeli university in the Israeli academic system. As a result, staff from the Hebrew University take part in the supervision and promotion committees of students and staff from the colonial university of Ariel; and the (Jewish only) staff takes part in the supervision and in promotion committees for Hebrew University students and staff. The Hebrew University recognizes academic degrees awarded by the Ariel University, which is built on confiscated Palestinian land and surrounded by Palestinian communities, but does not recognize degrees awarded by the nearby Al-Quds University. [5]

Ironically, the oral history conference is organised by an institute named after Avraham Harman, President of the Hebrew University from 1968 to 1983. As President of the Hebrew University he was directly responsible for the rebuilding and expansion of the original campus on Mount Scopus built on land illegally confiscated from Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

At a time when the international movement to boycott Israeli academic and cultural institutions is gaining ground in response to Israel’s flagrant and persistent infringement of Palestinian human and political rights, we urge scholars and professionals to reflect upon the implications of taking part in a conference at a complicit institution, and to refrain from such participation. The conference is an attempt to improve the image and reputation of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the West and to cover up for the fact that the university is closely associated with Israeli annexation and ‘Separation/Apartheid Wall’ policies—policies that were strongly condemned on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.[6]

Since the hegemonic world powers are actively complicit in enabling and perpetuating Israel’s colonial and oppressive policies, we believe that the only avenue open to achieving justice and upholding international law is sustained work on the part of Palestinian and international civil society to put pressure on Israel and its complicit institutions to end this oppression.  

Inspired by the successful cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa, and supported by key Palestinian unions and cultural groups, in 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued a call for the academic and cultural boycott of institutions involved in Israel’s system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid. The Palestinian call appealed to the international academic community, among other things, to “refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions"[7]

Following this, in 2005, an overwhelming majority in Palestinian civil society called for an all-encompassing BDS campaign based on the principles of human rights, justice, freedom and equality [8]. The BDS movement adopts a nonviolent, morally consistent strategy to hold Israel accountable to the same human rights and international law standards as other nations. It is asking the international academic community to heed the boycott call, as it did in the struggle against South African apartheid, until “Israel withdraws from all the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem; removes all its colonies in those lands; agrees to United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees rights; and dismantles its system of apartheid" [9].

Paralleling the Apartheid era boycott of complicit South African universities, we believe that participation in academic conferences or similar events in Israel - regardless of intentions- can only contribute to the prolongation of this injustice by normalizing and thereby legitimizing it. It inadvertently contributes to Israel`s efforts to appear as a normal participant in the world of scholarship while at the same time it practices the most pernicious form of colonial control and legalized racial discrimination against Palestinians.

Until Israel fully complies with international laws and conventions, we sincerely hope that international academics will not participate in endorsing their violations and the basic human rights of Palestinians – even if inadvertently. We call on our colleagues to treat Israel exactly the same way that most of the world treated racist South Africa - or indeed any other state that legislates and practices apartheid: as a pariah state. Only then can Palestinians hope for a just peace based on international law, respect for human rights, and, more crucially, on the fundamental principle of equality for all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or other identity considerations. 

We, therefore, urge you to boycott the Hebrew University of Jerusalem oral history conference and to call on your colleagues to refuse to participate in it; to refuse to cross the Palestinian picket line.   

[Note: All footnotes are at the end of the document following a note on academic freedom.]

Sincerely,

1.    Professor Ahmed Abbes, Directeur de Recherche au CNRS, Bures-sur-Yvette, France

2.    Professor  Saleh Abdel Jawad (Hamayel), Birzeit University, Palestine

3.    Dr. Faiha Abdulhadi, Independent researcher, writer, poet, Palestine

4.    Professor Nadia Abu el Haj, Barnard/Columbia University, USA

5.    Professor Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University, New York, USA

6.    Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, Researcher, UK

7.    Professor Ghada Ageel, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

8.    Professor Mumtaz Ahmad, Vice President (Academic Affairs), International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan 

9.    Professor Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon   

10. Majeda Al-Saqqa, Culture and Free Thought Association, Khan Younis, Gaza, Palestine

11. Professor (emeritus) Mateo Alaluf, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

12. Professor Ammiel Alcalay, Queens College, City of New York, USA

13. Dr. Diana Allan, Society for the Humanities, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

14. Professor Lori Allen, University of Cambridge, England

15. Professor (retired) William Ayers, University of Illinois-Chicago; Cyprus Oral History Project, USA

16. Gustavo Barbosa, PhD candidate, London School of Economics, UK

17. Professor Amjad Barham, Hebron University, President of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, Palestine

18. Ryvka Barnard, Doctoral student, New York University, USA

19. Professor Oren Ben-Dor, Southampton University, England

20. Julie Benedetto, student, Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Lyon, France

21. Dr. Susan Blackwell, Independant language consultant, Birmingham UK

22. Professor Hagit Borer, Queen Mary, University of London, England

23. Professor (emerita) Joanna Bornat , Open University, UK

24. Dr. Samia Botmeh, Birzeit University, Palestine

25. Professor Glenn Bowan, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

26. Dr. Robert Boyce, London School of Economics and Political Science, London University, UK

27. Professor Haim Bresheeth, SOAS, University of London, England

28. Professor Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley, USA

29. Professor Iain Chambers, Università degli Studi di Napoli, "L`Orientale," Italy

30. Professor  Michael Chanan, University of Roehampton, England

31. Professor Elise Chenier, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada    

32. Nikoletta Christodoulou, Frederick University, Nicosia; Cyprus Oral History Project, Cyprus

33. Professor (retired) Raymonde Cloutier, University of Quebec (UQAM), Montreal,  Canada

34. Susan Currie, PhD student, Central Queensland University, Australia

35. Professor Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University, New York, USA

36. Professor Nabil Dajani,  American University of Beirut, Lebanon

37. Professor Lawrence Davidson, West Chester University, USA

38. Dr. Uri Davis, AL-QUDS University, Jerusalem, Palestine

39. Professor (emerita) Sonia  Dayan-Herzbrun,  Université Paris, France

40. Professor Anne-Marie Dillens, University Saint-Louis, Brussels, Belgium

41. Professor Ann Douglas, Columbia University, New York, USA

42. Professor Haidar Eid, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine

43. Oroub El-Abed, Senior Teaching Fellow SOAS, London University, UK

44. Professor Nada Elia, Antioch University-Seattle, Washington, USA

45. Professor Randa Farah, University of Western Ontario, Canada

46. Professor (emeritus), Emmanuel Farjoun, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,  Israel

47. Arie Finkelstein, student, Université  Paris Est, France

48. Professor Ellen Fleischmann, University of Dayton, Ohio, USA

49. Senior Scholar Bill Fletcher, Jr., Institute for Policy Studies; former President, TransAfrica Forum, Washington, DC, USA

50. Dr. Naomi Foyle, Coordinator of British Writers In Support of Palestine, UK         

51. Professor Cynthia Franklin, University of Hawaiʻi

52. Professor Candace Fujikane, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu

53. Professeur des Ecoles (en retraite) Marie Gérôme,  Ecole de Viuz,  Faverges, France

54. Ana Ghoreishian, PhD student, University of Arizona, USA

55. Dr. Terri Ginsberg, ICMES, New York, USA

56. Professor (emerita) Sherna Berger Gluck, California State University, Long Beach, USA

57. Professor (emeritus)  Yerach Gover, City University of New York, USA 

58. Professor Michel Gros,  CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research,  Rennes, France

59. Professor Regina Beatriz Guimarães Neto. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; 2006-2008 President Brazilian Oral History Association, 2008-2010/Brazil

60. Professor (emerita) SonDr.a Hale, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

61. Emad Hamdeh, PhD student, Exeter University, UK

62. Professor Carrie Hamilton, University of Roehampton, UK

63. Professor Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

64. Professor Michael Harris, Université  Paris-Diderot, France

65. Professor Salah D. Hassan, Michigan State University, Lansing, USA

66. Professor Sami Hermez, University of Pittsburgh, USA

67. Shir Hever, Independent Economist/Researcher, Palestine-Israel

68. Hazem Jamjoum, PhD student, New York University, USA/Palestine

69. Dr. Colleen Jankovic, US Film Scholar, Al-qaws organization, AlQuds/Jerusalem, Palestine

70. Tineke E. Jansen, Independent researcher, former IOHA Council member, England

71. Professor Rhoda Kanaaneh, Columbia University, New York, USA

72. Professor, J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA

73. Dr. Fatma Kassem, Independent researcher, Israel

74. Professor Robin D. Kelley, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

75. Professor Tarif Khalidi, Center for Arab & Middle Eastern Studies, American University, Beirut Lebanon

76. Dr. Laleh Khalili, Reader in Politics, SOAS, University of London, England

77. Dr. Agnes Kho, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Leeds, UK

78. Professor David Klein, California State University, Northridge, USA

79. Dr. Dennis Kortheuer, California State University, Long Beach

80. Professor Ronit Lentin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

81. Dr. Les Levidow, Open University, UK

82. Professor David Colles Lloyd, University of California, Riverside

83. Professor (emeritus) Moshé Machover, Kings College, University of London, England

84. Professor Nur Masalha, SOAS, University of London, England

85. Professor Joseph Massad, Columbia University, New York, USA

86. Professor Dina Mattar, SOAS, University of London, England

87. Dr. Willem Meijs, independent language consultant, Birmingham, UK

88. Professor Anne Meneley, Trent University, Canada

89. Professor William Messing, University of Minnesota, USA

90. Jennifer Mogannam, Ph. D. candidate, University of California, San Diego

91. Professor  ChanDr.a Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University, New York, USA

92. Professor Antonio Montenegro, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil

93. Professor Ahlam Muhtaseb, California State University, San Bernardino, USA

94. Professor (emerita) Martha Mundy, London School of Economics, UK

95. Dr. Karma Nabulsi, University of Oxford, UK

96. Professor Premilla Nadasen, Queens College, City of New York, USA

97. Dr. Dorothy Naor, Independent researcher, Israel

98. Dr. Marcy Newman, Independent Scholar, India

99. Dr. Sonia Nimr, Birzeit University, Palestine

100. Professor Isis Nusair, Denison University, Ohio, USA

101. Professor Gary Y. Okihiro, Columbia University, New York, USA

102. Professor Hussein Omar, University of Oxford, UK

103. Professor Imranali Panjwani, Kings College, University of London, UK

104. Professor Ilan Pappe, Exeter University, England

105. Professor Willie Van Peer, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

106. Dr. Ana Pego, Business and Economic Studies Department, Open University, Lisbon, Portugal

107. Professor Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA, USA

108. Professor Marwan Rashed, Université de Paris-IV Sorbonne, Paris

109. Professor (emerita) Hilary Rose, University of Bradford & Gresham College, London, UK

110. Professor (emeritus_ Steven Rose, Open University & Gresham College, London, UK

111. Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, London School of Economics, University of London, UK

112. Professor Hanan Sabea, American University-Cairo, Egypt

113. Ann Sado, Independent lecturer, former Board member, Japan Oral History Association, Tokyo

114. Dr. Rosemary Sayigh, Center for Arab and Middle East Studies Centre, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

115. Professor (emeritus) Pierre Schapira, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France

116. Dr. Leonardo Schiocchet, Guest Researcher at the Institute for Social Anthropology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences,  Post-doctoral grantee CAPES, Brazil

117. Professor Sarah Schulman, ACT UP Oral History Project, New York, USA 

118. Professor (Emerita) Evalyn F. Segal, PhD, San Diego State University, USA

119. Professor May Seikaly, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

120. Professor Sherene Seikaly, American University in Cairo, Egypt

121. Professor Jihane Sfeir, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

122. Dr. Magid Shihade, Birzeit University, Palestine

123. Professor Anton Shammas, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

124. Professor Andor Skotnes, Chair, Dept. of History and Society, The Sage Colleges, Troy, NY, USA

125. Dr. Kobi Snitz, Weizmann Institute, Israel

126. Dr. Jane Starfield, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

127. Dr. Ziad Suidan, Independent scholar, USA

128. Rabah Tahraoui ,Professeur ,Université de Rouen, France

129. Professor Ghada Talhami, Lake Forest College, Illinois, USA

130. Professor Lisa Taraki, Birzeit University, Palestine

131. Sibel Taylor, PhD candidate, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England

132. Professor Sunera Thobani, University of British Columbia, Canada

133. Professor Barry Trachtenberg, University of Albany, New York, USA

134. Professor Salim Vally, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

135. Professor Mark R. Westmoreland, American University Cairo, Egypt

136. Dr. Patrick Wolfe, Trobe University, Australia

137. Dr. Hala Yameni, Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, Palestine


Endorsed by the following Academic and Cultural Boycott Campaigns: AURDIP (France); BOYCOTT! (Israel); BRICUP (UK); InCACBI (India); PACBI (Palestine); USACBI (USA); and by the Alternative Information Centre (Israel); Independent Jewish Voices Canada; and the University of Toronto SJP (Canada).

To add your name to this list of signatories please email: hebrewuconferenceboycott@gmail.com


The Necessary and Important Consideration of Academic Freedom

The UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights defines academic freedom to include:

the liberty of individuals to express freely opinions about the institution or system in which they work, to fulfill their functions without discrimination or fear of repression by the state or any other actor, to participate in professional or representative academic bodies, and to enjoy all the internationally recognized human rights applicable to other individuals in the same jurisdiction. The enjoyment of academic freedom carries with it obligations, such as the duty to respect the academic freedom of others, to ensure the fair discussion of contrary views, and to treat all without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds. [10] [emphasis added]

Keeping this definition in mind, we are keenly aware of the importance of the academic freedom of the individual, but also believe that such freedoms should not extend automatically to institutions. Judith Butler reminds us that: “our struggles for academic freedom must work in concert with the opposition to state violence, ideological surveillance, and the systematic devastation of everyday life." [11]

It is incumbent on academics to develop such a nuanced understanding of academic freedom if we are to call for social justice and work alongside the oppressed in advancing their freedom, equality and self-determination. 

The Israeli academy is not the bastion of dissent and liberalism it is purported to be by those who defend Israel and attempt to delegitimize the call for academic boycott.  The vast majority of the Israeli academic community is oblivious to the oppression of the Palestinian people--both inside Israel and in the occupied territory--and has never opposed the practices and policies of their state. In fact, they duly serve in the reserve forces of the occupation army and, accordingly are likely to be either perpetrators of or silent witnesses to the daily brutality of the occupation.  They also do not hesitate to partner in their academic research with the security-military establishment that is the chief architect and executor of the occupation.  A petition drafted by four Israeli academics merely calling on the Israeli government “to allow [Palestinian] students and lecturers free access to all the campuses in the [occupied] Territories, and to allow lecturers and students who hold foreign passports to teach and study without being threatened with withdrawal of residence visas,” was endorsed by only 407 out of 9,000 Israeli academics – less than 5% of those who were invited to sign it. [12]


Notes:

[1] The decision was published in the official Israeli Gazette (the Hebrew edition), number 1425. It was therefore "legalized" by Israel. This land, for the most part, was (still is) privately owned by Palestinians living in that area. A large part of the confiscated land was then given to the Hebrew University to expand its campus (mainly its dormitories). The Palestinian landowners refused to leave their lands and homes arguing that the confiscation order of 1968 was illegal. When the case was taken to the Jerusalem District Court in 1972 (file no. 1531/72), the court ruled in favor of the University and the state, deciding that the Palestinian families must evacuate their homes and be offered alternative housing. See also http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/12/un-report-accuses-israel-of-pushing-palestinians-from-jerusalem-west-bank/

[2] Keller, U. (2009) the Academic Boycott of Israel and the Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in Occupation of

Palestinian Territories. The Economy of the Occupation: A Socioeconomic Bulletin: Alternative Information Centre. http://www.alternativenews.org/images/stories/downloads/Economy_of_the_occupation_23-24.pdf

[3] http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/In-Jerusalem/Hebrew-University-in-Arabic

[4] http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3827102,00.html

[5] http://www.jewishlinkbc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=944:lapid-threatens-to-bring-down-the-govt-on-haredi-army-issue&catid=150:news&Itemid=562

[6] http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3=6&ca

[7] http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869

[8] http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52

[9] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=2102

[10] UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “The Right to Education (Art.13),” December 8, 1999: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/ae1a0b126d068e868025683c003c8b3b?Opendocument

[11] Judith Butler. "Israel/Palestine and the Paradoxes of Academic Freedom." in: Radical Philosophy, Vol. 135. pp. 8-17, January/February 2006. http://www.egs.edu/faculty/judith-butler/articles/israel-palestine-paradoxes-of-academic-freedom/ (Accessed on December 10, 2011)

[12] http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=792

  • ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR

    • Long Form Podcast Episode 8: Resigning the State Department Over Gaza With Hala Rharrit

      Long Form Podcast Episode 8: Resigning the State Department Over Gaza With Hala Rharrit

      In this episode of Long Form, Hala Rharrit discusses the factors that led her to resign from the US State Department, the mechanisms by which institutional corruption and ideological commitments of officials and representatives ensure US support for Israel, and how US decision-makers consistently violate international law and US laws/legislation. Rharrit also addresses the Trump administration’s claim that South Africa is perpetrating genocide against the country’s Afrikaaner population, and how this intersects with the US-Israeli campaign of retribution against South Africa for hauling Israel before the ICJ on charges of genocide.

    • Emergency Teach-In — Israel’s Profound Existential Crisis: No Morals or Laws Left to Violate!

      Emergency Teach-In — Israel’s Profound Existential Crisis: No Morals or Laws Left to Violate!

      The entire globe stands behind Israel as it faces its most intractable existential crisis since it started its slow-motion Genocide in 1948. People of conscience the world over are in tears as Israel has completely run out of morals and laws to violate during its current faster-paced Genocide in Gaza. Israelis, state and society, feel helpless, like sitting ducks, as they search and scramble for an inkling of hope that they might find one more human value to desecrate, but, alas, their efforts remain futile. They have covered their grounds impeccably and now have to face the music. This is an emergency call for immediate global solidarity with Israel’s quest far a lot more annihilation. Please lend a helping limb.

    • Long Form Podcast Episode 7: Think Tanks and Manufactuing Consent with Mandy Turner (4 June)

      Long Form Podcast Episode 7: Think Tanks and Manufactuing Consent with Mandy Turner (4 June)

      In this episode, Mandy Turner discusses the vital role think tanks play in the policy process, and in manufacturing consent for government policy. Turner recently published a landmark study of leading Western think tanks and their positions on Israel and Palestine, tracing pronounced pro-Israel bias, where the the key role is primarily the work of senior staff within these institutions, the so-called “gatekeepers.”

Past is Present: Settler Colonialism Matters!

On 5-6 March 2011, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its seventh annual conference, "Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine." This year`s conference aims to understand Zionism as a settler colonial project which has, for more than a century, subjected Palestine and Palestinians to a structural and violent form of destruction, dispossession, land appropriation and erasure in the pursuit of a new Jewish Israeli society. By organizing this conference, we hope to reclaim and revive the settler colonial paradigm and to outline its potential to inform and guide political strategy and mobilization.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often described as unique and exceptional with little resemblance to other historical or ongoing colonial conflicts. Yet, for Zionism, like other settler colonial projects such as the British colonization of Ireland or European settlement of North America, South Africa or Australia, the imperative is to control the land and its resources -- and to displace the original inhabitants. Indeed, as conference keynote speaker Patrick Wolfe, one of the foremost scholars on settler colonialism and professor at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, argues, "the logic of this project, a sustained institutional tendency to eliminate the Indigenous population, informs a range of historical practices that might otherwise appear distinct--invasion is a structure not an event."[i]

Therefore, the classification of the Zionist movement as a settler colonial project, and the Israeli state as its manifestation, is not merely intended as a statement on the historical origins of Israel, nor as a rhetorical or polemical device. Rather, the aim is to highlight Zionism`s structural continuities and the ideology which informs Israeli policies and practices in Palestine and toward Palestinians everywhere. Thus, the Nakba -- whether viewed as a spontaneous, violent episode in war, or the implementation of a preconceived master plan -- should be understood as both the precondition for the creation of Israel and the logical outcome of Zionist settlement in Palestine.

Moreover, it is this same logic that sustains the continuation of the Nakba today. As remarked by Benny Morris, “had he [David Ben Gurion] carried out full expulsion--rather than partial--he would have stabilised the State of Israel for generations.”[ii] Yet, plagued by an “instability”--defined by the very existence of the Palestinian nation--Israel continues its daily state practices in its quest to fulfill Zionism’s logic to maximize the amount of land under its control with the minimum number of Palestinians on it. These practices take a painful array of manifestations: aerial and maritime bombardment, massacre and invasion, house demolitions, land theft, identity card confiscation, racist laws and loyalty tests, the wall, the siege on Gaza, cultural appropriation, and the dependence on willing (or unwilling) native collaboration and security arrangements, all with the continued support and backing of imperial power. 

Despite these enduring practices however, the settler colonial paradigm has largely fallen into disuse. As a paradigm, it once served as a primary ideological and political framework for all Palestinian political factions and trends, and informed the intellectual work of committed academics and revolutionary scholars, both Palestinians and Jews.

The conference thus asks where and why the settler colonial paradigm was lost, both in scholarship on Palestine and in politics; how do current analyses and theoretical trends that have arisen in its place address present and historical realities? While acknowledging the creativity of these new interpretations, we must nonetheless ask: when exactly did Palestinian natives find themselves in a "post-colonial" condition? When did the ongoing struggle over land become a "post-conflict" situation? When did Israel become a "post-Zionist" society? And when did the fortification of Palestinian ghettos and reservations become "state-building"?

In outlining settler colonialism as a central paradigm from which to understand Palestine, this conference re-invigorates it as a tool by which to analyze the present situation. In doing so, it contests solutions which accommodate Zionism, and more significantly, builds settler colonialism as a political analysis that can embolden and inform a strategy of active, mutual, and principled Palestinian alignment with the Arab struggle for self-determination, and indigenous struggles in the US, Latin America, Oceania, and elsewhere.

Such an alignment would expand the tools available to Palestinians and their solidarity movement, and reconnect the struggle to its own history of anti-colonial internationalism. At its core, this internationalism asserts that the Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism can only be won when it is embedded within, and empowered by, the broader Arab movement for emancipation and the indigenous, anti-racist and anti-colonial movement--from Arizona to Auckland.

SOAS Palestine Society invites everyone to join us at what promises to be a significant intervention in Palestine activism and scholarship.

For over 30 years, SOAS Palestine Society has heightened awareness and understanding of the Palestinian people, their rights, culture, and struggle for self-determination, amongst students, faculty, staff, and the broader public. SOAS Palestine society aims to continuously push the frontiers of discourse in an effort to make provocative arguments and to stimulate debate and organizing for justice in Palestine through relevant conferences, and events ranging from the intellectual and political impact of Edward Said`s life and work (2004), international law and the Palestine question (2005), the economy of Palestine and its occupation (2006), the one state (2007), 60 Years of Nakba, 60 Years of Resistance (2009), and most recently, the Left in Palestine (2010).

For more information on the SOAS Palestine Society 7th annual conference, Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine: www.soaspalsoc.org

SOAS Palestine Society Organizing Collective is a group of committed students that has undertaken to organize annual academic conferences on Palestine since 2003.

 


[i] Patrick Wolfe, Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of an Ethnographic Event, Cassell, London, p. 163

[ii] Interview with Benny Morris, Survival of the Fittest, Haaretz, 9. January 2004, http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=5412