made itself a major partner-indeed, since a violation of international law is involved, the term "accomplice" may well be used. The "Judea and Samaria College" which you and your colleagues established and nurtured has a central role in the settlement of Ariel, increasing its population and its economic clout. The college's faculty and students are prime users of the "Trans-Samaria Road," the four-lane highway that was created on confiscated Palestinian land in order to provide quick transportation to Ariel. The Palestinian villagers on whose land this highway was built are excluded from using it. They are relegated to a rugged, bumpy mountain trail.
It is you and your colleagues, Professor Kaveh, who started mixing academia with politics. A very heavy mixture, such as few universities anywhere ever engaged in.
You cannot really complain when people in Britain who have different standards for what is the proper moral behavior of academics (or of human beings in general) take action that you do not like. In fact, if you are truly proud of establishing and maintaining the "Judea and Samaria College," you must have the courage of your convictions and take the consequences. Much better, of course, would be for you and your colleagues to sever your connection with the ill-conceived settlement project-and then you can quite rightly demand that the boycott be removed from your university.
Yours
Uri Avnery
Gush Shalom (The Israeli Peace Bloc)
As noted above, not all resistance to Israeli policy is Palestinian-there are a range of Israelis who practice one or another form of resistance to a variety of Israeli policies vis-a-vis Palestine and Palestinians.-SRP
April 30, 2005
The day before yesterday, two demonstrations were held, just a few dozen kilometers apart.
One took place at the Homesh settlement, not far from Jenin. Tens of thousands of settlers and their sympathizers came to demonstrate against the planned evacuation of this settlement. The demonstrators swore to sabotage the decisions of the government and the Knesset. One of them declared that they could be removed only in coffins draped with the national flag.