Dear Editor,
The proposition for an academic boycott on Israeli institutions, as suggested by Eileen Culloty, holds no convincing merit (“Israel is targeting educational infrastructure in Gaza. An academic boycott is the right response”, October 10th, Opinion & Analysis). Asserting that such a boycott wouldn’t harm individual scholars seems absurd. How would they continue their research if their supporting institutions lost funding?
It seems rather counterproductive to support the ostracism of academic institutions on behalf of “freedom and the quest for knowledge” – the very places where driven individuals strive to bring about positive changes in various disciplines, the majority of which aren’t politically inclined.
Despite these points, if a boycott was to be enforced, one would think that supporters would advocate for a similar treatment towards any nation worldwide accused of discrimination, territorial occupation, human rights violations, or acts of war – a point conspicuously absent from Professor Culloty’s argument.
Moreover, Dr Eileen Culloty at Dublin City University has endorsed the academic boycott of Israeli institutions. Maybe Dr Culloty would be interested in explaining why DCU’s affiliation with Chinese institutions, a point highlighted on DCU’s website, seems to be unproblematic to her.
Furthermore, despite Dr Culloty’s assertion regarding Israel’s destruction of 3,000 archaeological artefacts when Al-Israa University was ruined, Palestinian sources assert that these were moved by the Israel Defense Forces away from the conflict zone for safekeeping, or as they would rather phrase it, ‘stolen’.
Yours sincerely,
Naomi Duffy, Dublin 13.
Paul Williams, Kilkee, Co Clare.
It is disheartening to note the assertion that unauthorised archaeological digs are being performed with the intent of “altering historical facts”. Such evidence substantiating the rightful Jewish claim of justified existence in their ancestral territories of Judea and Samaria, also known as the ‘West Bank’, appears to have caused her significant distress. Best regards,
Dr David Woods,
Department of Classics,
University College Cork.