Letter to the New York Review of Books Editor : Missing the forest for the trees

Posted on | Angela Davis | Toujours d'actualité
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Letter to the New York Review of Books Editor (November 10, 2016)

A statement recently published in the New York Review of Books calls for “an Economic Boycott and Political Nonrecognition of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories.” [Letters, October 13]

We welcome the statement’s shattering of the taboo against boycotting Israeli entities that are complicit in — at least selective — violations of Palestinian human rights.

Defying common sense, however, the statement calls for boycotting settlements while letting Israel, the state that has illegally built and maintained those settlements for decades, off the hook.

Moreover, shouldn’t Israeli banks that are not based in settlements but finance their construction be targeted as well? This is what the United Methodist Church and the massive Dutch pension fund PGGM have done.

By omitting Israel’s other serious violations of international law, the statement fails the moral consistency test. Aren’t Palestinian refugees, the majority of Palestinians, entitled to their UN-stipulated rights? Shouldn’t Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy equal rights by repealing Israel’s dozens of laws that racially discriminate against them?

Palestinian civil society has called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against all entities, Israeli or international, that are complicit in denying Palestinians everywhere their rights. As the apartheid South Africa boycott shows, this is the most effective, nonviolent way to achieve freedom, justice and equality for all.

  1. Nadia Abu El-Haj, Co-director, Center for Palestine Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA
  2. Mamdouh Aker, MD, Commissioner, Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, Ramallah, Palestine
  3. Chandler Davis, Professor of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  4. Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA
  5. Laurence Dreyfus FBA, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  6. Farid Esack, Chair, Dept. of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  7. Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton, Santa Barbara, USA
  8. Ronnie Kasrils, Former Minister of Intelligence, Johannesburg, South Africa
  9. Robin D. G. Kelley, Gary B. Nash Professor of American History, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  10. Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA
  11. Malcolm Levitt FRS, School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
  12. Miriam Margolyes, Actress, O.B.E., London, UK
  13. John Pilger, Journalist and filmmaker, London, UK
  14. Barbara Ransby, Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA
  15. Alice Rothchild, MD, Retired Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, Seattle, USA
  16. Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor, City University of New York, New York, USA
  17. Joan W. Scott, Professor Emerita, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA
  18. Peter H. S. Sporn, MD, Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA
  19. Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace, New York, USA
  20. Alice Walker, Writer, Berkeley, CA, USA
  21. Roger Waters, Musician, New York, USA

and one hundred and four others

Institutional affiliations for purposes of identification only

Full list of signatories (October 11, 2016)

  1. Ahmed Abbes, Directeur de Recherche au CNRS, Paris, France
  2. Ramy Abu Abdu, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine
  3. Nadia Abu El-Haj, Co-director, Center for Palestine Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA
  4. Assad Abu Sharkh, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine
  5. Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University, New York, USA
  6. Ali Abunimah, Author and journalist, Chicago, USA
  7. Mamdouh Aker, MD, Commissioner, Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, Ramallah, Palestine
  8. Huwaida Arraf, Civil rights attorney, Detroit, USA
  9. Sion Assidon, Human rights activist, BDS Morocco, Casablanca, Morocco
  10. Fouad Ayyad, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine
  11. Omar Barghouti, Human rights defender, BDS movement, Acre, Palestine/Israel
  12. Riham Barghouti, Co-founder, Adalah-NY, New York, USA
  13. Nasser Barghouti, Board Member, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee-San Diego, San Diego, USA
  14. Ronnie Barkan, Human rights activist, Boycott from Within, Tel Aviv, Israel-Palestine
  15. Hatem Bazian, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
  16. Sherna Berger Gluck, Emerita faculty, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, USA
  17. Samia Botmeh, Birzeit University, Ramallah, Palestine
  18. Robert Boyce, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
  19. Jean Bricmont, Professeur de physique à Université de Louvain, Louvain La Neuve, Belgium
  20. Victoria Brittain, Author and playwright, London, UK
  21. Diana Buttu, Lawyer, Nazareth, Palestine/Israel
  22. Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, USA
  23. Elliott Colla, Dept. of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
  24. Lawrence Davidson, Professor Emeritus of History, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA
  25. Chandler Davis, Professor of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  26. Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA
  27. Colin Dayan, Professor of English & Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
  28. Herman De Ley, Emeritus Professor, Ghent University, Nevele, Belgium
  29. Mary Ann De Vlieg, Independent evaluator and consultant, Venice, Italy
  30. Raymond Deane, Composer and author, Dublin, Ireland
  31. James Dickins, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
  32. Laurence Dreyfus FBA, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  33. Nasser Eid, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine
  34. Haidar Eid, Professor of Literature, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine
  35. Farid Esack, Chair, Dept. of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  36. Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton, Santa Barbara, USA
  37. Margaret Ferguson, Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Davis, Davis, US
  38. Bill Fletcher, Jr., Writer, talk show host, Maryland, USA
  39. Naomi Foyle, University of Chichester, Brighton, UK
  40. Cynthia Franklin, University of Hawai’i, Manoa, Manoa, USA
  41. Irene Gendzier, Prof Emeritus, Boston University, Boston, USA
  42. Jess Ghannam, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  43. Terri Ginsberg, Assistant Professor & Director of Film, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
  44. Neta Golan, Co-founder and activist, International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Palestine
  45. Kevin A. Gould, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  46. Dorothy Griffiths OBE FCGI FRSA, Imperial College London, London, UK
  47. Andrew Paul Gutierrez, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
  48. Marwan Hamdan, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine
  49. Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, USA
  50. Salah Hassan, Michigan State University, Lansing, US
  51. Kamel Hawwash, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  52. Nasser Hejazi, Al-Quds Open University, Gaza, Palestine
  53. Nadia Hijab, Author and human rights advocate, London, UK
  54. Patricia Penn Hilden, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, US
  55. Ray Jureidini, Professor, Doha, Qatar
  56. Andrew Kadi, Steering Committee Member, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Washington, DC, USA
  57. Remi Kanazi, Poet, New York, USA
  58. Ronnie Kasrils, Former Minister of Intelligence, Johannesburg, South Africa
  59. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
  60. Robin D. G. Kelley, Gary B. Nash Professor of American History, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  61. Assaf Kfoury, Boston University, Boston, USA
  62. Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA
  63. Suhail Khoury, Director, Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, Jerusalem, Palestine
  64. David Klein, Professor of Mathematics, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, US
  65. David Landy, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
  66. Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325, NYC, USA
  67. Les Levidow, Open University, London, UK
  68. Malcolm Levitt FRS, School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, England
  69. David Lloyd, Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, US
  70. Yosefa Loshitzky, SOAS, University of London, London, UK
  71. Anna Majavu, PhD Candidate, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  72. Rayaz A. Malik, Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar
  73. Mike Marais, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
  74. Miriam Margolyes, O.B.E., Actress, London, UK
  75. Rania Masri, Associate Director, Asfari Institute, American University Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  76. Mazen Masri, Senior Lecturer in Law, City, University of London, London, UK
  77. Omar M. Masri, Managing Director, EDGO, Amman, Jordan
  78. William Messing, Professor of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
  79. Alan Meyers, Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
  80. Michel Mietton, Professeur émérite, Université Lyon 3 – Jean Moulin, Lyon, France
  81. Fred Moten, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
  82. Bill V. Mullen, Professor of American Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, US
  83. Dorit Naaman, Alliance Atlantis Professor of Film and Media, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
  84. Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
  85. Rima Najjar, Professor (retired), Al-Quds University, Abu Dis, Palestine
  86. Mica Nava, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, University of East London, London, UK
  87. Josiane Olf-Nathan, Ingénieur d’Etudes (retired), Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
  88. Dina Omar, PhD Candidate, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
  89. Ayyoub Othman, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine
  90. David Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford, Stanford, USA
  91. David Pegg, Professor of Biology, University of York, York, UK
  92. John Pilger, Journalist and filmmaker, London, UK
  93. Sami Ramadani, London Metropolitan University, London, UK
  94. Barbara Ransby, Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA
  95. Marwan Rashed, Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, France
  96. Roshdi Rashed, Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS, Professeur honoraire à l’Université de Tokyo, Paris, France
  97. Timothy Reiss, Professor Emeritus, New York University, Berkeley, US
  98. John Reynolds, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland
  99. Nick Riemer, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  100. Bruce Robbins, Old Dominion Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, New York, US
  101. Steven Rose, Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, The Open University, London, UK
  102. Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, London, UK
  103. Bob Ross, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, USA
  104. Alice Rothchild, MD, Retired Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, Seattle, USA
  105. Josh Ruebner, Policy Director, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Washington, DC, USA
  106. Samah Sabawi, Author and playwright, Melbourne, Australia
  107. Steven Salaita, Edward W. Said Chair, American University Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  108. C. Heike Schotten, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Boston, US
  109. Malini Schueller, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
  110. Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor, City University of New York, New York, USA
  111. Joan W. Scott, Professor Emerita, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA
  112. Richard Seaford, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
  113. Sid Shniad, Member, National Steering Committee, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Vancouver, Canada
  114. David Simpson, Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA
  115. Kobi Snitz, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
  116. Ahdaf Soueif, Writer, Cairo, Egypt
  117. Peter H. S. Sporn, MD, Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA
  118. Lina Suleiman, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Stockholm, Sweden
  119. Salim Vally, Director, Center for Education Rights and Transformation, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  120. Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace, New York, USA
  121. Alice Walker, Writer, Berkeley, CA, USA
  122. Roger Waters, Musician, New York, USA
  123. Craig Willse, George Mason University, Washington, DC, US
  124. Hatem Zaag, Directeur de recherche au CNRS, Université Paris 13, Paris, France
  125. Haifa Zangana, Author and UN-ESCWA Adviser, London, UK

Institutional affiliations for purposes of identification only