The linkage between Trump and Abbas is bizarre. Try looking at his"Ph.D" thesis on holocaust denial. He is not only corrupt but has been spouting anti-semitic nonsense for years. Roger Cohen made this discovery three months ago?
14
May I suggest everyone, including Mr. Cohen, reads Ms. Frankel tweets before writing an opinion? No wonder Israel stopped her at the border.
20
Jewish Voice for Peace and the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement advocate non-violent resistance to Israel's subjugation of the Palestinians.
How is that the same as calling for Israel to be "destroyed"? We want injustice to be destroyed, yes. We want to destroy any system of oppression, for sure. But that can and should be accomplished non-violently, even in the face of Israel's fairly extensive use of violence against the Palestinians.
Of course, supporters of Palestinian ghettoization are insinuating that we want to "destroy" Israel, and its Jewish people in the same way the Nazis did.
Some 30 years ago, I was one of those who advocated that the U.S. "boycott, divest and sanction" the South African apartheid regime.
Was I advocating the "destruction" of South Africa? Or the extermination of South Africa's white population? Hardly. And neither Prof. Franke nor I advocate the "destruction" of a single Israeli.
17
This is part of what the Canary Mission has posted on Katherine Franke. I'm trying to understand how any of this is "right wing trolling":
Katherine Franke is a member of the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and sits on the steering committee of its Academic Advisory Council. Franke is a proponent of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has endorsed the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). In an April 2016 article, Franke referred to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ban on boycotts exclusively directed at Israel as "unconscionable." In 2016, Franke was the primary author of a CCR report that defended the movement for Black Lives (M4BL) platform statement that accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians. On October 4, 2015, Franke tweeted that "Palestinian resistance 2 Israeli policy isn't "Islamic terrorism" - it's anti-colonial resistance."
On August 26, 2016, Franke retweeted a tweet from Palestine Legal claiming the University of California at Irvine (UCI) dismissed allegations against Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for disrupting a pro-Israel film screening in May 2016. However, UCI released a report that found that SJP did, in fact, disrupt the event and imposed disciplinary sanctions on the group. In a May 8, 2012 blog post, Franke blamed Palestinian homophobia on Israel.
20
What do we tell a Palestinian born in Haifa in 1943, who was five years old in 1948 when we unilaterally declared Israel out of half of Palestine.
His family fled across the border to Lebanon to keep safe when the 1948 war broke out.
He is not allowed to return to the city he was born, where his family had a home, where his ancestors go back hundreds of years.
He is not allowed to be a citizen of Haifa.
But a Jew born anywhere in the world can be a citizen of Haifa.
The Jews talk about their homeland. He would like to return to his homeland.
25
JVP's attacks on Israel, couched as “thinking differently” & legitimate criticism, rises to the level of anti-Semitism, under examination according to mainstream Jewish organizations & scholars. For example JVP denies only the Jewish people the right to self-determination in their historic land; JVP evaluates a complex Middle East conflict & problems of the region only through the lens of a “blame Israel” approach. The devil is in the details. Please examine them before accusing Israel.
While Abbas certainly is “a bitter old man”, his anti-Semitism didn’t start with his recent outburst, but with his Holocaust denying university thesis, and has been alive and well in his encouraging the murder of Israelis, teaching anti-Semitism to Palestinian kids, demonizing the JEWISH state (see Palestinian Media Watch website which accurately translates Palestinian TV, etc).
As to Gaza, if only some of the thousands of protestors are violent as the article implies – firing and throwing Molotov cocktails and trying to force their way over the border into a sovereign country using demonstrators as human shields – why shouldn’t Israel have a right to self defense and prevent an invasion? Why aren’t the absolute dictators of Gaza, - Hamas who divert most of the billions of foreign aid into building death tunnels, producing rockets to fire at Israel and living in luxury and who have used their civilians as human shields for years - the object of the major, or at least some, criticism?
16
Oh goodness. Roger Cohen, whom I basically like, continues to have a fantasy that a country that defines itself as a "Jewish State", thereby relegating a large part of its population to second class status, could be expected to be democratic. The country was founded on ethnic cleansing, a programme that it continues to this day, and Mr. Cohen is upset about a Columbia professor?
12
Let’s continue with the accusations towards Israel. I am happy she was sent back! Gloves off. Antisemitism in America has reached its high point. And the only reason there is no Palestinian state has to do with their own leadership. We would not admit thru the USA borders terrorist supporters. BDS is not peaceful. The Gaza protests are not peaceful. There is nothing peaceful about either! And as a Tel Aviv university graduate I hope the supporting numbers are small.
18
Israelis -- like any other endangered species -- have to exercise great care when choosing friends.
8
Bollinger says of Israel, “The future of academic freedom is best secured through exchange of people and ideas, not by establishing barriers.” It’s more apt a statement about BDS.
5
"Yes, Israel has that right, but not the right to use lethal force against mainly unarmed Palestinian civilians, who also have rights, including to liberty and opportunity."
Mr Cohen blinds himself to the widely reported fact that the vast majority of Palestinian fatalities were known affiliates of militant groups. The logical flaw is that indeed the protestors are "mainly" unarmed, but lethal force was used against the minority armed with Molotov cocktails (or kites, setting Israeli farms on fire), and against those affixing cables to the fence to pull it down, to achieve their stated objective of flooding Israel with thousands of Palestinians "returning". These are legitimately classified as combatants. To represent this as using "lethal force against mainly unarmed Palestinian civilians" is dishonest journalism, parroting the Hamas playbook exactly as they planned it.
18
They are not protesters. Protesters waive banners, they do not throw molotov cocktails, sling stones, throw burning kites which has burned hundreds of acres of Israeli wheatfields. Nor do protesters dig terror tunnels across the border to kidnap and kill Israelis.
The avowed purpose of the march is to destroy the state of Israel.
I have listened to a JVP representative. The aim of the JVP is politicide, the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has every right to keep her out.
18
I'm trying to picture how your appeal for the Israelis not to shoot unarmed (or lightly armed) Palestinians would actually work. Have the guards defending their Israeli border shout out "excuse me, young man, may I have proof of your age? Is that a gasoline bomb you're waving at me? Are you a minor? We're offering anger management therapy. May I request that you refrain from starting a wild fire? Oh, and those kites and drones, may I request that they not be launched? Or at least be accompanied by a certificate of their non violent intent?"
Look, if you can't get excited over the idea of hordes of Palestinians promising to occupy the homes and businesses that their grandparents supposedly left 80 years ago, could you at least get excited at the idea of an attack on the environment? Have you ever been around a tire fire? Very nasty. But I suppose you consider it a political plus: wouldn't want to interfere with their freedom of expression.
17
Unfortunately and tragically typical. At my school in the early 2000s there were two "chairs" in the history department that were created with funding from interest groups and (I was told) foreign governments. The purpose of one chair was to teach classes and produce scholarship that supported the Israeli government/Zionist view of the U.S./Israeli - Palestinian conflict and the history of Israel. The purpose of the other chair was to make sure the Armenian genocide was neither acknowledged or taught.
Ah, freedom.
7
Roger, you deliberately distorted the facts. The professor supports BDS and an academic boycott of Israel. So She is willing to work personally with individual Israeli students, but promotes a boycott of Israel and it’s universities.
And you have the gall to say this is an issue of democracy and academic freedom?
You should be writing a column about how the academic boycott of Israel is anti-democratic.
17
It's real simple: if you are going to boycott Israel, Israel will boycott you. What's not to understand?
No country has to admit people who come to stir up hatred and foment violence.
16
"she’s the kind of tough critic a free and democratic society should welcome." Maybe Israel is not a free and democratic society after all.
The Times might also note the charges that Israeli snipers are killing journalists on the Palestinian side of the fence.
9
The fact that Cohen felt that he had to preface any criticism of Israel with stronger criticism of the Palestinian Authority, tells you all you need to know about the Times' "kid gloves" treatment of Israel's appalling actions over the decades.
Later on, Cohen refers to the IDF's assassination of peaceful protesters as "overreact[ing] at the Gaza fence".
Israel's treatment of the Columbia professor is quite understandable: when a country commits the level of atrocities that Israel commits on a regular basis, criticism, both internal and external, must be tightly controlled.
Israeli officials no doubt understand that they are already on the wrong end of world opinion, basically viewed as a pariah state.
10
It is quite ironic that Mr. Cohen compares Israel's decision to a "1930's Munich beerhall" (a not so shaded reference to Nazi Germany). Prof. Franke is on record describing the 1934 Nazi Boycott of Jewish businesses as being a "counter-protest" to the international boycott of Nazi Germany, rather than acknowledging it as being a further step in the growing number of anti-Jewish policies being enacted by the Nazi regime. So, as he compares Israel to the Nazis, she offers justification for the Nazi policies that were put in place to isolate and dehumanize the Jews.
Prof. Famkem has been lauded for her contributions to BDS and JVP in other pro-Arab publications. Interestingly, she edited her on-line bio shortly before her trip so as to downplay her connections to and support of JVP and BDS. That does not seem consistent with the academic freedom and integrity that Mr. Cohen implies is her standard.
In other media outlets she has admitted to working to promote BDS but insists that she was not intending to do so in this particular trip. This claim is absurd. As can be seen from the list of organizations affiliated with the tour, and from what can be seen of their agenda thus far, it is clear that they are only speaking to those who will portray Israel only in the most negative manner. Invitations by Israeli activists to meet for even just a half hour have been ignored.
To suggest that this tour is attempting to be un-biased is a joke. Franke deserves the ban.
14
Boy, is the NY Times obsessed with Israel. Every week brings several articles and/or opinion pieces, with much less coverage of Syria and Yemen, where wars are raging causing major humanitarian crises and where more Palestinians have been killed (By Bashar Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies) than the Israelis have killed. Not to mention Darfur, Venezuela and other places. Enough already!
By the way, as an Israeli I think it is a mistake to deny entry to Prof Francke and a violation of freedom of speech but I also have no illusions about the BDS movement and Jewish Voice for "Peace" who support the enemies of Israel (although some of their members may be well-meaning but misguided).
I wish Prof Francke would come back with an open mind (as I would expect of a law professor) and listen to all sides, learn some history and try to get a more balanced picture of the tragic conflict here.
13
Fascism, whether of the right or left, should be denounced wherever and whenever it occurs.
Columbia's milquetoast response to same shows what an Ivy League education (doesn't) gets you these days = compromise in the face of political expediency.
6
Israel has no right to use lethal force against "mainly unarmed" Gazans? On the contrary, Israel has the duty to use all necessary force against a mob organized specifically to invade the country, and equipped with the tools (wire cutters, winches, ropes, etc,) to do so.
Failing to recognize this, and then proceeding to bemoan the fate of one professor denied entry, shows a gross lack of perspective on Roger Cohen's part.
11
Hindsight is 20-20, but looking back, it seems almost inevitable that there would be a brutal war between the nascent state of Israel when it was established, and the local population plus Arab states. Unfortunately, the human race is tribal and territorial. Utopian notions of peaceful coexistence were probably naive, and the hardening of the conqueror- in this case Israel,- with dehumanization of the conquered was probably inevitable.
Had the U.N. decided to establish an Israel in half of New York City, similar violence with the "Christian" community would probably have broken out. Christians fleeing the new Jewish state, Jews driving some out, the U.S. government attacking. Just human group nature.
Some questions: Has Israel really made it safer for Jews (like me) to live in this world? Is Israel really the safest place for Jews? Is anti-Antisemitism made stronger or weaker by the actions of Israel? What if instead of establishing a state, the U.N. worked with the victorious powers of WWII to share in accepting the millions of desperate Jewish refugees within their nations and societies without changing governments, borders, or other jurisdictions?
Personally, I think it would be a more peaceful world, less hatred of Jews and less excuse for Middle Eastern demagogues, Muslim and Jewish.
11
We must remember that Roger Cohen is expressing his opinion. As such, his column is not to be confused with a news article.
7
How about letting some spokespeople from Israel or who support Israel have a say here? I see so much that is pro-Palestinian. There are two sides to this story.
9
Columbia University should be ashamed of itself for its despicable non-response. I guess the donor class comes first, as always.
7
Nobody has the right to throw stones, inflame tires and try to infiltrate a foreign country by force for God knows what purposes. That should be fairly simple, and that would not be condoned by any country in the world.
And my educated guess would be that the Palestinians trying to force their way onto Israel's territory don't do so bc they want to take a holiday or look for work.
If you don't want to get shot at, here is a simple piece of advice: do not use violence in an attempt to cross a border into a foreign country. Stay away from the border. Simple as that.
10
Excellent article.
5
Many Israelis consider Netanyahu an extreme right-wing politician, who tolerates Third Temple movements.
Israelis are righteously scared. They live in a tough neighborhood. Still, since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, they have lost their essential physical and moral courage.
Shame on Columbia for not supporting her. I support Israel, but I do not support a fascist Israel, fascism being ultra-nationalism, not necessarily anti-Semitic.
9
Israel's path is highly reminiscent of the path South Africa took. As with South Africa under siege at the time, Israel's behavior is progressively more high-handed. Both use(d) the threat from outside to whip up a nationalistic frenzy to keep the majority of the population from focusing on the ethical and legal consequences of their increasingly perverted actions to support their regime.
9
f she has indeed worked on the "Academic Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace", what does an advisory council provide if not leadership?
And it's not "civilized debate" if she's boycotting the debate. Why shouldn't Israel boycott her?
6
Israel moves ever more closely to the right wing, closed and uni-ethnic philosophy that has drawn the world into war all too often.
While its right to exist is a given, its right to turn it Arab neighbors into refugees on their historical land is not.
Why do we accept Israel's condemnation of other states interest in nuclear power while they themselves hold stores of nuclear illegally obtained==an denied?
For there to be peace in the Middle East, all interested parties must come to the table in an open and honest manner, without the arrogance that comes from holding superior weaponry
6
This nation should not extol Israel as an ally until the frightening reign of Bibi comes to its crashing end in court, and our financial support should also be suspended until we have a true ally again.
6
This son of a Holocaust survivor will sum it up for you.
The Jews of Israel have come to a point where their lust for land (in the guise of security concerns and messianic hoowee) has overtaken their need for peace.
Yep, NEED for peace.
As many of the most hawkish and conservative Israeli security experts, including former heads of security arm Shin Bet, have stated, continued annexation of the West Bank (the occupied territories) leads to only two outcomes - both ending Israel.
1) a greater Israel (absorbing all of Palestinian land) with an equal population of Jews and Palestinians with EQUAL status thus rendering the nation no longer a majority Jewish state. Maybe that's OK.
2) a greater Israel as above but with half the population of Palestinians living in an apartied status as second class citizens. See South Africa for how well that turned out.
We can add a third.
A permanent oozing scab of occupation and annexation and unending enmity and explosions of conflict.
I'll repeat: NEED for peace.
There can be bold moves initiated by the super power in the region. That would be Israel.
A final status on two states is achievable.
Even Trump thinks there can be peace.
And that's always been based on two states.
This article leads to one absolute conclusion:
Jews make bad fascists.
It's inherently not us.
But, when a people, a nation is hoodwinked for decades into right-wing paranoia that peace is impossible (it's not) they are ripe for bad actions.
14
So Mr. Cohen, you are obviously well on the way on the difficult path towards rejecting Zionism; that painful road made by my Jewish American friends psychologist and author Mark Braverman and Rabbi Brant Rosen, Midwest Director for American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) both advocates for Justice in Israel/ Palestine. When will you finally reject political Zionism for the failed settler colonial racist project that it has become, if not always was from it's inception. Or as Tony Judt wrote: "And thus it was only in 1948 that a Jewish nation-state was established in formerly Ottoman Palestine....not surprisingly, Israel’s ethno-religious self-definition, and its discrimination against internal “foreigners,” has always had more in common with, say, the practices of post-Habsburg Romania than either party might care to acknowledge.
The problem with Israel, in short, is not—as is sometimes suggested—that it is a European “enclave” in the Arab world; but rather that it arrived too late. It has imported a characteristically late-nineteenth-century separatist project into a world that has moved on, a world of individual rights, open frontiers, and international law. The very idea of a “Jewish state”—a state in which Jews and the Jewish religion have exclusive privileges from which non-Jewish citizens are forever excluded—is rooted in another time and place. Israel, in short, is an anachronism."
I hope you will soon make the leap like Braverman and Rosen, those JVPers.
6
This is at the top of my list of uninteresting stories of the year. An elite professor occupying an elite chair at an elite university, intent on entering Israel to straighten them out, is detained at the airport and then sent home? This seems much more the story of unbridled and unreflective American entitlement and assumed-but-unearned moral superiority. Professor Franke would benefit herself, and therefore her students and her institution, if she were to excuse herself for a spell of critical self-examination of her obvious sense of Great American Privilege.
This story is literally the academic equivalent of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
12
Israel's argument differentiating itself from its Arab neighbors and defending itself against accusations of apartheid-like behavior used to be that it was a free society open to all views.
I used to believe this. Now I'm not so sure.
Many Americans and others worldwide, including Jews, should consider avoiding travel to Israel if borderline paranoid right-wing "if-you're-not-with-us-your-against-us" web sites are the criteria for admission into Israel. Why waste money booking nonrefundable travel to Israel only to be blocked from entry and deported because your Trump fanatic crazy Uncle Shmuel has dutifully reported most of the rest of the family as Hamas sympathizers to the Israeli embassy just because they disagree with his views? Who knows how many of us are already on an enemies list?
I have always opposed any boycott of Israel by any commercial, academic, or religious organization. But I don't know what to do when Israel chooses to boycott the very large segments of America's population and those of other democracies in the world who are not in lockstep agreement with the rightwing policies of the Netanyahu government.
5
Does Mr. Cohen champion the 'free exchange of ideas' on American college campuses? It seems that leftists enjoy the shout-downs that conservative speakers are faced with.
9
A country has a right to refuse entry to anyone that they wish without justification. However, this does not make it right. This small incident exposes yet again the growing rift between the values of the majority in Israel and those of the American Jewish community.
5
When I visited Israel for the first time two years ago at almost age 69, I was subjected to what seemed like an intense interrogation by El-Al personnel before being allowed to proceed to my plane in NYC. Where was I born, what was my mother's name, where was she born, etc.? I noticed that one or two others in my tour group were subjected to similar interrogations. Nonetheless, the questions felt intrusive. I guess I'm lucky they didn't google me and find my liberal comments.
4
Yes it's wrong for Israel to not welcome its critics, but is this really deserving of an international news column? Look around the world and you will find democracies who don't put out the red carpet for their critics, but only in Israel's case does its action become an opinion piece.
9
Thank you, Mr. Cohen for a thoughtful column. Israel has become associated with Judaism, regardless of the reality.
So many Jews, in and out of Israel, oppose the Israeli government's stand on the occupied territories. Trump is partially to blame; he's a culmination of this country's disregard of truth, science and education. Jesus reigns in the USA and the First Testament reigns in Israel. Evangelicals, some of the strongest supporters of Israel, are also to blame. Where does the blame stop? It's like a terrible wave of evil, that probably starts with our evolution. We just seem to need to fight with each other, need to have superior tribes that have to hold power. Maybe the abused become abusers...maybe gentle righteous folk aren't speaking loudly enough? I'm glad your voice is heard, I only wish more voices such as yours spoke up for the evil being done in the name of self-protection.
5
Perhaps Dr. Bollinger should consider encouraging both Israel and Turkey to foster respect for free and open debate as a condition for Columbia University's participation in establishing a center that promotes such values in those two countries. It is the hypocrisy of applying different standards to host nations that underpins the deterioration of those values worldwide. Actively treating all the same is progress.
8
What is happening to the world? Today, May 5 is liberation day in the Netherlands. Yesterday, May 4, we thought about and remembered all victims of war and especially those from WWII. The 2 minutes silence in the middle of Amsterdam on a Friday night is a truly impressive way to express that remembrance. I live a stone's throw away from the Anne Frank house, another massive reminder of the horrors of what rejection for who you are, what you think, believe can create. It is deeply saddening that all these years later Israel is arrived at the point where it has decided to reject another Frank(e) for who she is, what she believes, what she says. We all know where that mind-set ended.
13
Columbia has long had its problems with how it deals with what happens to its faculty when they are in Israel. I remember a number of years ago, Edward Said, a Columbia professor, was photographed throwing a brick at an Israeli police station. When Columbia was asked about why he wasn't disciplined for this, its stance was that he was exercising his right of free speech.
Clyde Haberman of The Times pointed out the hypocrisy of this by going up to the Columbia campus, brick in hand, and asked a security guard what would happened if he decided to toss it at one of the buildings and would it simply be dismissed as his exercising his free speech. The answer was he would be apprehended immediately and that it wouldn't be dismissed as free speech.
12
Her support of the boycott and divestment movement is reason enough to ban her. That support is not part of any political argument. It is pure and simple an active attempt to undermine and damage the State of Israel. No nation should be expected to acommodate and ease the way for for an enemy to operate.
21
The "aims" of the Jewish Voice for Peace include, according to the website, a Palestinian right of return, which would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and is dramatically different from the two state solution that American presidents (before Trump) have supported. The Jewish Voice for Peace also favors the BDS movement. So I assume that "general ... support of its aims" includes those two elements. I regret that Israel would exclude a distinguished American professor with those positions but let's be clear about what the Professor endorses. Bollinger's position seems quite reasonable and he is the appropriate spokesperson for the university. And if Columbia can open a center in an authoritarian democracy (Turkey) and in a monarchy that absolutely squelches dissent, why not in Tel Aviv?
12
Israel is not a suburb of New York, it’s a sovereign country fully within its rights to decide who enters just like every other country. Would the US let in foreign activists dedicated to the destruction of America? That’s how the government of Israel views this professor and the organizations she supports. So what exactly is the problem? There’s a long list of countries in the world that commit more injustices in a week than Israel’s committed in its whole history. And yet there are article in the Times every week telling us how horrible the country is. Can’t we have some alternative perspectives once in a while?
29
Mr. Cohen, you are selling a very large baloney loaf here. Katherine Franke did not go to Israel as a friend. She is not a supporter of the leadership of Israel--and to say otherwise is just untrue. Israel rightly booted her out of their country--and bravo for that. I wish our country would be as bold in support of American interests.
The term "civil rights leader" is just another way to say Franke supports the rights of Palestinians over the sovereignty of Israel--and to suggest otherwise is folly.
But while we are on the subject of banishments--where is your voice on the banishing of Conservative voices from our college campuses--including Columbia? Israel, in protecting its national interests, banished a trouble-making, anti-Israeli zealot from their borders. What are American college campuses protecting us from--when they engage in censorship of public speakers. Are they protecting us from the First Amendment?
16
The notion that a true democracy can have an official state religion is antithetical to democracy.
The very idea that this is a democracy when so many people live under occupation (in "Greater Israel") and don't have a vote is fundamentally dishonest.
11
If before the UN Partition Palestinians held title to almost 92% of the land and right after only 42% of the land (now 22% if that), then perhaps they had good reason to be unhappy with the UN Partition. But now after everything that has happened, why not give each side at least 45% of the land, each side's land mass contiguous with a border on the Mediterranean Sea respectively, and then make Jerusalem an international city with the possibility of each respective capital in the suburbs outside. Allow no right of return. Palestinians would have enough land to accommodate their refugees. It would look like two "L's, hugging each other. Palestinians living in Israel would have the choice of selling their property at market value PLUS A PREMIUM and moving to Palestine, and Israelis living in the new Palestine would have the same option. Let Israel have the only weapons for say 50 years and make Palestine a UN protectorate for 50 years with an internal police force. The United Nations would pay for it. But then, it would be a steal, given the price the world is NOW paying for the conflict. The Palestinians would accept such an agreement in a heartbeat, and Palestinian radicals would slowly wither on the vine. Then the Palestinian grandfathers, uncles, and fathers would tell their Young Turks, their warriors, their teenage sons: “Finally, after 70 years we have a fair settlement, it is time to make peace and start to build a new Palestine.” Now that's a solution.
8
1996, Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress where he darkly warned, “If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons, this could presage catastrophic consequences, not only for my country, and not only for the Middle East, but for all mankind,” adding that, “the deadline for attaining this goal is getting extremely close.”
Testifying again in front of Congress in 2002, Netanyahu claimed that Iraq’s nonexistent nuclear program was in fact so advanced that the country was now operating “centrifuges the size of washing machines.”
Netanyahu said in 2002, "If you take out Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region."
Why would anyone listen to Mr. Netanyahu?
13
Why should the Left complain about receiving the same treatment that the Left give to people with whom they disagree?
19
The laws being proposed and/or passed in Israel today, including the one that gives Israel the right to deny entry to anyone they suspect of supporting BDS or other agendas perceived to be critical of Israel (agendas which in Israel, some of us probably espouse), are part of a steady march to end whatever democratic principles still exist. A few days ago, I was shocked to see a huge sign across the highway suggesting in rather threatening tones that the New Israel Fund be ousted from Israel (the sign supported by one of the extreme right-wing organizations), in further demonization of an organization that does many worthy things. There's always a glimmer of hope that we will ride out this anti-democratic storm that seems to have swept over much of the world, but in the meantime, I am fearful.
9
So - Columbia has established centers in Amman and Istanbul? Two countries that are virtuous paragons of human rights, tolerance, and free exchange of ideas. Come on. Let’s cut the double standard bs with respect to Israel. You may have trouble with Israel’s actions in this particular case, but to say that Columbia should make opening a center contingent on a standard of conduct being upheld by the Israeli government that the Turks and Jordanians are not subject to is just ridiculous.
24
She was not "banished" for thinking differently. She was denied entry for actively participating in activities designed to undermine the safety and security of the Jewish state.
35
Wrong. She was denied entry for disagreeing with the unjust, undemocratic policies of the Jewish State.
This is an important distinction. They don't agree with her ideas, so she is banished.
Typical autocratic rule. Thank Netanyahu.
5
In what way precisely I saw Professor Franke a "tough critic" of Israel, as Cohen describes her. Based on the activities he mentions, "partisan ideologue with a cavalier attitude toward facts when they conflict with her predetermined conclusions" would seem more accurate.
Then again, if you read the Canary Mission posting, it’s mostly quotes from Prof. Franke and their context. How publicizing her views on Israel makes them a "troll" is not clear. I guess Prof. Franke disagrees with the old adage "any publicity is good publicity". But then, she has no one to blame for her own words but herself.
21
By way of photograph, Franke is proclaiming thoughtfulness and non-conformity.
One must admire this professor, and dissent--gutsy as h, and the Rightist coalition apparently has litttle to no tolerance.
The citizens of Israel are under generally intense pressure, and so I shall humbly yet reluctantly defer to them, because I do not have to live their tragic reality, knock wood.
If I did emigrate there, I'd probably be more authoritarian than I already apparently am.
But how do I know what ordinary reality is there?
5
How exactly is it unacceptable for a Country to have it's own rules for who may or may not enter? India's PM Modi was refused a US visa not so long ago. Plenty of people are turned back from entering a country if they are suspected of being involved in groups that intend to damage the country. Have you ever filled up a visa application to the US?
Franke supports BDS and Israel has made it pretty clear that groups that support boycotting Israel are not welcome. Legislation to that effect was passed in March. In fact, why was she even there? To parade Palestinian issues as a civil rights issue? To present a one sided view of things without any real understanding of what both sides are suffering?
You know what happened when Israel pulled out and gave the Palestinians some autonomy. It resulted in katyushas, tunnels and financial aid being used to plot attacks. Franke's group Voice of Peace knew perfectly well what would happen. If anything I would guess that this was a deliberate attempt at showing Israel in a poor light and you, Mr Cohen, fell for it.
20
This is the equivalent of banning someone who doesn't support Trump.
5
The Jewish Voice for Peace enthusiastically supports boycotting Israel. The professor works for them. Israel announced it wouldn’t be letting people who support the boycott in. You can paint the professor as not supporting the boycott, but it’s a weak argument.
Don’t support the boycott and then expect to be welcomed at the Israeli border.
20
Yes, a nation can deny entry to anyone it wants. It will always determine such a person is a threat. A nation which has conducted a brutal occupation of millions is very likely to do such a thing.
5
The opening of Columbia's global center in Istanbul wasn't contingent upon Turkish behavior in Kurdistan or Kurdish Syria. The opening of a center in Amman or Mumbai weren't contingent either upon human rights conditions the host had to meet. Companies and universities should be able to make their own call.
Israel had to suffer through the Bush administration's war of choice. In 2002, a delegation that included Ariel Sharon visited President Bush to dissuade him from invading Iraq, pointing out that Iran was a far greater threat. Like all other allies, Israel learned that the US admin's mind was set. Then later, Israel was blamed for luring the US into that war. Now, Israel is paying by seeing Iran emergent in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon and it has to pay for being seen as being close to Trump, becoming yet again a pawn in idiotic internal US politics. Perhaps with the same negative consequences. But Israel isn't a US state, and has to chart its own course and secure its people in a region that outsiders can disengage from.
Meanwhile Iran has cover from countries loathe to seek to renegotiate to doing its worst in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and into Israel. We all know that Iran supports what Hamas is doing today: urging unarmed Palestinians to storm the Israeli frontier and get killed. Blaming the Israelis is the easy way out from complex regional and geopolitical issues.
13
Netanyahu promoted W Bush's war of choice.
Testifying in front of Congress in 2002, Netanyahu claimed that Iraq’s nonexistent nuclear program was in fact so advanced that the country was now operating “centrifuges the size of washing machines.”
Netanyahu said in 2002, "If you take out Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region."
1
There are enough enlightened Israeli citizens who understand the dangers inherent in their nation's moves to the extreme right to prevent this kind of closed mindedness to prevail. Bollinger needs to encourage Columbia to support those citizens by insisting on Israel's extension of hospitality to its scholars.
13
My former mother-in-law’s (she died some years ago) Jewish credentials were unassailable. She was originally Polish, her entire family was murdered in the Holocaust, as a child and early adolescent she passed through THREE camps (!...!!) and miraculously if barely survived them, and was part of one of Josef Mengele’s study-groups. She gave filmed “witness” testimony before she died, which is the point at which the family learned most of the worst details. Since the founding of Israel, she was a fanatical supporter.
She undoubtedly would have supported Prof. Franke’s detainment and banishment.
“Franke” is a Norman name so she’s probably not Jewish (if she were, they might have considered her an apostate). Possibly her focus on non-cis rights in law and undoubtedly her pronounced positions on the ickiness of Israel had a lot to do with her banishment.
My mother-in-law would have been entertained by Mahmoud Abbas: she would regard it as predictable and certainly entertaining that the same attitudes about Jews that she once read about in Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe”, published in 1820, were alive and well in 21st century Palestine. But she’d only be entertained because Israel could afford to laugh at Abbas (as Netanyahu did).
Israel should not have detained then kicked Prof. Franke out for her views (any of them). The extreme license that Israel grants its immigration cops is inappropriate for a vital democracy. However, to blame it all on Trump is excessive.
3
"“Frank(e)” is a Norman name so she’s probably not Jewish (if she were, they might have considered her an apostate)." Anne Frank.... ?
Jewish Voice for Peace has a history of disrupting college campus speeches, governmental affairs meetings, and other outlets of free speech. JVP is quite proud of this behavior. Free speech is not a one-way street. If JVP thinks that it is acceptable to deny the free speech rights of others, it's members should understand why they are not welcome to enter Israel. Mr. Cohen doth protest too loud.
38
Up until '6, Israel had a case. Since then, it is just a land grab. The whole enterprise. Fueled by Russian and American immigrants who now are the majority. No wonder Trump likes them.
13
Yes, a land grab but sometimes grounded in an unrealistic hope that by sheer possession combined with a divide and conquer strategy, the Palestinian “problem” will go away... maybe by the time Israel is 100... or 120...(This is not my view but that of many fundamentalist Jewish settlers I know on the West Bank.)
1
Please read some history before you comment. Why do you refer to 2006? American immigrants are a perhaps 5,,
percent of the Israeli population and the Russian immigrant population of Israel,while much larger than the American one is still a majority
1
Should say '67.
Franke would be in Israel at their sufferance. If her stated intent is to support BDS, a movement which is inimical to Israel's best interests as they see it, then I do not blame the Israelis from barring her.
They're not suicidal, you know.
33
I would hope that America also would bar from entry those who openly call for the destruction of our nation
29
Professor Franke was denied the opportunity to visit Israel in order to criticize Israel for defending itself. She seeks to stir up trouble and demonize Israel on whatever social media platform she prefers. Since she was denied entry, instead of declaring herself a martyr, she should instead visit one of the 22 Arab countries and see how she fares if she tries the same thing.
I'm willing to bet that she wouldn't end up in an airport waiting room but in a cell where they keep fellow political prisoners. At that time should would be free to contact the US Embassy, a representative of the government she detests, to save her from her own bad judgement.
32
Her purpose in visiting Israel was not to criticize it but to participate in a conference.
What you are saying is that because she criticizes Israeli policies at home in the US she has no free speech rights at all in Israel.
It's hardly a defense of Israel to compare its policies to those of outright totalitarian countries.
9
Do those Arab countries proclaim themselves democracies, as Israel does?
It is striking to see Israel take on the worst characteristics of oppressors and express complete justification because the oppressed behave badly. I'm old enough to have been in S Africa during white rule as a young man. The use of imposed 'homelands' on the black population and the feeling of justification when blacks protested at times violently was palpable. SA largely had no organized indigenous population prior the Dutch colonization in the 1600's and as such the whites felt complete rights to the land. We know what eventually happened to the oppressors
10
I have no sympathy for Katherine Franke, her activities or beliefs.
33
"President Trump’s gift for unleashing the worst in people has found no more fertile ground than the Holy Land."
Isn't it time to stop using "Holy Land" as a name? Granted, three large religions started there, but the fact that a religion claims the land is holy does not make it so. "Holy Land" is a name that tends to create respect for that area that is unwarranted. What's "holy" about a land where each side seems to want to kill the other side or at least to remove them from the area?
Those wars are religious wars, and they take place in the "Holy Land." It makes more sense to call it the "Death to Those Who Disagree With Me Land." However, I'd be happy just to have it called by its official name. You know, the one that shows up in maps and in the United Nations.
10
As a graduate of Columbia I find the comment from the law school more than distressing.
They may have all the 'pro-Israeli centers' they like, that has nothing to do with University condoning the mistreatment of its professors and endorsing the foreclosure of dialog.
This incident speaks volumes of the degradation of Columbia's standing and its commitment to open exploration of important issues.
If Israeli centers control the University's approach to the world, any part of it, something is deeply amiss in Morningside Heights.
Same goes for the prez, pulling a Comey and interjecting irrelevant comments of a political nature in his otherwise milquetoast communique.
The fact that he's so worried about the reaction from 'pro-Israeli centers' says nothing good about the people who frighten him so.
My money goes to Ohio State this year.
203
As someone who also went there - how does this surprise you and why did your money ever go there?
5
That this American government would implicitly condone by its stunning inaction the mistreatment of an American citizen, and a distinguished one at that, based on the citizen's political beliefs, is a tragedy. The tragedy can be laid squarely at the door of capitalism. The super-rich are used to getting whatever they want, and the small group of super-rich American Jews (unlike most American Jews) disproportionately view Israel as a sacred extension of themselves, any criticism of which is akin to an intolerable personal affront. They have found an enthusiastic audience in Mr. Trump, who feels critics should be dealt with as 'enemies of the state' and will happily sacrifice American interests and, it appears, Americans, for cash in sufficient amounts.
11
This is way over the top. Franke was detained for 14 hours (not 14 weeks or even 14 days) and refused entry. She was not tortured, she was not accused of a crime. Would you feel better if she were denied entry in 14 seconds?
5
The antisemitism expressed by Abbas no different the antisemitism expressed throughout the Palestinian territories. Abbas is a moderate with respect to his beliefs about Jews.
17
Israel is a tiny country. It feels vulnerable physically and politically in a way that Americans can't ever imagine. Roger should keep this reality in mind when he goes off on Israel unhinged.
30
With the great and powerful nuclear-armed U.S. as its uncritical protector, it need not fear vulnerability due to its small size. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Israel is also a nuclear-armed state.
Sure. Israel is a "tiny country." The way Japan was a "tiny country."
Israel has more firepower than all the nations surrounding it combined. And it has the bomb.
I would hardly call defending the free speech of a distinguished college professor "unhinged."
Unless, of course, you consider free speech itself to be an idea that is "unhinged."
Next step: Book burning
10
Bollinger needs to give up on his dreams of a "Greater Columbia" outpost in Tel Aviv. Columbia University is a hotbed of pro-Boycott - Divest - Sanction Israel movement. Unless Columbia is willing to start using the same heavy handed tactics that Israel uses.
Every time anyone complains about Israel's settlements, human rights abuses, and paramilitary treatment of its Muslim citizens, there are two responses: (1) You need to support the Middle East's only free democracy, and (2) What about all the bad stuff that Muslim dictatorships in the Middle East do?
You can't have it both ways. If you are going to brag on Israel's democratic bona fides, you can't go for what-aboutism. And if you want to play the what-about game, stop acting like Israel is any better than its neighbors.
Israel was created as atonement for genocide. But it was on land inhabited by people who didn't commit the Holocaust. Israel's origin after genocide and its character as a modern democracy create a responsibility to uphold, even champion civil rights. That the current Israeli government and nation fall so far short of this standard is reasonable justification for Boycott - Divest - Sanction.
12
There is a third option when responding to criticism of Israel and that is to inform yourself about the Facts. Far more often than not, what passes for criticism is based on misinformation, distortion or partisan polemic.
Your final paragraph is a case in point. Israel was not created to stone for the Holocaust. It was the end result of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, established in 1922.
It is unfair to hold Israel to some ideal standard of civil rights that no Western democracy meets, let alone one targeted by genocidal neighbors. Criticizing Israel by comparing it to others similarly situated is fair and no one claims otherwise, expect those who like strawmen to argue against.
The real question remains: why is Israel, the world’s only Jewish state expected to act as the world’s only Christian state.
5
This "professor" has attended functions and made speeches supporting the so-called "Palestinian" cause and has joined the economic boycott of the country. That is underhanded if not outright blatant hatred of Jews. It's one thing to be critical of Israel's policies but the organizations the professor associates with makes it obvious he/she opposes the existence of the state of Israel.
In light of this is it any wonder they wouldn't let Katherine Franke in? Would any of us let someone into and live in our house who expressed hatred of us or someone in our family and joined groups dedicated to killing us? I wouldn't.
29
Being critical of Israel government policies is not equivalent to being anti-Jewish.
I know patriotic Americans who are anti-Trump administration policies.
1
The organization she associates with is Jewish Voice for Peace.
It does not advocate the destruction of Israel.
Why you are saying is that you would not let into your house anyone opposed to the US illegal war in Iraq.
Roger, I can only hope that the Arabs have a critic of their own people like you are a critic of your own people. There is nothing much more to say. There are 1 million injustices in this world, yet it always amazes me that you find fault in a country less the size of New Jersey. Libya killing its own people? Syria? Seldom if ever you write about it. Venezuela? Cuba? North Korea? Havent read your items on this in a long time. But Israel... you never miss a beat. I think the addage 'with friends like this, who needs enemies' was invented for you specifically. Enjoy your weekend.
31
Israel's size seems to be an obsession with Zionists.
No matter that Israel has a stronger military than all the nations around it combined, as it proved in the Six-Day War.
And it has the hydrogen bomb.
Cohen can express his views on all the injustices in the world. But you wouldn't read it, as it would exceed the space of a New York Times column by a factor of many thousands.
This column is about one issue, an important one in terms of US government support of Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people.
That you don't find it so is based on your own bias in favor of Israel, not a concern for human rights.
1
Waaaa? Your telling me a religious "democracy" is intolerant? What a breakthrough. Rolling eyes emoticon.
11
The one true democracy in the ME. Indeed. Right.
Israel and its current behavior is the distilled result of its self-awareness of its unnatural founding. On occupied land. Through the dispossession of its natives.
This is a sore wound for Palestinians obviously, but it is an un-healable one for Jews. Every radical behavior from Israel is a direct reaction to their soaked in guilt subconscience.
American Jews should stop supporting Israel. With our without Netanyahoo, Israel was built on shaky ground and we all know the true arc of history.
For American jews to support Israel is in reality a lack of confidence in the United States. The first real sanctuary for Jewish peoples. Roman Judea included.
9
High drama. Factually out of bounds. "Soaked in guilt" subconscience-explain what that means? "Occupied" land-the entity that ruled before Israel, aside from the temporary Mandate for Palestine, were the Turks/Ottoman Empire. Remember, they lost in WWI, and Ataturk took over from there. The Middle East was divided up; Syria, Iraq, Jordan, even Lebanon-were all artificially created by the British and French. There was no Arab Palestinian state or sovereignty, not even such an identity. Varying number of Jews always lived in Israel since the Roman expulsion. Would have been countless more had the Crusaders not butchered thousands, along with Muslims. And a few Muslim rulers who were no better than the Crusaders. Suleiman the Magnificent treated the Jews well, and more came to live there. This can go on, but the Jewish state did not dispossess any long term inhabitants, as many, but not all, of the Arab Palestinians only arrived in the 1920s thru the early 1940s. That's why UNRWA was "careful" to define a Palestinian as one who lived in Mandated Palestine for at least 2 years. Many snuck in illegally, with the British looking the other way.
4
Jews had been persecuted for centuries in majority-gentile countries. Even when not actively persecuting the Jews, the majority-gentile countries refused to give refuge to the Jews when they needed it. There would have been no Holocaust if majority-gentile countries would have allowed in Jewish refugees who were escaping from the Nazis. The idea of Zionism was that Jews would return to their homeland & have a majority-Jewish country because majority-gentile countries had failed to provide safety for the Jews.
2
Almost 60 years old, I grew up believing that Israel was our close ally. At this point I can't remember why we give a damn. They are not our friends. They divide our people. They would waste our young soldiers and money to fight their wars. They interfere in our politics, dividing branches of government during the last administration and manipulating our feeble-minded president in the present one.
Do we have any strategic interest there? Why do we care?
Our relationship with Israel seems to be based on the interests of arms dealers, chickenhawks seeking absolution for deferring out of Vietnam and evangelicals anticipating the rapture. Surely that's not all?
13
Former Supreme Commander of NATO and U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Alexander Haig described Israel as "the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require even one US soldier, cannot be sunk, is the most cost-effective and battle-tested, located in a region which is critical to vital US interests. If there would not be an Israel, the US would have to deploy real aircraft carriers, along with tens of thousands of US soldiers, which would cost tens of billions of dollars annually
2
Although I agree that Israel should not bar entry of academics unless they pose an immediate and present threat to the safety of Israeli citizens, I cannot agree with Mr. Cohen that Israel has "over reacted" to recent violent events at its internationally recognized border. I do not believe that any other Western democratic nation would allow violence to breach its borders and thus endanger its citizens, who have the right to exist in a safe, free society.
26
..allow violence to breach its borders .."
How many Israelis killed? How many injured? None?
Thank you.
9
Hamas admitted that most of the people killed were its members. Israel communities are located as close as 700 meters from the border. Hamas was using the protests as cover to infiltrate
Militants into Israeli communities. They were hoping to kidnap or murder Israeli citizens or soldiers, not
To have tea and discuss living in peace together
5
It is not a good sign for our culture when a supposedly prestigious academic institution knuckles under to an authoritarian regime and fails to protect free speech in order to protect its business interests in the regime's homeland. So much for holding to principles, "academics." Yet another rent-seeking silo in the education industry.
16
It is Columbia's job to protect free speech at Columbia; it is not Columbia's job to protect anti-Israel speech by Columbia professors in Israel. The American idea of free speech is not shared in most of the Western world - not even in the UK or France - much less in the Middle Eastern world.
3
So Rocky, the next time a pro-Israel speaker is shouted down or attacked or has an speaking event cancelled under pressure by a feckless university administration in a supposedly prestigious academic institution, can we count on you to be the first to stand up for the rights of pro-Israel points of view in the face of an increasingly shrill and authoritarian hard Left?
5
The fact that Israel has been moving to the right has little if anything to do with Donald Trump. The rightward shift of the country has been going on for two to three decades.
If Israel is squelching the freedom of movement and expression of American citizens, that is the fault of Israel and it's government, not the US government.
Now, if the Trump administration does nothing to stand up for it's citizens under such circumstances, that would be on him and his administration.
10
Fully concur with your observation regarding Israeli politics shifting to the right prior to Trump. That does not, however, preclude the possibility that Trump's behavior has emboldened, facilitated, and otherwise attempted to normalize the shift to the right and the attendant behavioral manifestations of the same on the ground.
10
"The law school dean’s chief of staff informed her, she told me, that “because there are pro-Israeli centers at the law school” the school “would not get involved in defending” her."
I kept re-reading this statement, first believing there to be a second 'no' or 'not' missing, as in 'since the law school has NO pro-Israel centers', it will not get involved...' In other words, the school would not takes sides. OK, but still not very courageous although they were trying to stay neutral.
When it dawned on me that the school DOES take sides, it will not support the freedom of movement and opinion of one its faculty members. Incredible!
As the university president has written, and he is a former law school dean himself, I believe, there's room for disagreement in the institution without taking a position on underlying social or political disputes. It is always in season to stand up for academic freedom, but here it seems the university as a community has not done that. What a shame!
Thank you, Roger Cohen, you can be counted on to say what needs to be said.
30
Or you could read the statement with more incredulity. Would the law school dean's chief of staff really say to Franke, “because there are pro-Israeli centers at the law school” the school “would not get involved in defending” her."? This doesn't sound plausible to me(since when do lawyers and administrators speak so directly?). I find it more that Franke manufactured this quote because it serves her ideological agenda.
4
Columbia was given an opportunity to refute this, and refused to do so.
That's enough proof for me that she was telling the truth.
2
Do your basic research please!
Go to their website: jewshvoiceforpeace.org.
What is the Academic Advisory Council?
"…a diverse network of tenured professors, contingent faculty, independent scholars and graduate students invested for justice for Palestine."
"justice for Palestine"?
That means dismantling Israel and banishing or murdering its inhabitants—according to Hams-Fatah charters.
PLEASE NOTE: The Palestinians are at war with Israel !
Why would you want to allow those who support,aid, and abet, the enemy to spread their propaganda?
3
almost funny
Franke complained "no one asked whether she got out the country safely"
This is Israel, not Iran.
Who has ever been denied entrance to Israel and harmed?
21
Well, she was locked up for 14 hours. Would you not feel harmed by such an imposition? Apprehensive about how it would turn out?
8
She was held in detention for 14 hours while it was decided whether or not to admit her. Was she tortured? No. Was she threatened with jail? No. Should she have been refused admission in 14 seconds, without substantial review by authorities?
2
The only people who get harmed are those who rush the border with weapons
Thank you for your gross exaggerations. As one example, Israeli academics are voicing concern about an action they consider unfair. Do Palestinians allow any kind of debate of this nature? Do Israeli's place military installations near hospitals and schools? Does the Israeli government encourage behavior among its citizens such as charging at international borders primarily for the purpose of creating photo-ops of dead and wounded? It seems that a mistake and over-reaction was made in this case in not allowing the professor to enter Israel, and banning for her for life, a ban that will likely be rescinded. By the way, did she err in boycotting events where she could have made her voice heard? Perhaps. But, again, thank you for making a mountain out of a molehill, as you often do, because you have made yourself into an often self-righteous arbiter.
29
Pivot alert!
(And what about Benghazi, anyway?)
2
Why is it that Israel, supposedly God's kingdom on earth, is constantly taking Palestine as the standard by which to judge its behavior?
A centuries-long round of 'but they did it first' has gotten you nowhere. Time to grow up.
A good example is your confidence that border demonstrators are really, really eager to get shot to death so they can get on the news. So, why do you persist in shooting them?
3
This incident is about Israel not Palestinians, speak to the issue at hand or don't speak at all.
2
A little confused here.
Someone who is on the side of Israel opening up its borders
to people who will do what when they enter Israel - attempt to
take back their ancestral lands - by what means -
lawsuits, violent actions, just moving onto the land -
thinks that Israel should let her have the absolute right
to visit and stay in Israel anytime she likes ?
13
We've been there before - has anyone read Animal Farm by George Orwell?
9
Yes - as applied to this situation, Israel is held to a standard of perfection, whereas her enemies are held to essentially no standard at all.
5
Americans shouldn't be paying $3 billion of taxes to the Israeli Government.
28
Valid question, but not if divorced from the same question on the $2 billion a year to Egypt, the $100 Billion a year to Iraq, the $50 billion a year to Afghanistan, etc, etc. Anti-Israel types love to pose this question in a vacuum.
6
Michael,
I'm afraid you know this to be untrue.
Critics of aid to Israel almost universally oppose aid to oppressive regimes everywhere.
2
Major Gen George Keegan, Jr., former head of USAF Intelligence, said, "Between 1974 and 1990, Israel received $18.3 billion in US military grants. During the same period Israel provided the US with $50 - 80 billion in intelligence, research and development, and Soviet weapons systems captured and transferred to the US."
2
Professor Franke should grow up and take responsibility for her own actions. She has every right to criticize Israel but as a sovereign nation they don’t have to like it or admit her into their country. Columbia is not required to defend her. Why this is President Trump’s fault escapes me but I guess everything is. Most of the 40 Palestinians shot at the border have been identified as Hamas terrorists but that is no problem for Roger Cohen nor are the attempts to breach the fence and toss burning tires. Israel’s desire for self preservation by protecting its borders somehow offends Roger Cohen. Maybe he can explain that.
23
She has been in Israel numerous times without incident. Obviously only this time gets to be in the news.
4
Jewish Voice for Peace is opposed to the violent repression of the Palestinians.
It is not in favor of harming Israel.
Your claim that most of those shot at the wall have been identified as Hamas terrorists is untrue.
None of the actions of even the most militant Palestinians at the wall came close to harming a single Israeli soldier.
4
ddcat, according to the article, a new law now allows for this action. So her prior admissions are not relevant.
2
I lived in Israel for two years, just before the 1967 war. I recognized then, and still recognize, that the problem of "Palestine" is temporarily intractable as were and are most problems associated with race and religion. Slavery was intractable for hundreds of years as was colonialism. They exemplified the longue duree problems of world history, i.e., attitudes and beliefs that are grounded and entrenched in nations and cultures and survive for centuries or even millennia. Resolution can occur only by catastrophe or demography.
7
Israel is traveling down a dangerous path by denying entry to or deporting individuals who express views contrary to those of the Israeli government. A democratic society encourages the free expression of ideas as long as they are not seditious or encouraging violence. Unfortunately, the current US administration condones and practices a similar brand of undemocratic, if not autocratic, behavior, and no longer serves as a check on Israel's, or any other, illiberal democracies.
245
Why are we taxed $3. billion dollars a year to give it to an ostensibly democratic country that doesn't practice democracy?
96
Valid question, but not if divorced from the same question on the $2 billion a year to Egypt, the $100 Billion a year to Iraq, the support of the Saudi’s, Guatemalans, Vietnamese, Pakistanis, etc. etc. etc. and countless other regimes who also don’t practice democracy.
1
Do a little research. I think you'll find the actual number is far greater than $3 billion. Your point is well taken though.
1
So she can boycott Israel sponsored conferences, but complain when Israel boycotts her. The lack of self awareness here is stunning.
33
Dave:
Governments, or at least democracies, are not people. They exist to serve people, and they are accountable to people. That you and I are free to protest their policies is, in part, what gives them legitimacy. People are not political constructs that have to prove their validity in order to exercise their rights.
17
Democracies don't keep people out for their political views. Would you support France if it kept out the Israeli nationalists calling for French Jews to emigrate to Israel? The lack of self awareness here is stunning.
36
So you are equating the political views of an individual to the undemocratic actions of an ostensibly "democratic" state -- with a straight face?
17
How is it you would tell Israel how to protect itself and yet not tell the U.S., Mexico, Saudis, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan (who produces most of the world's opium), Phillipines, the Chinese, North Koreans, Myanmar, Hamas, Hezbollah who rule Lebanon (a REAL occupied nation), India, Hungary, Poland, and an organization and professor front person who openly demands anti-Semitic BDS without prescribing the same for Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and an anti-Semitic Abbas, not peace? Personal political activism and extremism is not academic conduct nor is it academic freedom: it is not academic, period.
119
This response is not intelligent. Stick to the facts presented here. We need democracy in the US and in Israel.
53
We, as American tax-payers get to tell Israel a lot of things, since, for starters, we gave Israel $3.2b in 2017 (source: usaid.gov). The very least we should expect, is to not be treated like this professor was when we try to visit a country we're financing.
13
Very dangerous path for those aligning anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel. A very bad decision for the long run.
As a pro-two state, pro-Palestinian rights, pro-Israel activist (sorry—I always introduce myself this way) I am not a fan of Jewish Voice for Peace because, among other key viewpoints the group holds with which I vehemently disagree, it accepts that Zionism is colonial occupation. But I would like to know why one of JVP’s board members, Sami Chetrit, an Israeli born in Morocco, raised in Israel, active against Israeli racism to Jews of color and Jews from Safardic backgrounds, has migrated all the way to JVP and BDS. Sami is cousins with arch-Zionists, such as former Cabinet member Sam Chetrit. He has first cousins who live on the West Bank because they believe in “Greater Israel” (Israel from the Jordan river to the sea). Understanding Sami’s migration from Zionist to something different could be a very enlightening journey. My point is: Israeli and Palestinian politics are far more nuanced than Americans, and even American Jews, suppose. On a more narrow point, it is noteworthy that Sami Chetrit was not denied re-entry in Israel, nor rights to teach at an Israeli University, despite his position on the Board of JVP.
16
I don't understand what Chetrit's cousins have to do with this story, at all. Not relevant. At all.
As to how the state of Israel treats Chetrit, again, not relevant. And whatever your point is, something about "nuanced" politics, was it? Just how "nuanced" is picking off unarmed demonstrators by sniper fire?
As the old cigarette ad, "you've come a long way, baby." A long long way from the little blue boxes to help settle the Negev. Not a good way.
1
Fascinatingly hostile answer, considering that you are obviously anti-Israel and my point about Chetrit is that he moved from being a Zionist to an anti-Zionist, despite his own experience as a Jewish immigrant from an Arab country and a family that is deeply immersed in right-wing Israeli politics. Furthermore, the connection is that he is on the Board of Directors of Jewish Voice for Peace. I would presume that someone with your views would find it particularly interesting how his politics developed. Finally, the relevance to this story is that Chetrit--an Israeli citizen--is not prohibited from re-entry nor teaching at an Israeli University nor espousing his views in Israel, despite his even more direct involvement with JVP than Franke; this is relevant because of the points that other commenters have made about a nation's right to keep out non-citizen agitators who advocate seditious views. It is also relevant because of the freedom of political expression in Israel it points to, despite Cohen's indications otherwise in his op/ed.
1
Just how "nuanced" was the 13 year Israel old girl who was knifed to death in her bed by a Palestinian "martyr" about an hour after I walked by her home the summer before last? See, two can play that game. I don't support "picking off unarmed demonstrators by sniper fire". But I also don't support indulging in holier-than-thou one sided view points of complex, charged, difficult, and painfully sad conflicts. If you don't recognize that the history, politics, conflicts and possible solutions are highly complex and nuanced, you should not have a seat at the table of world opinion.
2
I was first brought up in Waddesdon, a Rothschild village in the Vale of Aylesbury, 50 years ago. My mother was the good friend of a widow called Steinhart, whose husband had been the headmaster of an orphanage spirited out of Germany in 1939 by the Rothschilds of Waddesdon. My father fought at Alamein, the first victory over Nazi Germany in the West. I grew up mistrusting and disliking anti-Semites. At London University I met intellectual, and other Jews in large numbers. Some were escapees, or the children of escapees from Nazi Germany, who mixed chilling stories of Nazi persecution with laughable stories of British bureaucracy. We talked respectfully about Israel and the Palestinians and despite firmly-held opinions people agreed and disagreed respectfully.
I don’t think it is enough to vilify people like me, (and there are many of us including Jews in the Israel Defence Force and Jimmy Carter) who disagree with the way Palestinians are treated in the country of their birth, and dismiss us as ignorant, naïve or covertly anti-Semitic and hark back to World War II.
I think I speak for a lot of well-disposed gentiles when I say that Israel is showing the vices of older nations. People like Benjamin Netanyahu or Avigdor Lieberman and others represent an intolerant and arrogant strain in human nature everywhere, and the treatment of people like Professor Franke, Vincent Warren, or the AFSC, shows an intolerance unworthy of the Jewish nation everywhere.
49
I strongly recommend you, and everyone, read and consider the companion piece in today's Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/opinion/how-israelis-see-the-world.ht... , prior to thinking on a one-sided path. Messages taken out of context, which is what the present article is, are always subject to manipulation. Seeing a broader view is the antidote to infection with a nasty disease.
5
This is the strain in Judaism which has won worldwide praise and admiration--proudly Jewish, guardians of other people's human rights, bell criers against abuse of anyone, stake holders in the highest realms of open intellectual discourse, and people with heart and compassion who will also protect themselves and the future of Judaism.
9
The group is not "civil rights leaders" but is pro-BDS activists (as is Famke herself). They are going on a tour of hot spots, looking to rebroadcast the Palestinan Arab complaints without even attempting to explore the Israeli side of the story (or even the stories of Arabs who might be pro-Israel).
While they have already begun to post statements on the "injustice" of checkpoints protecting the Jewish community in Hebron, they did not mention the 97% of Hebron where Jews cannot go at all, nor have they explored why it is that Jews should be denied the chance to live in Hebron, which had been one of the oldest Jewish communities in the region (if not the world) before it was ethnically cleansed after the Arab riots of 1929.
This is not about civil rights or "justice", but is an open exercise in looking for ways to smear Israel. Shame on Roger Cohen for being so easily duped.
29
Roger Cohen writs a benign narrative about Professor Franke’s anti-Israel activities. I realize that he is an opinionated opinion writer and should not be expected to present a well researched argument. However, a look at Professor Franke’s Twitter page reveals an unhealthy sick obsession with demonizing Israel to such an extent she could pass for Hamas or Hezbollah if the names were switched. She is very much an active and fanatical participant in BDS and JVP. To paint her as an innocent victim of Israeli intolerance is absurd. We should praise Israel for keeping her out. Who would let an arsonist into their home so they could burn it down.
42
I am always puzzled when I read columns like this one. Mr. Cohen acknowledges that Mr. Abbas is an antisemite and Hamas is determined to destroy Israel. So from a simplistic point of view, who does he want Israel to negotiate with? If Abbas were to resign and an election held in the West Bank it is certain Hamas would be elected.
It's easy for Mr. Cohen to bash Israel, he doesn't have to live there.
33
Israel is wildly overdue for new leadership, pure and simple.
11
Roger Cohen's philosophy: Israel has no right to defend itself, but Iran is a great country for Jews. I don't think we need listen to him anymore.
32
Wrong comment, perhaps when you reside in Ann Arbor, you don't hear, see or want to know what's happening with Israel these days. Israel become a religious fanatic autocracy driven run by nationalistic misogynistic, misanthropist power obsessed leaders. As an Israeli, like many others, we despise this regime that relies on Israeli orthodox mob and American Jews craving for the game of hollowed respect.
9
If enough Israelis agreed with you, how is it that Netanyahu and his party keep winning elections, especially when the opposition parties receive outside help from the US, as they did under Obama in the last election?
1
Poor, poor prof Franke. She is actually being barred from the country she has told others to boycott with the intention of the country's demise. What hypocrisy !!!. How very cruel and unjust.
She is free to hold whatever opinion she wants regarding Israel, though I don't hear much about the lack of civil rights of the people of Gaza , or Hamas and Fatah tolerance of opposing views. How do they deal with dissent? (better not to know)
If someone is calling for actions that foster the destruction of a country, then that country has the right to bar them entry.
28
"The intention of the country's demise"? Please. It's a bit reminiscent of how Trump supporters talk about Obama, and hardly civil discourse.
8
It would have helped if she had not lied on her passport application. The information is obviously untrue.
3
Franke has no a priori right to enter Israel.
1
Shocking but not surprising as Israel enters into the shadowy world of a democracy with shades of totalitarianism. I find the reports of Israel's dominance over this country equally dangerous as the world is made of not only Israelites, or Jews, but Arabs, Americans, French, Germans, Sudanese, Russians, Ukrainians, and so forth. Books on undue influence and and the power of the Jewish lobby all undermine the hope that allowed Israel to follow the Balfour Agreement and begin a state. There the saga begins. This latest report quite disturbing from a terrific writer. Settlements continue.
5
Give me a break. Katherine Franke is a radical professor with a history of extreme anti-Israel activism. She also unambiguously supports the anti-Israel (and arguably anti-Semitic) BDS movement and also calls for academic boycotts against Israel.
Israel - and every other country - has the right and the responsibility to keep trouble makers from entering. There is nothing "appalling" about Israel's refusal to allow this woman to entering Israel.
Furthermore, as far as those innocent Gazans protesting at the border they are also no saints. The border between Gaza and Israel are internationally recognized borders. These people are trying to tear down this fence and enter Israel and cause violence.
Israel has every right to do whatever it takes to protect its territorial integrity and prevent illegal infiltration. Israel cannot sit back and allow tens of thousands of Gazans from flooding into Israel and causing violence.
33
So true. Well said.
Also, a very small democratic country that is surrounded by enemies that seek to destroy it, will not be able to be as open a democracy as Canada. You cannot judge Israel by the standards of countries that do not face a constant threat of war.
The Jew haters/Israel haters will never rest till the last Jew is killed. They just hate that the Jews have a country that is doing well.
50 years ago students at Columbia has sent the then administration a message that business-as-usual must be reconciled with what is right (no gym in Morningside Park). The divest movement (from apartheid SA) came a number of years later, and again the CU administration lagged behind the students' push. It looks like once again Columbia's administration is slow to see the right and righteous path.
4
What do you expect? Our First Amendment rights protect even hateful speech and is what has allowed this Administration to rouse the ugliest parts of our country. Israel has suppressed speech it does not like for decades, usually by invoking the "anti-Semite" accusation. Just like with Trump, after a while of bad usage, these kinds of words become in-sensitized and eventually turn against you. The latest, crudest example is Abbas bitter comments and the reaction to them. Does Israel and/or Jews ever think that they in any way contribute to the way they are perceived, even if it is by bad actors? I grew up in New York City and was presented daily with reasons to dislike Jews, but I didn't and I don't. That will not prevent some Jews from attacking for the statement I just made. We are defined by all our characteristics, not just the ones we want to believe in ourselves. This is true of Trump and it is true of Israel and Jews. I have more hope in Israel and Jews than I do in Trump though.
3
It is easy to wax grandiose from a comfortable well protected safe zone in Vermont. Try surviving in a region where those who want you dead outnumber you 250 to 1.
5
Thank you for this column. Columbia's failure to even speak out in this case is craven.
14
Israel has clearly rejected the very principles on which it was established. History is replete with thousands of stories of the aggrieved extracting retribution for the wrongs perpetrated against them. At some point in the future the bill will come due and it will be very ugly.
9
Under Netanyahu, Israel is well on its way to becoming an autocracy, just a step behind Turkey. What's next, smashing the shop windows of its Arab citizens? Unthinkable, let's hope so.
10
what is not noted in Roger Cohen's OpEd piece is that Jewish Voice For Peace is an organization whose main directive is the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian Arab Entity. Since any members of this organization are by extension pre-declared enemies of the State of Israel, why would Israel want to allow them entry. They are not coming for peaceful intentions!
19
Trump has certainly lowered the bar--eliminated the bar--for Israel. But Columbia's cowardice is typical for Academia these days. Ivy League schools have become businesses for whom principle & integrity are only marketing poses used when they don't conflict with profit.
11
I am an ardent Zionist who disagree with Israel's position on this matter. However it is ironic that our colleges and universities often condone the exact behavior by Arab and other student groups who muzzle speech by Israeli academics and politicians. As ye sew.......
15
Let me get this straight, Roger. Columbia should be cautious about opening a Global Center in Tel Aviv unless Israel "commits to the open exchange of ideas", but you don't urge the closure of their Global Center in Istanbul? Oh, that must be because President Erdogan is such a supporter of human rights, democracy, a free press, and the right to protest. Same for Amman, I imagine, with King Abdullah.
24
Why are we so afraid of Israel that we in effect condone their egregious wrongs? Israel brings understandable hatred down upon the U.S. for supporting and even giving money toward the destruction of democracy in Israel.
Cut them off.
6
geebee
Israel was ranked 29 out of 167 on The Economist's Democracy Index.
That's better than Belgium, Greece, Cyprus & at least a dozen other European countries.
138 countries are worse than Israel, so should we cut them off, too?
1
Israel is what it wants to be, an ethnic-religious state grounded in extreme nationalism and the ongoing brutal persecution of the indigenous people -- all cheered by the U.S. The fact that some Americans fly Israeli flags is stomach turning. They have become symbols of colonialism, nationalism, and racism -- all things that should have been trashed in the last century for their destructive natures and harm to humanity.
8
Neither the Jews nor the Arabs are indigenous to Israel or Palestine or indeed to the Levant in general. The original inhabitants were killed, driven out, or assimilated into invading populations thousands of years ago, when the Hebrews arrived from what is now Iraq, and in subsequent invasions and population displacements that resulted from Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab conquests.
The notion that present-day Palestinians are, or are descended from, the indigenous people of the region is false.
4
In the same way that I accept that Native Americans who crossed the Bering Sea land bridge 10,000 years ago are equally "first peoples" as those who crossed 20,000 years ago, I would urge you to put aside this argument and accept that both Jews and Palestinian Arabs should have the rights of first peoples. What I don't like in the Iainnj comment you responded to is that there is a lack of recognition that Jews do in fact have indigenous rights to Israel, in addition to rights conferred by the United Nations and continuous physical presence. Where you and I may part is that I accept that Palestinian arabs have the same rights, even though clearly they arrived later.
1
As a natives of Israel I feel very insulted by such a claim. Also, Israel is nothing of what you claim. They do welcome a lot of other groups which is a lot more than what the rest of the region does. More importantly, how can they be the colonialists when their group has been living there since ancient times? BTW, you are willing to give your land back to the Native Americans to show that you care about the indigenous people?
3
"Any healthy society is defined by its ability to accommodate civilized debate, not by cries of “traitor” directed at dissenters."
Ah, but that is how far both Israel and the US has strayed from their founders' democratic values. Both are very close to being called fascist countries.
5
But no one called Franke a traitor ... indeed, since she is not an Israeli she cannot be a traitor to Israel. However she is, by her own writings and actions, vehemently anti-Israel, and so there is no reason why Israel should allow her a platform in Israel to spread her views. A French citizen who believed in the overthrow of the US government by non-democratic means (such as boycotts) would not be admitted to the US to advocate such beliefs here.
1
Regretfully neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have behaved honestly in this long dispute in the Holy Land. For every extreme act committed by Palestine one can find another committed by Israel. Abbas and Netanyahu are two leaders who are singularly unfit for office. Personally corrupt both have done nothing to foster mutually respectful relations. Pity. If they had enlightened leadership the Israel and Palestine could have set an example for how neighbours can live in peace. But the regions is led by some of the stupidest leaders to be found in the Middle East.
6
Thank you for writing about Israel with open eyes. Perhaps Bret Stephens should read this column.
7
A country does not have to let anyone who wants to visit to be allowed to do so. The JVP is big on the boycott and divestment movement, and is firmly anti-Israel. There is no reason for Israel to let her in and speak.
She certainly has no right to.
https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/jewish-voice-for-peace
13
How is opposition to certain Israeli policies being "anti-Israel?" It's like saying anyone who doesn't support everything President Trump is doing or attempting to do must hate America.
5
Mike: maybe you should learn more about JVP. Their stance goes way beyond being against "certain Israeli policies." Kam has given you a link that may help educate you.
1
I didn't know anything about JVP when I read the article, so I researched it. I gave a link to allow others to start their own research of JVP and to make an informed decision.
I wonder whether Roger Cohen did that.
2
Well, here we see the truth behind Israeli "democracy." It's a farce.... a cover. Where are the core de facto democratic values of tolerance, compromise, negotiation, pluralism, right to dissent, respect for the other?
Israel is an essentially right-wing (some would say, with good reason "far-right") ethno-theologico electocracy. The sheer unfettered cruelty of Israeli state violence, untrammelled by international human rights, is clear proof of this. But then again, many in the US share these values. Israel has bought and paid for the US's unconditional support because the latter's default stance is based on an almost total lack of public curiosity or concern about justice and the world - and this makes it easier for politicos to swallow Israeli bias and deceit.
We need BDS more than ever if Israel is to survive as a democracy in any form. And the US needs to step up, stop being so cowardly, and stop being the immoral enabler of blatantly undemocratic values and state violence against unarmed protestors.
And Iran? Who'll be pulling the strings for that one? Where did it all go wrong?
10
Like the "democracies" of Istanbul and Amman? Please.
3
I will admit that Israel does have its flaws, but that doesn't make it less of a democracy. They do allow for criticism of their polices, but not those that are actually sympathetic to terrorism. Would your country allow for groups that are sympathetic to ISIS? I would think not, and I'm sure Nigeria wouldn't allow for groups that are for Boko Haram. The BDS has a history of having an anti-Israel bias. More importantly, they always refuse to hear or even debate with anyone that is for Israel. Another thing is that there is a list of countries that show even more signs of oppression than what Israel does, but I don't hear them calling for boycotts of those countries. which shows where they really stand here.
3
If a mob is beating someone to death, should I do nothing because the mob is unarmed or should I shoot the mob to save the victim's life?
1
BDS is just the latest iteration of the Arab League boycott that officially began in 1945.
"Democracy is not a suicide pact." Israel is under no obligation to let folks in who want to destroy it.
19
The Israel of Netanyahu has turned into all the things it professes to hate and to have been victimized by. Let us hope that there continue to be strong and vital voices in Israel standing on the side of human rights and dignity that prevent Netanyahu and those who share his hate-filled ideology from duping the people of Israel into becoming Bibi's willing executioners.
7
The solution to the "Israel problem":
1) Cut off all US foreign aid to Israel.
2) Require Israel to repay all of the foreign aid it has received from US taxpayers.
3) Impound all of Israel's assets in the US, and use them to repay US taxpayers.
4) Arrest and deport all Israeli citizens in the US.
5) Cut all diplomatic ties between Israel and the US.
6) Initiate legal actions against Israel in the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.
7) Use the US military to free occupied Palestine.
6
And when that project is done, should we get started on deporting all European-ancestry Americans so that Native Americans can have their land back? (And I’ll criticize my own response because Jews and Palestinians are both first peoples, so it is inappropriate for me to equate Jews in Israel with non-native Americans.)
5
C'mon, tell us how you really feel
2
Palestinians are not a "first people." The vast majority of them moved to Palestine Mandate from other places the generation following WWI, to take advantage of the economic benefits of jobs and economy demonstrated by the Jewish immigrants of the mandate, compared to the Arab immigrants of the mandate. Check your history.
1
What about the Palestinian's right to defend themselves - from being shot at, having their homes demolished and land stolen right out from under their feet?
Israel "proper" (?) has the largest imprisoned population (non-Jewish) in the world - the Gaza ghetto - something senior citizen Jews should be vehemently against but aren't. Why?
Hamas, Abbas and trump, Netanyahu are all the same. Indeed, the criminal enterprise known as trump, Putin, Abbas, Assad, Xi, Erdogan, Kim, Duterte, and many others continues to expand now that America is AWOL on the world stage except for endorsing bombing civilians in Yemen.
Israel is NOT a free and democratic society - as it's actions and behavior continue to reveal it for the kind of nation it really is. Isn't that the point?
Getting mistreated - or intimidated to backing down, in the case of Columbia - for advocating for peace and human rights by Israel, makes them no different than Iran, Saudi Arabia or other primitive country.
8
Just like Franke and so many other anti-Israel groups and individuals, you tend to be very selective on what Israel does. In many of those events, it was the Palestinians who have attacked first, not the other way around. Since when is throwing rocks or molotov cocktails at someone considered being peaceful or non-violent? Let's not forget that some of those protesters were storming the fence as if they were ready to attack someone. More importantly, look at what lead to Israel even placing such fences in the first place, and you will find it that it was because of the number of attacks done by Hamas. Had they not done such things, Israel would see no reason to build security barriers. As for being mistreated or having their land feeling like a prison or ghetto, you can thank Hamas for that as they rule over the Gaza Strip with an iron fist and made it that way just to keep themselves in power, and I won't be surprised if Fatah is doing the same thing over in the West Bank. One other thing, the land that Israel got that you call stolen was land that they won in the Six Day War after they were attacked and won that said war, plus that wasn't even under Palestinian rule before that war occurred meaning that they never had control of it to begin with.
2
A few things, Roger. 1. Opening a center in Israel should hinge on the free exchange of people and ideas. Tongue in cheek, as Columbia has centers in Istanbul and Amman, hardly beacons of democracy. Israel has internal critics far more damaging than Professor Franke-Gideon Levy from Haaretz is a great example. There is more to this story than you know; I've visited Israel at least 25 times in the last 24 years and I've sat with some far left wingers at the airports, one who was advising/indoctrinating a group of students on how to answer the Israeli interrogators when they land. I heard lots more from that group leader; all of them got through.
2. Your claim of mostly unarmed men at the Gaza fence is false. Of course there are the spectators who picnic while getting a view, but the guys with the flaming bomb kites, rocks, Molotov cocktails, and fence cutting equipment aren't innocent bystanders. Loads of videos online, none of which you choose to see, lest they disturb your tranquil but deceptive viewpoint. 3. As to the West bank being all Israeli, it is biblical Israel, like it or not. Few Israelis see it all belonging to the modern state of Israel for obvious reasons. Yet, never mind Abbas, most Palestinians see all of it, from sea to river, as belonging exclusively to them. Ah, but you aren't pouncing on them, just a small minority of very right wing Israelis.
Get real.
13
I suppose it's asking a lot to expect outrage in Israel over the expulsion of a leading US legal academic. Where are the demonstrations at the law school at Hebrew University? in Tel Aviv's law schools and other parts of the university? Columbia's law school dean should be removed over her silence, which equals assent to Israel's totalitarianism. Money talks.
5
The irony of a Gender Studies prof being surprised at her ejection from Israel for preaching hate and smoothing the path for self-declared annihilation by Hamas. The irony arrives at the point that conference is not moved to - oh I don't know - how about Gaza. Let the good professor get blown up, stabbed, run over or kidnapped and then talk her way out of it by referring to international law.
Visiting another country is not a right: "she has boycotted conferences paid for by the Israeli government" - well I guess the Israel government is simply boycotting her - except in Mr Cohen's mind - one is perfectly acceptable while the other is not.
15
Israel has been held to a double standard for decades. While suicide bombings and using children as shields is common among their enemies, there is limited criticism of that. It is often overlooked or used as proof of the desperation that has been imposed upon the Palestinian people by Israel to justify their behavior.
The PLA through Arafat and now Mamoud have strategically avoided peace in order to foster continued animosity to the existence of Israel. They have funneled away much of the support monies sent to them to develop infrastructure for themselves or use it to by weapons and build tunnels by which the can pursue acts of terror. They foment hatred and hide behind the "cycle of violence" and characterizing themselves as victims to gain sympathy and moral equivalence. If Hamas, et. al. would stop violence there would be peace. If Israel would stop responding to the violence there would be no Israel.
Israel has every right to protect itself with preemptive actions if their intelligence supports it. They are dealing with an enemy that will not rest until Israel no longer exists and who don't care if they die in causing Israel's downfall.
Israel has no margin of error and history has demonstrated their intelligence service is at least as good, if not better than our own.
15
I don't commend the NYT frequently, if anything the opposite is true.
But for once, a truly honest and, more importantly, courageous article on Israel.
It was especially material that Mr. Cohen reported the timid reaction, to say the least, of Columbia University to the whole episode, as well as the University's even more disturbing reason to fail to defend Professor Franke more openly, if at all.
I believe the article should be required reading for all concerned of the destabilizing role played by Israeli and pro-Israel extremism not only in the Holy Land, but, just as importantly, in the USA.
6
Supporters of Israel's right to exist, including me, often fail to recognize that not all critics of Israel are its enemies. Allowing Dr. Franke and others to enter and speak is a sign of strength, not a threat to Israel. The U.S. should be open as well to let others enter to speak against us and our policies. Allowing dissent, and even extreme criticism, is a sign of strength. Those who oppose freely-expressed opposition are the true enemies of Israel.
7
Roger Cohen has been the voice I've recommended to my children for many years. But, something is amiss lately. Every country makes plenty of errors and criticism is essential. Cohen's recent criticism of Israel hasn't been accurate or objective. "Banished?" No, she was denied entry. Foreigners going through passport control at Ben Gurion indeed are examined thoroughly about their statements and activities, as they should be. Why admit one who has demonstrated animus toward the nation and who seeks to harm the country? Freedom of speech isn't absolute. She can continue to speak and act against Israel - she just can't do it in Israel. It's known as self defense.
114
Cohen is not criticizing "Israel", he is criticizing Netanyahu and his government. You equate animus to the current government's policies to with animus to the nation. Let me ask you: is someone who opposes the policies of Donald Trump and the current US government "anti-American"? Should they be denied entry into the US? Trump would probably say "yes".
122
Someone is indeed banished if they are told they can never again come to a place. That is what the word means.
101
This is nothing "amiss" with Mr. Cohen. While I don't always agree with him, he is clearly what he has always been: a man who clearly appears to believe passionately in human reason and decency and is unafraid and otherwise willing to confront sacred cows anywhere. He is what every journalist and pundit should aspire to.
If there is something amiss, it is, sadly enough, with the the Israeli government, the voters who installed it, and their willfully blind supporters in the US and elsewhere. They have lost sight of the hopes and dreams of those who founded Israel and supported its founding and defense so that they routinely and brutally deprive their Palestinian neighbors of basic human rights and continue to misappropriate their properties. In doing so, they are creating more long-term damage to Israel than they seem to comprehend, including alienating those of us who once would have volunteered our bodies to defend Israel. But who except for Christian evangelicals, Jewish fundamentalists and right-wing Muslim haters would feel that way about the current Israeli government and the settlers appropriating West Bank lands? Who would have thought these would be the principal defenders of the beautiful dream and hope that were once Israel?
79
This is not anti-democratic as she is not a citizen of Israel. Israeli citizens are free to openly criticize its government and government policies and they do so consistently and without any fear of reprisal.
Israel is free to stop any foreigner from entering its country. A casual observer might think its "appalling", but it's completely within the rights of a country that is always facing an onslaught of (mostly) unjustified criticism from left-leaning, Anti-Israel professors like the one in question.
Israel is a small country that doesn't need to allow anti-Israel professors who openly work for organizations that seek to destroy Israel. Might seem harsh but Israel didn't get to where it is today by being nice to people who hate their principles and values.
15
It's a good column, not least because Israel's craziness in this case and the rain of irrational reactions that follow lets us all understand just how hard peace in the Middle East really is.
3
I agree that to freedom-loving Americans, expelling someone with an unwanted political perspective and activism record seems egregious from a country claiming to be democratic. At the same time, Israel announced months ago they would do this, and has the right to decide who can enter or stay in their country.
Prof. Franke’s privilege is showing. The US is blocking a lot of people from entering, and rudely detaining and evicting hundreds daily. They may not have comevisiting for an academic conference, but they are receiving the same treatment—sometime being taken from their children. And she’s upset Columbia won’t speak out on her behalf?!
9
Once again Roger, you only tend to look at the effects rather than the causes of the issue. The reason why Israel won't allow for Katherine Franke to come to Israel has more to do with the fact that she has a group that is known for sympathizing with terrorism. I have never once heard the Jewish Voice for Peace even advocate for a two state solution, bur rather go against it. I an still remember not that long ago, that group tried to block the parade route over in NYC on the Salute to Israel Parade and then got arrested for doing so even though they were told not to do that. They had to learn that despising the parade was one thing while obstructing the route was another. If this group was really for peace, then why don't the they advocate for the Palestinians to make peace, but they will never do that, because if they they did, they will most likely get killed on the spot for doing that. Another thing is that some of these groups have a history of harboring terrorism whether it's giving them weapons or even trying to hide them in their offices over in Israel. Just having some of them participate on certain rallies, which proved how much they are terrorist sympathizers. Wouldn't want such a group like that coming to your country? I'm sure most of you wouldn't, which Israel has been doing this. in making sure that Hamas doesn't get such support.
9
She is a supporter of the BDS movement, an organization which if it were to succeed in its goals, would essentially cause Israel to cease to exist. Why should Israel not have the right to prohibit entry to such people? Why must Israel be held to a higher standard than any other country?
11
Hertzl, the founder of modern Zionism, laid out his plan for a new state after the rabbis he sent to check out the land cabled back "The bride is indeed beautiful but she's already married to another man", meaning people were already living there for thousands of years. Hertzl decided to elope with the bride anyway, and came up with a plan he called "The Iron Wall". This doctrine was that yes, Israel would encounter endless problems when violently ousting a large population from their lands of many generations, and absconding with it themselves. The solution: Israel would always partner with the world's leader whoever it was, for military and financial support. In the past that was England and France, and now it's us. Israel could expect to be in constant war with the angry, ousted Palestinians, so their key alley would need to be able to provide lots of military support.
And here we are, with things playing out like one could easily project, given the Iron Wall ideas.
6
The “bride” quote is a well known fabrication and the Wall metaphor was Jabotinsky’s, created decades after Herzl’s death.
Another way to look at the post-WWI disposition of the lands lost by the Ottoman Empire to the UK is to recognize that Arabs rule 99.75%, Israel sits on the remaining 0.25% (which itself is only one-quarter of what the international community agreed in 1922 to constitute the historical homeland of the Jewish people) while other indigenous minorities (Kurds and a variety of ancient Christian communities) have nothing. Arab rejectionist would seem to be the better explanation of their plight.
And what is so strange about the idea that small, weak nations seek alliances with stronger ones? That happens to be the way the world works.
4
Multiple posts on here make the claim that the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement ultimately aims to destroy the State of Israel. This is not a credible claim. If you research it, you will find the claim repeated - without citations - mainly by politically right sources from the United States and Israel and from PM Netanyahu himself. None of these are unbiased or objective sources, and they have a stake in discrediting the BDS movement.
That said, BDS does take an antagonistic position against the Israeli government: their policy is to use non-violent economic pressure to force Israel to end its occupation of Palestine, grant full rights to Israeli Arabs, and permit the right of return to Palestinian refugees. They also explicitly and publicly condemn anti-Semitism.
Boycotts are designed to make the status quo unsustainable without resorting to violence. They are a legitimate, effective, and many would argue preferable, method of protest and resistance. Today millions of Palestinians live under the control of occupying forces who arrest and torture children, visit collective punishment on families, and shoot unarmed protesters. Fundamentally it is an injustice and the BDS movement is a legitimate tool of protest against it.
9
The goal of BDS is to destroy Israel. To argue otherwise is disingenuous at best, a knowing lie at worst. All one need do is read what the founders of BDS say.
For example:
“The real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel….That should be stated as an unambiguous goal. There should not be any equivocation on the subject. Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel.”
–As’ad AbuKhalil
10
I have read the BDS in the past, and they always single out Israel. I can give a list of countries that do far worse human rights violations, and the BDS doesn't seem to care about them. They were clearly made to attack Israel. Also, not one time have they ever condemned the terrorist attacks done by Hamas as so many anti-Israel groups tend to never do or some cases try to minimize them in claims that they are some resistance group when they really aren't.
3
@Marc's reply is apt. Abu Khalil is one of many BDS leaders and supporters seeking Israel's destruction.
3
When MR Cohen writes, per below,
" United States is “fully supportive” of Israelis’ “right to defend themselves.” Yes, Israel has that right, but not the right to use lethal force against mainly unarmed Palestinian civilians, who also have rights, including to liberty and opportunity."
it becomes difficult to give credence to the views he expresses in the rest of his article.
Gaza has complete independent self rule. The Palestinian civilians rights are derived from their Hamas lead government, which they elected. Just like the citizens of the United States, who also depend on their elected government officials to safeguard their rights to liberty and opportunity. So when Mr. Cohen implies that it is Israel's obligation to guarantee liberty and opportunity for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and not the responsibility of their elected government to provide such rights, than Mr. Cohen is intentionally misleading his readers and loses any credibility when implying that Israel acted inappropriately in defending its boarders from a Gaza lead invasion, or when he defends the statements of a Columbia U. professor, without explaining the specific nature of her pro-boycott and anti-Israel Activities. And being a professor does not automatically excuse biased or odious behavior.
Additionally, Mr Cohens views seem sufficiently biased against Israel, that he doesn't get to be the arbiter of how Israel should conduct its policies.
7
Roger,
If I were running Israel, I wouldn't let you in either.
7
Winner of the best comment of the year award!
4
So the LEADER of the Palestinians (and the supposed moderate), in carefully prepared remarks, admits to a hatred of Jews, and Cohen dismisses it as the rantings of a bitter irrelevant old man.
Could the Times maybe hire someone who at least tries to see both sides?
9
Israel has the right of all nations to secure its borders and deny admission to those it believes constitute a threat to national security. Israel's reliance on right-wing websites is not a reliance on "trolls", but an appreciation of the fact that the mainsteam media and civil rights organizations have been co-opted by the anti-Semitic BDS movement, which only criticizes Israel, despite the considerable human rights abuses of the rest of the Middle East and Israel's comparative restraint. In the pages of this very publication, we have a rather terrible record of half-truths, deceptions, and propaganda masquerading as reporting. Franke is no martyr any more than Lauren Southern is.
11
No nation need admit visitors who are committed to its destruction or creation of pain. Therefore, there are two choices. Countries can require visitors to secure visas in advance. Some do. This is a laborious process. The other choice is to question visitors at their port of arrival. This is good for the vast majority of travelers but bad for those committed to the destruction or the creation of pain. That is what happened with this professor. It's better than asking all Americans to get advance visas.
15
I am a graduate of Columbia University and Columbia Law School. Although my financial resources have limits, I have pretty much given annually to both Columbia schools I went to since my graduation years. I do not know how other alumni feel, but Columbia's lack of support for Professor Franke will lead me to reduce or cease my support for Columbia.
41
As a graduate of Columbia College (1963) and a resident of Israel since 1968, I strongly support Columbia University professor, Katherine Franke, and sincerely apologize for the way she was treated during her recent stay in Israel.
[email protected]
11
Yes, RDP, the comments are STILL open, time for you to take a stand and tell us if you have either reduced or ceased support for Columbia. Which is it? Hurry, the comments will close soon, soon . . .
1
Israel has come to fear disloyalty from anyone who does not openly support the same attitudes as does Netanyahu. Fear is a strong determinate of how people behave. It destroys clear thinking. It motivates actions that are intended to be expedient in the defense of survival and so can be brutal and lacking consideration.
12
Unfortunately contemporary Israel has morphed into the 21st century equivalent of a Crusader state, supported by outside forces against the local inhabitants. In a just world the boundaries in Palestine would return to what they were at the end of World War II and then the presence of immigrants would be negotiated and a process established to facilitate their integration. After all theoretically other options at the end of WWII included creation of an independent state from a portion of Germany or resettlement in the United States. That these options were not acceptable either to the powers of the time nor to prospective immigrants to Palestine is justification for shoving aside existing residents of Palestine for outsiders. The simple fact is there is no justification for the existence of Israel in Palestine. It is a settler state created through invasion. From the standpoint of safeguarding victims of the Holocaust that purpose could have been accomplished by delivering New Jersey to them. Obviously most Americans would have rejected that solution. Why should the Palestinians have to accept what was unacceptable to Americans? Israel exists as occupied territory because outside powers decreed it. If Russia facilitated the seizure of much of the United States to be settled by immigrants from Latin America on the grounds much of it was once ruled by Spain would we consider it a reasonable expression of power or a foreign invasion? Israelis are Crusader invaders, nothing more
29
Yes, but then, isn't the United States a Crusader state? At some point, all need to accept the reality of Israel, despite the Crusader way it was created, or its current conflicts will continue for another century.
2
Netanyahu wants Israel to be state for Jews, a Jewish state. You can’t have a state based on religion. It leads to bloodshed. Equally impossible is the claim that the United States is a country for Christians, a Christian state.
3
The depth of ignorance in this comment is hard to fathom. There has been an uninterrupted Jewish presence in Israel for 3,000 years. The creation of modern Israel 70 years ago marks the first time in world history that a people displaced from their homeland by outside invaders was able to return and reestablish their state. At the time of the UN partition plan in 1947, the area of British Mandatory Palestine was sparsely populated, though with a Jewish majority. Had the Palestinians accepted the partition plan to create a second Palestinian state (they already had Jordan), or accepted the repeated offers of statehood after 1948, the problems between Israel and its neighbors would be greatly diminished. The Jews are from Judea. The Arabs are from Arabia. To call Israel a settler state is simply wrong.
12
I do not agree that Israel acts this way because of Trump's support. It acts this way because support for Israel is the ultimate level of political correctness in the United States. The US is Israel's enabler.
96
Maybe Israel behaves this way because its leadership believes allowing someone into the country who's a high-level supporter of Jewish Voices for Peace may not be such a good idea.
I suppose the US is not such a good example these days, but consider that we keep people out of this country all the time.
4
@philip. Not sure if it is good or bad, but the US immigration policies are far more racist than ideological. The problem with Israel, in my view, is that everything they do, they do with US financing.
Israeli is an open, free and democratic society, and it is under duress from impossibly high standards placed on it by outsiders such as Cohen. Cohen should focus sometimes on the sad fact that there is practically no self-reflection or criticism on the Palestinian side. Can anyone here recall a ny Times column from a Palestinian or Arab that disagreed with the Palestinian Authority? Plenty of columns published by israeli and jews who are center, left or outright hostile to Israel. The odious belief system pressed upon Palestinians by Arafat and now Abbas prevents the population from seeing reality and being able to compromise with their Israeli counterparts that vigorously debate and do see the other side of things.
29
"Cohen should focus sometimes on the sad fact that there is practically no self-reflection or criticism on the Palestinian side." Mr. Coultoff, your argument is ridiculous in light of the fact that the Palestinians as a disabled population don't have the luxury of sel-reflection or of disagreeing with their own leadership (though some have broken off, obviously). What, exactly, is "reality" or "the other side of things" when, for Palestinians, survival is the daily issue. You seem to have the opportunity to consider "the other side of things".
6
Israel is an open, free and democratic society only if you happen to be an Israeli Jew, or a Jewish person from anywhere in the world. It is anything but open and free if you are an indigenous Palestinian -- i.e., a person who was living in pre-1948 Palestine or any of their offspring. Israel was created in a time when colonialism was the norm, and its creation in historic Palestine was an "easy" response to European guilt from the Holocaust.
Israel's accomplishments since its inception are impressive, and had it not been created from the oppression and expulsion of indigenous peoples, it would be a truly remarkable success story. But facts are facts. It is not up to the oppressed -- the Palestinians -- to love their oppressors, those who stole their homeland. Israel bears the burden of what they have created, and if they want to be truly democratic, as they proudly -- but falsely -- proclaim, then they must find a way to achieve an equitable peace with the Palestinians. That does not mean walling them off and consigning them to ghettos, but rather becoming a truly open and democratic society for all. And an acknowledgment of their wrongful appropriation of Palestinian land in 1948 wouldn't hurt either. The popular Israeli slogan "A land without people for a people without a land" pretty much says it all in terms of the colonial mentality that allowed the creation of Israel.
7
" Two Wrongs doesn´t make a Right "
I'm currently reading the incredible account of the project of saving documentation in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, Who Will Write Our History, by Samuel Kassow. There were many parties and factions at that time, all bitter adversaries, often petty - most far left - but they knew when to come together, both in the ghetto and in Israel. Of course they had brilliant leadership. Courageous, talented, dogged leadership is key.
2
It would be nice if the NYT published more often such straightforward accounts of the anti-democratic policies of the Israeli government, most of which, by the way, are enacted internally, against Palestinians, of course, but also, increasingly, against Israel's own citizens who "think differently."
Also, I wish these (and other) policies were attributed to "the Israeli government," or "the Netanyahu government," rather than to "Israel." Exactly as the Times correctly attributes authoritarian tendencies or anti-democratic policies to "the Trump administration" and not to "the United States."
27
Cohen lumps together three different issues. The Gaza issue is never clear cut, nor one sided. Were Cohen's son sitting on one of those berms with Gazans running toward him, hoping, not to kill, but to kidnap him, he might justly be afraid and react. In the event, the orders for opening fire in the Israeli army are very strict and generally enforced.
The second issue is resolving the Palestinian conflict. It has nothing to do with Gaza. Indeed. It has to do with Palestinian fantasy confronting Israeli misdirected thinking about making the Palestinians miraculously disappear. Of course, let us recall that together the West Bank and Gaza comprise about 5,000 square kilometers, a heavy percentage of which is frightful desert. A state, they must be joking.
The third issue, the painful one, is Israeli politics today, with the likes of Miri Regev beating the drums. Here, Cohen is right, frighteningly right, and the Israeli penchant to imitate Washington is in full bloom.
6
As Mr. Cohen correctly points out, with the shield of Mr. Trump's own approach to intellectual discourse, Israel is now free to deploy unbridled discriminatory policies and tactics at all who oppose it's Zionist goals, including academics from esteemed Ivy League schools.
The joke used to be you'd be called anti-semitic for talking about Israel's policies towards Palestine. Now the joke is you'll be barred for life from visiting a country to examine its policies toward teenagers who live on the other side of a fence you built.
Sad and shameful for Israel and all of its current supporters.
49
Professor Franke accuses Israel of apartheid (see her latest Twitter post), a patently false accusation--the issue between Israelis and Palestinians is a political one, not one based on race, creed or religion. And while the Israeli government has a long way to go towards integrating its Arab citizens, the issue is clearly not one of religion (e.g., there's a Druze general in the IDF and hopefully one day, a Moslem one as well).
I don't agree with the Israeli government's decision to ban the professor (Israel is strong enough to have her sipping coffee in Tel Aviv) but painting her as some Mother Theresa denied access to the Holy Land is a bit much.
17
"....a bit much" pretty much describes much of Cohen's biases, much as i hate to read them.
1
Would we admit a foreign professor who was trying to promote a boycott of the United States?
17
I hope so - the US is more than big enough morally and economically to withstand tis - would there be no Americnas to contradict the foreign professor?
Yes. We would. Indeed, we have. Although my understanding of BDS is that it is not a boycott "against Israel," i.e. against absolutely anything Israeli, but a boycott specifically against Israeli companies that operate in occupied territories. It is a statement against "settlement" building, a specific, inhumane policy-- not against every single Israeli.
1
Probably yes.
Roger, we cannot just blame the President, for that matter any US President other than Truman. When you have Israel support legislation passing in the Senate with 98-1 (S. 615 (114th) and many others. It is the US Congress that has provided unflinching/unconditional support to Israel even when they Bombed USS Liberty in international waters. Bombing and killing civilians in Gaza and West bank is a daily affair. Killing of Rachel Corrie an American protester in the occupied land by the IDF Caterpillar with no consequences. Harassment and insulting of scholars is rather routine in Israeli port of entry; however it is shameful on part of the so called elite institutions like Columbia to totally ignore this bullying by Israeli forces. The New York University Departments called for a boycott of Abu Dhabi Campus when they refused visas for two of their professors.
Columbia Law department needs to develop a backbone to stand against the Israelis and their restrictions against intellectual freedom; if they do not they are colluding with the policies of the Israeli State.
It is time we resist the Apartheid policies of a country where we send our tax dollars to the tune of $4.7 Billion each year. That 44.5 Billion would fix New York subways and would go a long ways to fix our schools. It can also help in providing quality healthcare for all.
Don’t blame Trump, it’s the US Congress and the so called elites of the Columbia University who are depicting a deafening silence.
18
Along with everything else, comes this:
"Although she informed the law school dean and the provost of her detention, no one asked whether she got out the country safely, and no statement was issued from the university."
They can't support their own colleague at a personal level? Just be human and make a phone call? "Was it horrible? Do you need anything?"
Sheesh! All politics, no soul.
16
Democracy, civil rights and basic freedom is an affront to Theocratic governments.
9
Fundamentally so.
For goodness' sake when is Jared going to straighten out the Middle East mess? I for one am getting tired of waiting. He's had over a year on the job and STILL NO SOLUTION.
Doesn't slum lording experience help in international diplomacy?
Jared. Jared. Jared.
18
Excellent point.
Where's all the Winning?
Still not tired of all the winning.
Sad
4
Really Roger? Masses on the Gaza border using kites with flaming attachments designed to set Israel on fire is peaceful and non-violent? Using flaming tires which pollute an already polluted environment so that others can breach the border fence while armed is non-violent? Hamas has declared in no uncertain terms that Israel should be pushed into the sea. These people are not interested in civil discourse, and BDS is an offshoot of these same folks. While Professor Franke may have the best intentions, Israel is right to control its borders in the way it sees fit....just as every democracy does. When moderates among the Palestinians such as Abbas speak with such hatred and animosity, Israel's actions are not only justified, they are required for maintaining a peaceful environment in a neighborhood filled with violence.
19
I wonder how Roger would respond if someone threw a flaming tire or fire bomb at him. Mostly peaceful? What a fool. That's like telling Mary Lincoln that the audience at the Ford Theater was mostly peaceful.
3
Yes, don't blame it all on Trump, he is a symptom more than the cause, but he does make the condition worse.
Don't insist on a double standard of conduct for Israel—that contributes to anti-Jewish sentiments already virulent.
And don't ignore that with the size of the support that the US government invests in Israel, there is an expectation of holding Israel to its own democratic ideals and rule of law.
No easy answers here. But Columbia owes it to academic freedom and free inquiry to support Franke's participation in Israel academic inquiry.
110
In so many ways Israel has begun to resemble Europe of the 1930s i.e. lack of acceptance of anyone who dissents or is different, intolerance, the need for lebensraum and as in this case, a clear definition of what democracy means while being enamored with its military power..
63
Defending the rights of the poor and the oppressed can often be a lonely task. But it is at the forefront of what democracy is all about, and is absolutely what American educational institutions are supposed to work for. After all, the rich don't need champions, they can buy all the muscle they need.
If Columbia fails at the simple task of holding the lives and rights of the Palestinian people in high regard, it fails as an institution.
In 1916 the maps showed only Palestine, today they only show Israel. Ethnic cleansing is not an American ideal, even though it led the whites settlers from coast to coast.
Hugh
28
Palestine you saw on maps was not a state of the Palestinians .. in fact I doubt whether arabs leaving in this area (in 1916 it was between Ottomans and British) identified as Palestinians.
I myself would welcome Prof Franke, but regardless it helps to know the historical facts.
14
Simply not true, the maps did not show "only Palestine" - it was a name for a region that was part of the Ottoman Empire, certainly not self-governing. Forgotten in these anti-Israel comments is the fact that until 1948, the term Palestinian generally referred to JEWS and not Arabs who were referred to by themselves and others generically as Arabs.
7
Jewish Voices for Peace is hardly the benign “peace” group that Roger Cohen portrays. They are more like a vicious mob than a “Voice”. They exist to destroy Israel as a Jewish state. Their members, including those at Columbia, harass and shout down any student or speaker who supports Israel. They are the antithesis of a democratic organization. Roger Cohen should be ashamed of defending them or their members.
81
Jewish Voice for Peace opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression. JVP seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians; a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on principles established in international law; an end to violence against civilians; and peace and justice for all peoples of the Middle East. Current mission statement adopted in 2009.
Their mission statement disagrees with you.
14
"Mainly unarmed" is a fascinating new description that appears to be gaining traction. Accompanying an armed offender, for example, is a basis for guilt under the rule of felony murder in certain common law jurisdictions. Leaving legal niceties aside, what is the right way to respond when you're being rushed by a crowd, only some of whom are armed with fire bombs or pistols?
47
Instead of simply smearing Canary Mission with the label “right wing troll site” — how about explaining why you think their page on Franke is inaccurate? I read it and it is full of links and screenshots to back up its statements. A true journalist would provide some researched data. It seems clear that Franke is very hostile to Israel and, like SVP, happily defends the Jihadists who want to destroy it. Why should Israel open its borders to such enemies? To please Roger Cohen?
52
An eye for an eyelash.
14
The smile button is off Zionism. It has come out of the closet as a right wing movement being used by the Western imperial powers. It now has more in common with the descendants of US Christian Indian fighters than US Jews.
19
Yes, let's blame American Christians because this woman wasn't admitted to Israel by Israeli border control agents. It's Andrew Jackson's fault.
4
Well. It is. These are his ideological heirs.
She claims " “They were not interested in why I was there. They already had a story. I was a leader of Jewish Voice for Peace. I was there to promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — all this untrue," but she is at the very least a former member of the JVP academic advisory board and is a well known BDS activist so it is not in fact "untrue." Of course she was there to promote the BDS movement. The Israelis may have made a political error in denying her entry, but as a sovereign state they have every right to deny entry to an activist in a movement aimed at eliminating Israel (which is what BDS actually is as Omar Barghouti and other founders of the BDS movement have openly said). So she is both an enemy of the state, a liar and a hypocrite who advocates boycotting Israel and then cries foul when she is forced to boycott Israel.
60
nonsense. no one supports every position adopted by organizations that they belong to. for instance, many democrat party members oppose a woman's right to chose and many republican party members support a woman's right to chose.
8
No one has an absolute right to enter a foreign country. Israel has the right to admit or not admit whoever they want.
8
Hear hear!!
2
How many times do I have to repeat myself? The last thing the Palestinians want is an independent state.
Roger Cohen really should keep up with current events. The new generation of Arab leaders are no longer embracing the Palestinian cause. Anyhow anti-Semitic ivory tower academics are nothing new. Good for Israel for kicking these phonies out . There are too many universities who will take them in no questions asked.
25
This column is a new low for Mr. Cohen. How dare this Professor complain that she was not allowed into Israel when she is on the academic advisory board for Jewish voice for peace which any quick view of its website specifically sets forth that is an absolute advocate of the BDS movement.
BDS expressly calls for the end of Israel as a Jewish state and puts pressure on entertainers and academics to not go to Israel and for academic institutions to ban Israeli academics from events at their schools. Now She has the audacity to complain because she's not let into the same country that the organization she belongs to actively discourages people from going to? It's the height of outrageous hypocrisy. Mr. Cohen should be ashamed for
this article.
Mr. Cohen, the Gaza mob is sending kites with incendiary devices over the fence to fire bomb Israel, they use wrist rockets to launch rocks at the border guards, they light tires on fire to foul the air and provide cover for their actions they try to pull down the fence seperating Israel from Gaza. This is not a non violent protest, its an invading mob. What do you want Israel to do ? Ask nicely "please desist from your macro aggressions"? Pathetic.
58
This is a switch. It is usually the other way around, liberals often shout out, disrupt and prevent conservative speakers from giving their speeches, such as Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannopoulos and Ben Shapiro, all of whom had scheduled appearances canceled by Berkeley. Also consider protests at Colby College, etc.
But make as much hay as possible when the very rare event of a liberal being censured, and not even in the US, but another country!!
4
Years ago I was an admirer and supporter of a beleaguered Israel. The Israel of today bears little resemblance to the previous one. It is a sad thing to watch a country descend into a right-wing, authoritarian regime and mind-set such as is evident under Netanyahu. I no longer have the respect nor feel the same support for the Israel of today. Having said that, to see the same disease infecting the United States under Trump is doubly troubling.
43
I will be waiting to hear what the conservative "free speech" defenders have to say about this blatant curtailing of an academic viewpoint. So far I've heard only crickets.
The "no platform" tactic is declared anathema when it is practiced on the left––for good reason. But criticizing it is worse than hollow when you don't object to the same tactic used against critics of the Israeli state's treatment of Palestinians.
11
It's sad for me, an American of Jewish background who is from a Holocaust family, to watch as Israel like its Arab neighbors turns into an autocratic theocratic state that has jettisoned basic democratic principles like human rights and freedom of speech. They are slowly turning into the very monsters they fled from and creating their own mini-Holocaust in their treatment of Palestinians, their settler demands for "lebensraum," and now ramping up with U.S. and Saudi Arabia's backing toward a major confrontation with Iran.
28
The old bitter and recently reelected Palestinian leader has never veered from the long and straight path of anti-Semitic tropes and related hatred. The fact that you believe this is a sudden condition undermines any concern I may have for the academic infringement of some poor Columbia professor.
74
Abbas was not recently reelected; in fact his term of office ended more than a decade ago. He stays on only because of his usefulness to Israel.
11
Jack" Abbas stays only because he values his life---Hamas killed many Fatah members when they took over Gaza--and because he would be less able to steal millions in humanitarian aide as he has to date.
Gerry Adams, Lily Allen, Mark Thatcher, Boy George, Yusaf Islam (Cat Stevens), Nigella Lawson, Diego Maradona, Amy Winehouse etc. etc.
These are just a few of those denied visas or entry to the US not during Donald Trump's time.
Like or not, a sovereign country has the right to refuse entry to anybody based on criteria that it is allowed to establish. Just as the US does not admit many, and that was always the case, and for a variety of reasons that are not clear or understood, so Israel has that right and the right to establish the criteria.
"How is it, Franke asked, that “Israel delegates to right-wing trolls the job of determining who should be admitted to Israel?”
No Prof. Franke. Israel establishes guidelines that you may not agree with, but it is their guidelines. Your quote is telling.
The Jewish Voice for Peace is flagged. What Prof. Franke should have done was to approach the Israeli consulate in NY or the Embassy in Washington and to have worked out matters in advance. I would expect that a prominent Columbia professor might understand that she might have a problem based on new regulations. It has been in all the newspapers, including the NYT.
139
@Joshua Schwartz: Thank you for clearly stating a position that seems very similar to that of the Israeli government. You confirm that Israel is no longer a democracy and Israelis like you have no desire to be one.
37
@ Thomas Zaslavsky: Your response makes no sense. A democracy is, by definition, a country in which the government is chosen by the people; Israel is most certainly a democracy. A democracy can have rules of conduct which are looser or stricter ... stricter rules - even harsh rules - do not mean it is not a democracy. The rules governing free speech are quite different in the US, the UK and France - but they are all democracies. I disagree with many of the policies of the Israeli government - including the policy by which Franke was denied entry - but that does not mean those policies were not arrived at democratically.
2
@WZ, you have a narrow, etymological notion of democracy. You may think Hungary is a fine democracy because it has elections? That is not enough. Democracy requires facing facts, which in practice means allowing severe criticism and active opposition to the governing parties since they are usually not interested in facing up to deficiencies, much less major errors. Even our traditional type democracy, Athens in its democratic period, required and had such criticism. It's true that a democracy is rarely (never, I'm sure) perfect and often goes through periods of gross intolerance (Athens and the U.S. are model examples), but I was referring to the tendency evidenced by Joshua Schwart's comment and the current Israeli government's behavior when I said they don't appear to want democracy.
4
"...she’s the kind of tough critic a free and democratic society should welcome."
Israel is NOT a democracy but rather a right wing theocracy. The country is headed by a thug supported by ultra-conservative religious minions. I find it so very hard to believe that a people who were so utterly violated in the not so distant past can treat the "other" in this manner. I have visited Dachau -- which seems more like a blueprint for Israel's treatment of the Palestinians every day.
36
Would the US admit a foreigner who called for a boycott of our country and questioned our right to exist?
10
Refusal of Israel to allow two state solution creates anti-semitism.
Total academic, political, social, and commercial boycott of Israel is needed.
14
Antisemitism does not need to be created, it has existed openly for 1900 years. This is the point about Israel, a " safe space" for the historically most oppressed people on earth.
3
wow, do you read any current events? What evidence would you need to clarify for you--or Mr. Cohen--that the Palestinians have never yet made the critical step of acknowledging that Israel exists, and will continue to? Mr. Abbas's anti-semitic rant is not an exception, as Mr. Cohen tries to suggest; it is there in his PhD thesis, and as a continuing (if often ignored) theme throughout the year.
This poor professor no doubt knew she has a reasonable chance of being turned away; she plays the sheep rather unconvincingly. I don't know why any sovereign country should be obligated to open its borders to anyone who is actively working to undermine it.....
3
I'll never forget my Palestinian-American friend being removed from his car and beaten by Israeli police at a checkpoint after showing them his US Air Force ID.
22
Strange. I have met US servicemen and women of all ethnicities and major religions that consider Israel one of the friendlier ports in the world. Sounds like you left out some facts, my friend.
3
"... along the Gaza border in marches organized by Hamas."
Not.
" ... a free and democratic society..."
Certainly not.
4
Roger Cohen, you are undoubtedly a man with good intentions, albeit in this time and age of world's wars and terror, you're somewhat utopian.
Unfortunately, you too have fallen for some tropes; fortunately, not as many as Abbas' recent ones.
6
The current Israeli leadership has forgotten who they are and where they came from. "Exodus20 And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" If they were slaves in Egypt, they would not have been saved.
14
Professor Franke says that she was detained because "...I was there to promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — all this untrue."
I googled professor Franke as well. She has publicly advocated boycott of Israeli academic institutions and in the video below she stated "...not all of you may want to join the BDS movement as I have..." While professor Franke may have legitimate points and criticisms, the BDS movement is not about academic discourse. It is a movement aimed to destroy Israel. It is easy to judge those faced with existential threats from an armchair of a NYTimes opinion writer or the safety of the Columbia University office.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/benjamin-doherty/columbia-prof-kath...
37
Rodger, this is a serious mistake you made about professor Franke's BDS support. You should coreect it. That said--she should not have been detained and expelled. But, also note that many BDS proponents professors will not allow Israeli visiting professors in the US.
4
"Has now veared...", to anyone who really wanted to know, Abbas's anti-Semitism has been as plain as the nose on his face since at least the time of his "doctoral" dissertation.
17
I am a Jew, a former academic, and a Columbia Ph.D. and what I see here is an example of Israel's determination to discourage support from thoughtful American Jews on the assumption that support from right-wing Jews and the Trump administration is all they need. Is this really the best strategy?
25
What is thoughtful about being on the board of an organization the goal of which is the elimination of the State of Israel?
2
After reading this column, I reviewed the "Jewish Voice for Peace" website to determine if its supporters such as Professor Franke should indeed be considered unacceptable. Their video introducing the conflict contains so many distortions that it makes the Trump administration seems like the paragons of truth. It never acknowledges Israel's right to exist. Free expression is reasonable, Hateful lies are not.
19
While the writer plays semantic games e.g. "mainly unarmed" Hamas demonstrators and denying that Franke is a leader of JVP (but she is on an advisory committee), Israelis face daily threats to their existence. The harsh policies in Israel have been enacted over the years in response to mass murders in Israeli school rooms, on buses, and in private homes. School shootings may be new in America but they have been a sad fact of life in Israel for decades. Israelis are tired of "thoughts and prayers" from other countries. When the Arabs stop their acts of terror, there will no longer be a need for the harsh security measures.
14
It is so depressing to read of Israel’s treatment of its critics. Even more so as an Israeli living here. I truly hope this global wave of populist-xenophobic-know-nothing-ism lose its force and recede.
13
Good essay from Mr. Cohen. I have no clue about Mr. Abbas, so I do not know whether Mr. Cohen's reference to him in this article is appropriate or not. So far as I can tell, he and any other Arab Palestinian political figures are irrelevant to the topic.
The topic has to do with the astonishing treatment of the law professor by Israeli officials. It is astonishing, even given the horrid individuals in political power in Israel and in the USA, who, as Mr. Cohen correctly points out, encourage this reprehensible behavior.
I agree with others, the Columbia University administrative powers-that-be come across very poorly in this matter.
7
Here's a "clue" about Abbas: He's an inveterate Holocaust denier, like the Iranian theocracy.
4
Why blame Trump for the despicably expressed frustration of Abbas, or the despicable bullying by the Israeli right wing with Netanyahu at its head? These attitudes have long and deep roots. Israel's leaders have spent several decades now in sowing the seeds of the State's eventual destruction through repeated actions of cruelty and disrespect. It seems that Abbas has now adopted their policy from the other side.
7
Hamas wishes nothing less than to destroy Israel, in league with the theocratic and terrorist state Iran. They both say so. This is diplomacy?
Why should Israel admit hostile academics clearly in sympathy with anti-Israel terrorist groups and states? The answer may seem self-evident to Cohen, but it isn't. And if it were his home and existence that were at stake he might not see it that way.
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I am not a supporter of the current Israeli government or the particular details of the law in question. However, the suggestion at the closing of the article, that Columbia should condition the establishment of a "Global Center" in Israel on "commitment to the open exchange of people and ideas,” and "rejection of the nationalist intolerance" is hypocritical and inconsistent with everything else in this article. Hypocritical, since it is ludicrous to assert that the establishment of the centers you mention already exist in Istanbul and Amman have met these conditions. Inconsistent, since you seem to be promoting the idea of unconditional exchange of people and ideas... This double standard that is often applied against Israel by post modern intellectuals and left wing purists is detrimental to finding sane, balanced and realistic solutions to complex problems like the Israeli-Arab conflict. I expected more from Mr. Cohen.
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Kathryn Franke is not just critical of Israeli policy. As Mr. Cohen has noted, there is vigorous debate among Zionists both in Israel and abroad about virtually every aspect of Israeli society and government policy.
What distinguishes Kathryn Franke, however, is her inquiry into whether Jews, of all the many peoples on earth, are entitled to self-determination. She has in fact hosted BDS as a prime participant in legal "seminars" on Zionism at Columbia, and her cv suggests a fanatical obsession with the legal "problem" of Jews regaining their homeland in modern times.
Make no mistake: Franke's problem is not primarily about settlements or policy. She is in fact the aider and abettor to a hateful narrative which has characterized Arab attitudes towards Jews for a century, if not a millennium. She should hardly be surprised that Israel considers her to be a persona non grata.
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Power corrupts. Well, maybe a update. Power enables the corrupt.
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Money in politics buys influence. More money buys more influence. We need to change how our campaigns are financed. Our Middle East policy is being dictated by special interest lobbies, that I will not mention for fear of being Dershowitzed. Most people in this country find developments in the Middle East becoming more unpalatable, to say the least. I can imagine people in future generations citing the 'Trump Mandate' to legitimize the occupation over in the unholy land.
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"Abbas is a bitter old man. He has no feel for the struggle of young Palestinians"
Yes, Abbas seems bitter.
What do you think the young Palestinians feel if not bitter?
Do you imagine there are some hopeful, happy youth among the Palestinians?
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The young Palestinians are victims of their leadership, which makes a business model out of victimhood. Their plight is truly tragic. Their choice of politicians is between a violent terrorist group and "non-violent" Holocaust deniers.
Qualifying Abbas following his disgusting "history lesson" as merely "bitter" is repulsive.
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"Do you imagine there are some hopeful, happy youth among the Palestinians?"
Not as many as there should be. Unfortunately, from early childhood they are taught to hate Israel as the source of all their problems -- while their leaders keep them as perpetual refugees because that keeps the donations pouring in.
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Why does Mr. Cohen always point his critical finger at Israel without examining the repression of rights in the West Bank and Gaza. Does he really think that so-called peaceful demonstrators along the Gaza border want to enter Israel and embrace the Israelis with friendship. Maybe they should look to their corrupt leaders for "liberty and opportunity." Jewish Voice for Peace only spreads hatred of Israel and thus creates barriers to constructive dialogue. When Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state, then maybe progress can be made towards conflict resolution.
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This doesn't respond to the specific point of Professor Franke being barred by the Israelis.
As for your question: Maybe Israel, as a democratic state, can reasonably be held to the standards of one.
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This is the classic "two wrongs make a right" fallacy. Elliot essentially accepts what Israel does because the other side is equally bad, or worse. What about not accepting neither!
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Facts spread hatred of Israel? What a novel proposition!
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Israel is at war. No country at war has any obligation - legal, moral or otherwise - to admit foreigners who actively seek to undermine - or are supportive of those who active seek to undermine - its strategic interests.
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@SM
Tucson
The US is engaged in more wars than Israel. You have no idea what constitutes democratic politically pluralistic society.
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Wrong. A nation state at war has moral obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Sniping unarmed persons at a border is not moral.
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Israel's ongoing 70 year war is about it's very existence. The U.S.wars are about our role as global policeman. America has not been in an existential conflict since the end of the Cold War. If the Arab world had accepted Israel's existence in 1948, there would be no on-going conflict today.
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One of the most disappointing, but not surprising, things about this affair is the failure of Columbia University to stand up for the academic freedom of its own faculty.
College administrators are generally conservative types, despite charges by the Right that universities are intolerant havens for Leftwing agitators promoting P.C. policies.
Students and faculty are always farther left than those who run their facilities, all over the world. So Columbia's recalcitrance to defend the professor is no shock.
It is cowardly of President Bollinger to say only in a private message to a columnist what he refuses to say in public, to Israel's face.
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This isn't an academic freedom issue, that's a red herring. Just being a professor doesn't make a propaganda tour an academic exercise.
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Often, at universities, if you are not on the buttered side of the bread, you are toast.
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Jerry, a significant proportion of Columbia's most generous donors and alumni are Jewish, and a significant proportion of these are broadly pro-Israel in their views and sympathies. Universities depend on donor support. It's therefore likely that Columbia, as a practical matter, feels the need to manage and "balance" faculty and student criticism of Israel. (Other organizations and institutions face this issue, BTW. There are plenty of examples). But I agree with you that, here, Columbia's silence and lack of support for Professor Franke is wrong.
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In Netanyahu, Israel has an ethically compromised instinctively autocratic leader similar to Trump who is willing to undermine democratic norms to retain his hold on power.
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The sad fact is that the only side that has benefited from Abbas’ incompetent and corrupt leadership has been the Israeli right and Netanyahu.
Every honest person in the world knows what the fair and just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is: an Independent Palestinian State in the whole West Bank (including East Jerusalem as the capital) in exchange for the full recognition of the State of Israel (with the capital in West Jerusalem) by the Arab and Islamic countries.
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Jackson, What you say about "every honest person" is close to what I have believed since I became bar Mitzvah three months before the declaration of the State of Israel. But this is what had been accepted by both sides at the Oslo talks and later rejected by the Palestinians under Arafat. I am still hopeful that things may change after the departure of Netanyahu, Trump and Abbas. But time is getting short, if it has not already evaporated.
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You mean all those honest Palestinians just waiting to recognize the Jewish Sate and give up the right of return. They just needed President Trump to arrive on the scene before making up their minds. Same for all those honest Jews who can't wait to to return to what Abba Eban called the Auschwitz borders of pre 1967 Israel.
Seems to me you meant to say was all of the honest people who are not involved in the conflict ,and who don't have to live with the results.
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There would be peace and two states if the Palestinians (among others) recognized Israel's right to exist. Again, if Israel lays down their arms, they will be destroyed; if their enemies lay down their arms, there will be peace. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...
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"...Any healthy society is defined by its ability to accommodate civilized debate."
alas, that's just what's ignored here for yet another standard trump-bash, a branding/blaming for any and all woes and, generally in the all out personal attacks, known as "ad hominum" in the argument/analysis trade.
the franke situation has plenty of energy to propel serious inquiry, the seeds now grown to vines twinning in and around the entire conduct of affairs on both sides of the arab/israeli
bonfire...its reduction herein (yes, once the trump label is attached the issue becomes about him, not it, and the solution becomes simply a matter of getting rid of the demon trump) replete with the endorsement of a college president (bollinger), who famously told his students what to think before an on-campus appearance of a past iranian president (ahmadinejad), does nothing to convene or advance "civilized debate."
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Built with the cooperation of leaders from many nations throughout our world, this product of social engineering appears to have only one flaw which might be remedied if men were excluded from the design team, but then of course what do women know about peace?
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While the country is not yet ready for free speech, as the profusion of "hate speech" and other postings on social media show, but great universities must never inhibit the free exchange of ideas.
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Shame on Columbia. This is another sign of the big money takeover of academia. Overpaid administration taking care of funding over faculty.
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So sad. So many of us want Israel to be successful and secure.
But I will never forgive Netanyahu's stunt(s) in the US Congress while Obama was president. Israel is making a grave mistake in cozying up to Trump and other autocrats. Europe is already lost as far as Israel is concerned. The US will be soon to follow.
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I also get the feeling that Netanyahu will embrace Russia, just as Trump and the GOP has.
Ironically, it was Stalin's USSR which recognized Israel BEFORE the United States did!
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Netanyahu's acceptance of an invitation from Congress to testify against the Iran deal was a courageous act by the leader of the only country in the world threatened with extermination - and by Iran. Iran has used the billions from the deal to surround Israel with tens of thousands of rockets and now is creating military bases in Syrian right across Israel's northern border. And this is all without the benefit of a nuclear weapon - which is coming. If Iran attacks Israel with its allies - Hezbollah and Hamas - there is no way that WWIII won't start and the US will be drawn in.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Just for the record, Concerned:Not an "invitation from Congress" but an invitation from Republicans in Congress -- an act specifically designed as a political gesture to undermine President Obama. You may disagree with Obama's policies, but Netanyahu's speech was not about "policy" at all -- it was about "politics."
Mr. Cohen dismisses Professor Franke's role as an academic adviser to "Jewish" Voices for Peace (JVP) which supports the BDS movement and works with other anti-Israel organizations to isolate, silence and sometimes intimidate pro - Israel students on campus. Israel is also the only country on earth, that is the sustained target of hate, protest and de-legitimization on campus, not Syria, not Russia, not North Korea, not Iran. The mainstream Jewish community considers JVP and similar organizations nothing less than anti-Israel and anti-Semitic because of the obsessive hate it directs at Israel and its close association with other anti-Israel organizations (SJP) that are supported by terrorist organizations, i.e. Hamas. As a sovereign state Israel has every right to forbid entry into the country of foreign nationals who are actively engaged in de facto efforts to destroy the state. Professor Franke would likely have no problem with the United States barring entry into the country those Russian nationals who actively worked to disrupt our elections. Israel and the Palestinians are locked in a 70 year old conflict with each side having legitimate arguments. The fact that Israel has grown stronger over the years and Palestinians weaker is due to the failure of their leaders. Yes, the settlements may be an impediment to peace but more importantly the settlements are there because there is no peace and responsibility for that lies with the Palestinians not Israel.
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"Yes, the settlements may be an impediment to peace but more importantly the settlements are there because there is no peace and responsibility for that lies with the Palestinians not Israel."
Who kicked the Arabs out of 400 villages in the OT? Seems Israel has a responsibility there.
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I suspect some might take issue with your presuming to speak for "the mainstream Jewish community."
Interesting to compare Professor Franke with Russian hackers; is she really trying to undermine Israel's democracy?
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"Yes, the settlements may be an impediment to peace but more importantly the settlements are there because there is no peace and responsibility for that lies with the Palestinians not Israel."
Right! Why couldn't I see it! The Palestinians made the Israelis build settlements on their sovereign territory. Their fault. "Greater Israel" settlers, sometimes led by ex-terrorist prime ministers, were forced to settle the occupied territories in the same way the Native Americans forced whites to take their land away from them. How did I miss it.
But I'll give you this; most right wing pro-Israel types in their defense of Israel, fail to mention the elephant in the room, the settlements. You did mention them, even though your explanation of how they got there is patent nonsense.
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Overall I agree and think Israel's rightward shift is shameful. But I was struck by how, at the end, you demand that Columbia's center in Tel Aviv hinge on the embrace of freedom, but do not even comment on Columbia's center in Istanbul. If any country has lurched rightward and suppressed freedom in the past few years, it's Turkey. Let's try to be consistent in our standards.
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There's one standard for Jews and one for everyone else. Jews are expected to welcome critics with open arms. Muslims are allowed to ban Jews from their shores without criticism.
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Do you know if the Istanbul center has an agreement with Turkey for open dialogue?
13
You might remember that Abbas has said no Jews will be allowed to live in a Palestinian State. Indeed their are some settlers who would live under a Palestinian flag. While I abhor the settler movement, why can't people live where they want to? Surely, we in the US take that for granted, save for of course DT
Well, that was certainly ugly, high-handed, and short sighted. Israel is making mistake after mistake and this is just another one.
And please, do not reply to my comment with near hysterical comments about Israel's right to self-defense, etc, etc. I'm not talking about right or wrong; I'm talking about smart or stupid; policy that works for a county or policy that blow up in its face. As the French once said about one of their official acts, "it was worst than crime; it was a blunder"
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Power corrupts and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. The crazies are in charge
10
I agree with everything in this column, but blaming this all on Trump is a step too far. True, Trump is extreme in his carte blanche support for Israel, but Israel has been shifting to the far political right for decades. One American President after another has done virtually nothing to hold Israel to account for the many atrocious things that it commits. Illegal settlements, vicious brutality against the captive Palestinian population, the destruction of Gaza - all of this did not come out of the blue. It has been effectively enabled by the US for decades. Stephen Walt recently wrote that Trump's policies essentially pulled the mask off what the US has been doing for a very long time in respect to Israel. I think that he is absolutely right. If the US really wanted to control Israel and prevent its slide into unqualified ethnic nationalism and all the associated ills, the US would have imposed punishing sanctions on Israel long ago. Instead, the US has protected Israel from the consequences of its actions. The fact that this is now manifest as obvious and overt attacks on basic principles of democracy should not surprise anyone. Israel has been heading in this direction for a very long time. I remember reading commentators in the 1980s who pointed out that the inevitable outcome of Israel's brutality against the Palestinians would be the creation of a military state that would crush the vestiges of liberal democracy. Again, there is nothing here that is surprising.
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I agree in part and disagree in part with this commenter and certainly agree with Roger Cohen 99%. The thing I would view slightly different than Shaun Narine is this. It is true that Israel, which I support, under Netanyahu, whom I oppose, has long, pre-Trump had this arc. Still Trump does bring out the worst in Netanyahu and offer cover for his right flank. But more than that, the nativist/nationalist thread in the Trump coalition parallels and potentiates its Israeli right wing counterpart. That is a (dismaying) point (for a friend of Israel) that I think worthy of note. And it explains how Shaun Narine's insights are much more consistent with than in tension with what I take to be Roger Cohen's key points. I agree with Shaun Narine that there is nothing here that is surprising, but with Cohen that that fact is dismaying. And Trump has made the Israeli right worse. And Columbia Law School should do more to defend Professor Franke. It's failure to do so probably reflects a self-interest calculation that does Columbia Law School no credit, but probably has also to be understood as Columbia living down the excessive side of what Edward Said had to say, and its past at least some time hostility to pro-Israel students and faculty.
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This comment is perfect.
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Israel just appointed it's first openly gay Major General. To all those critical of Israel: visit Israel and you'll see for yourselves. It is a thriving democracy surrounded by oppressive countries.
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