Jewish Voice for Peace Calls for Defense of Professor Neve Gordon

Jewish Voice for Peace has asked for letters to be written to the President of Ben Gurion about Professor Neve Gordon’s recent op-ed calling for BDS of Israel:

Israeli University Professor Calls for Boycott of Israel

You may recall a similar case with University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Ward Churchill, whose essay “Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens”¹ may have led to his dismissal from the University for alleged research misconduct. You can read more about his case here.

In my opinion, academic freedom is a right/privilege that needs to be defended arduously. I’m not sure that universities and colleges shouldn’t have some ability to censure employees whose opinions are expressed in ways damaging to student’s abilities to learn, but it’s a fine line. And I don’t think it’s appropriate to fire Professor Neve Gordon in any case.

Thoughts?

1. Ward Churchill’s “Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens” http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html