The IDF's "purportedly humanitarian practice of sparing death by shooting to maim" is not rooted in a desire to minimize fatalities but rather aims to maintain "Palestinian populations as perpetually debilitated, and yet alive, in order to control them."
This outrageous theory is the brainchild of Rutgers University Professor Jasbir Puar, a noted champion of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Puar, an associate professor of women's and gender studies, was awarded the 2018 Alison Piepmeier Book Prize by the National Women's Studies Association for her new book, "The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability."
Published in November 2017 by Duke University Press, the book posits that the "Israeli Defense Forces have shown a demonstrable pattern over decades of sparing life, of shooting to maim rather than to kill."
The NWSA awards review committee called the book a "major milestone" showing "that debilitation and the state production of disability are bio-political projects both useful and productive for states under neoliberal capitalism."
Puar says the book's "ultimate purpose … is to labor in the service of a Free Palestine."
She has been accused by critics of advancing illegitimate and demonizing claims against the Jewish state.
The director of Rutgers Hillel, Andrew Getraer, said, "The fact that this unreadable piece of dreck received an academic award is unsurprising."
In a 2016 speech at Vassar College in upstate New York, Puar claimed that Israel "assassinates" Palestinian teenagers, harvests their organs "for scientific research" and deliberately prevents resources from reaching Gaza in order to "maim" and "stunt" the growth of Palestinians.
She also claimed that Israel's actions against Palestinians could be called "genocide in slow motion" and has advocated armed resistance against Israel.
