Faculty members from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University who were scheduled to take part in an upcoming conference at Stellenbosch University in South Africa have been disinvited after organizers gave in to pressure from the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which supports boycotting Israel as a show of support for the Palestinian cause.
Professor Shifra Sagy, head of BGU's Martin-Springer Center for the Study of Conflict Management and Resolution, was slated to attend the conference, titled "Recognition, Reparation, Reconciliation: The Light and Shadow of Historical Trauma," along with four of her students, but discovered that her name had been removed from the list of scheduled lecturers.
"The organizer of the conference contacted me and told me about the difficulties she was facing. At first, she reported that it had worked out, but later she called to apologize and said it wouldn't be possible for us to appear," Sagy said.
"The [BDS] activists sent a letter to the organizers and threatened to 'blow up' the conference if Israelis took part.
"This is the first time I've ever encountered an academic boycott, and it was very blatant. I appear at a lot of conferences and feel part of the international academic community, so I was very surprised, particularly when the subject of the conference was reconciliation. My research deals with possibilities for promoting understanding and dialogue between groups in conflict," she said.
Sagy said that in addition to her participation in the event being canceled, a researcher from the host university had notified her that he was canceling a scheduled meeting with her due to the calls for a boycott.
In response to the boycott, Ben-Gurion University Rector Professor Chaim Hames said: "Aside from the [boycott movement's] ignorance and lack of basic understanding of the situation in Israel, I can only condemn the call for an academic boycott of Israel.
"This is a dangerous capitulation by the conference organizers and an attack on the central tenets of academia."
