UPenn BDS Conference Round-up

UPenn BDS conference organizers exposed their darker side Friday by revoking the press credentials of the Jewish Exponent, accusing it of engaging in “polemics” and “crafting a political narrative” after a story appeared reporting the anti-Israel records of some of the slated speakers. The Exponent‘s executive editor, Lisa Hostein, said: ”It is ironic that a group that purports to be interested in open dialogue, is operating under the cover of free speech and insists it is not anti-Semitic, is barring the only Jewish news outlet in town from covering the conference”.

Meanwhile, Penn President Amy Gutmann and Chair of the Board of Trustees David L. Cohen addressed the upcoming BDS conference in the Daily Pennsylvanian and reaffirmed their strong disagreement with the conference but willingness to allow it to preserve freedom of expression. The Jerusalem Post outlines here the different activities undertaken by pro-Israel students in the context of the UPenn BDS Conference, underlining the initiative and organization of the students. Alan Dershowitz praised these actions by in his talk the day prior to the conference and he also saluted the reaction of UPenn’s President. Meanwhile, the UPenn BDS Conference is called a “Conference of flasehoods” in an article by Sarit Catz and its agenda – How to dismantle Israel – is presented on the website Stonegateinstitute.

UPenn BDS Update

Further to an article published yesterday outlining the reaction of Jewish students to the BDS Conference, three more articles critiquing BDS were published today in the UPenn in-house newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian – the first, by Dov Hoch, emphasizes the need to “change the BDS mindset to one of investment and genuine nation-building activities”; the second, by Roberta E. Dzubow argues that by basing their narrative on a “brazen lie”, BDS campaigners “are not proposing peace or coexistence, they are selling hate”; and finally, Ruben Gur, a UPenn professor, responds directly and forcefully to an earlier article by the organizers of the Conference. (see our earlier posts for more UPenn BDS Conference updates)

Meanwhile, the DivestThis  landing site set up to provide issue by issue responses to the BDS Conference agenda is nearing completion, with only one or two posts to go. The entire list of posts – well worth the read – will be available by Friday for download in PDF or ebook formats.

UPenn BDS Conference – the debate hots up

From 4 to 5 February, BDS will hold a national conference at the University of Pennsylvania. As we already noted, a full array of materials in response to the conference, can be found here. In the lead up to the conference, the local and Jewish media have begun publishing various opinion pieces, shedding light on the conference’s aims and BDS campaigns in general. On  26 January three BDS activists sought to explain BDS to the UPenn student community.  In a somewhat more coherent article published the same day in the Harvard Crimson, Avishai D. Don presents the agenda behind the BDS rhetoric. Meanwhile, Philly.com, published two “Point Counterpoint” articles side by side on 29 January: one by Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah, who predictably argues that the conference aims to “promote human rights of the Palestinians”, while the other, written by James Woolsey and Jonathan Schanzer, illustrates how the conference will serve as  an “exercise in disinformation and propaganda”. Worth checking out also is Mathew Ackerman’s thoughtful piece from 27 January in Commentary. As for the actions undertaken by students against the Conference, local students are using the opportunity to encourage the purchase of Israeli goods. See their cute video below:

Refuting BDS – Claim by Claim

Check out the new site set up by leading counter-BDS blogger Divest This to address the themes of the forthcoming US “National BDS Conference”, scheduled to take place at the University of Pennsylvania on February 4-5. The site offers a trenchant rebuttal of all the lies, distortions and self-congratulatory hyperbole that the BDS conference will no doubt generate. Mandatory reading for anyone looking for a shot of reason, perspective and innovative thinking to counter the BDS mythology.

The University of Pennsylvania distanced itself from a BDS conference scheduled for February on its Philadelphia campus

In a statement released last month, Penn President Amy Gutmann emphasized that the school is not sponsoring the 2012 National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions conference, nor does it support its aims.

“The University of Pennsylvania has clearly stated on numerous occasions that it does not support sanctions or boycotts against Israel,” Gutmann said. “Indeed, Penn has important and successful scholarly collaborations with Israeli institutions that touch on many areas of our academic enterprise.”

The conference, slated for Feb. 3-5, aims to marshal support for coercive economic measures in an effort, according to its website, to “bring an end to Israel’s system of oppression, segregation and dispossession.”

Read more here.