True dangers of suggested boycott of Israel's academia
A recent climatic modelling by Californian atmosphere/climate
scientists of the probable effects of a postulated exchange of 100 nuclear
warheads between India and Pakistan revealed, as a probable consequence, a
global cooling effect due to soot deposition in the upper atmosphere which
would , essentially, ruin world crop harvests for up to a decade - quite
apart from the immediate casualties from blast, fall-out, epidemics,pests
and general socio-economic collapse.
It is fair to suppose that this appalling catastrophe would, in
effect, wreck civilisation and the lives of billions for generations to
come. The rulers of India and Pakistan have wisely looked into the abyss,
set up a "hot line", and begun tentative discussions to avert the worst.
What has this to do with Israel?
Quite simply,this.
Firstly, Israel has up to 300 nuclear warheads, and has second strike
capability.
Secondly, whereas India and Pakistan, much as they detest each other, at
least recognise the other's right to exist, and do not work for total
extermination of their adversary.
Thirdly, there is, and can be at present, NO "hotline" between Teheran
and Jerusalem, for religious/ideological reasons on the part of Iran. Any
proposed measure against Israel must be judged SOLELY on whether it will
or will not produce such an elementary first step away from catastrophe
Israel, by contrast , is faced with a global combination of
Islamists, PC New Leftists, and good old-fashioned antisemites who openly
desire and actively work for the annihilation of Israel per se. Even a
mass conversion by Israelis to Buddhism, and reduction to an enclave the
size of the City of London, would not be enough to assuage the hatred of
the enemies of Israel, any more than the total absence of a Jewish State,
peaceful or otherwise, obviated the so-called Final Solution in earlier
times.
These present-day enemies of Israel are increasingly orchestrated to
a degree by a regime ( the emerging Islamic Empire of Iran)whose human
rights record and fanaticism ensures that if, opportunity ever arose,
Israel's 5 million Jews face certain extermination, along with as many
others as could be "accessed" for the purpose.
In such a situation, faced with extermination in a hostile global
climate of opinion, Israel would follow the classic theory of nuclear
war,( cf. General Beauffre,Theory and Practice of Nuclear War), and
exercise the "Samson Option"; moreover, given the hostility expressed in
respectable UK and other Institutions alongside those of Iran et al, would
have no reason to stay her hand.
Furthermore, rightly or wrongly, a boycott by respected Western
Institutions would give aid and comfort to those who avowedly wish to
remove Israel, not merely from the Occupied territories, but from the face
of the Earth . This being so,a boycott of Israel would be a small but
definite step on the road to nuclear war. We cannot afford many more
such...
I trust I am not alone in believing that , whatever the rights and
wrongs of Israel's occupation policies , these pale into insignificance
beside the looming danger of nuclear war and its computed results.
Until Iran et al set up a hot-line with Israel and openly accord the
State of Israel full legal/diplomatic recognition, eventual disaster is a
certainty, if only from miscalculation or error.
As doctors, the imperative to avert or at any rate not contribute to
a nuclear war overrides all else -indeed,it is the only real excuse for us
to weigh in at all! If we are to exercise boycotts, it would be more
appropriate to boycott those who actively advocate and work for the
extermination of a member State of the UN which, moreover, holds the
future of civilisation in an increasingly tremulous hand.
Israel is exceptional,in summary, in experiencing existential threats
in the past, present, and future. What is new is that Israel/Jewry can now
exact an appropriate price for any new attempt at its removal! We ignore
this central reality at our peril - Nature, thanks to Einstein's famous
equation, abhors a fool even more than She does a vacuum.
A future Middle East composed of fused glass debris is no future at
all - even for Palestinians, who should have learned by now that their
"friends" and Brothers in the Umma are a bigger menace to them than their
Israeli adversaries have ever been.
The proposed boycott is not simply one-sided and unjust, but is also
highly dangerous and sure to be ineffective.
It must be rejected outright
Competing interests:
A consuming desire to avoid a looming nuclear disaster
Rapid Response:
True dangers of suggested boycott of Israel's academia
A recent climatic modelling by Californian atmosphere/climate
scientists of the probable effects of a postulated exchange of 100 nuclear
warheads between India and Pakistan revealed, as a probable consequence, a
global cooling effect due to soot deposition in the upper atmosphere which
would , essentially, ruin world crop harvests for up to a decade - quite
apart from the immediate casualties from blast, fall-out, epidemics,pests
and general socio-economic collapse.
It is fair to suppose that this appalling catastrophe would, in
effect, wreck civilisation and the lives of billions for generations to
come. The rulers of India and Pakistan have wisely looked into the abyss,
set up a "hot line", and begun tentative discussions to avert the worst.
What has this to do with Israel?
Quite simply,this.
Firstly, Israel has up to 300 nuclear warheads, and has second strike
capability.
Secondly, whereas India and Pakistan, much as they detest each other, at
least recognise the other's right to exist, and do not work for total
extermination of their adversary.
Thirdly, there is, and can be at present, NO "hotline" between Teheran
and Jerusalem, for religious/ideological reasons on the part of Iran. Any
proposed measure against Israel must be judged SOLELY on whether it will
or will not produce such an elementary first step away from catastrophe
Israel, by contrast , is faced with a global combination of
Islamists, PC New Leftists, and good old-fashioned antisemites who openly
desire and actively work for the annihilation of Israel per se. Even a
mass conversion by Israelis to Buddhism, and reduction to an enclave the
size of the City of London, would not be enough to assuage the hatred of
the enemies of Israel, any more than the total absence of a Jewish State,
peaceful or otherwise, obviated the so-called Final Solution in earlier
times.
These present-day enemies of Israel are increasingly orchestrated to
a degree by a regime ( the emerging Islamic Empire of Iran)whose human
rights record and fanaticism ensures that if, opportunity ever arose,
Israel's 5 million Jews face certain extermination, along with as many
others as could be "accessed" for the purpose.
In such a situation, faced with extermination in a hostile global
climate of opinion, Israel would follow the classic theory of nuclear
war,( cf. General Beauffre,Theory and Practice of Nuclear War), and
exercise the "Samson Option"; moreover, given the hostility expressed in
respectable UK and other Institutions alongside those of Iran et al, would
have no reason to stay her hand.
Furthermore, rightly or wrongly, a boycott by respected Western
Institutions would give aid and comfort to those who avowedly wish to
remove Israel, not merely from the Occupied territories, but from the face
of the Earth . This being so,a boycott of Israel would be a small but
definite step on the road to nuclear war. We cannot afford many more
such...
I trust I am not alone in believing that , whatever the rights and
wrongs of Israel's occupation policies , these pale into insignificance
beside the looming danger of nuclear war and its computed results.
Until Iran et al set up a hot-line with Israel and openly accord the
State of Israel full legal/diplomatic recognition, eventual disaster is a
certainty, if only from miscalculation or error.
As doctors, the imperative to avert or at any rate not contribute to
a nuclear war overrides all else -indeed,it is the only real excuse for us
to weigh in at all! If we are to exercise boycotts, it would be more
appropriate to boycott those who actively advocate and work for the
extermination of a member State of the UN which, moreover, holds the
future of civilisation in an increasingly tremulous hand.
Israel is exceptional,in summary, in experiencing existential threats
in the past, present, and future. What is new is that Israel/Jewry can now
exact an appropriate price for any new attempt at its removal! We ignore
this central reality at our peril - Nature, thanks to Einstein's famous
equation, abhors a fool even more than She does a vacuum.
A future Middle East composed of fused glass debris is no future at
all - even for Palestinians, who should have learned by now that their
"friends" and Brothers in the Umma are a bigger menace to them than their
Israeli adversaries have ever been.
The proposed boycott is not simply one-sided and unjust, but is also
highly dangerous and sure to be ineffective.
It must be rejected outright
Competing interests:
A consuming desire to avoid a looming nuclear disaster
Competing interests: No competing interests