Check the air for flying pigs, because the New York Times is taking Israel’s side on an issue. Okay, they really should be backing Israel in this instance, because journalists and academics are supposed to be bias-free, impartial automatons (or at least bias-free). But I’m just not used to seeing a NY Times editorial that actually backs an Israeli stance. And on a Sunday! The highest readership day of the week!

The University and College Union, a newly formed British union of college teachers, shamefully called last week for a boycott on contacts and exchanges with Israeli academic institutions. That follows on the shameful call in April by the National Union of Journalists in Britain to boycott Israeli goods.

It is hard to imagine two organizations that should be less given to such nonsense. Who would respect the judgment of a scholar who selects or rejects colleagues on political grounds? Who would trust the dispatches of a reporter who has been openly engaged against one side of a conflict? The unions argue that they have an obligation to demonstrate labor-union solidarity with the oppressed, as they did in opposing apartheid. That is absurd.

Of course, here is where the pig falls back to earth:

First, Israeli journalists and academics are among the most dedicated critics of their own society. Second, the lack of similar “solidarity” by these unions with any other oppressed or suffering people in the world, and there are plenty, reduces these gestures to an exercise in hypocrisy, or worse.

Don’t you see? They shouldn’t boycott the Israelis because they already think the right way! And the Times editorial writer manages to again emphasize that fact before closing:

Critical thinking and well-thought-out criticism are intrinsic to good scholarship and good journalism. These boycotts represent neither. Posturing like this only alienates the very forces in Israeli society that should be encouraged and offends the calling and honor of journalism and academia.

Too bad the Times can’t simply stick to the principle of its own industry, and say that a boycott of journalists and academia is anathema to the free exchange of information, which the Times has fought for for decades. No, they have to add the caveats of rightthink to the reasons why the boycott is wrong.

I think the boycott is wrong for many reasons, not least of which is the continued delegitimization of Israel. I have no caveats. But then, I’m not very big on nuance. Never have been.

Amnesty overload: Amnesty Intl. released yet another anti-Israel report, but I can’t be bothered to read it. There’s only so much bias I can take. Just remember, Amnesty is impartial. Because they say so.

AI is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

Yeah, this is totally impartial.

WALL OF DEATH
“Mortal danger – military zone – any person who passes or damages the fence endangers his life”. This message is written in Hebrew, Arabic and English on signs all along the fence/wall, as the picture shows.

In fact, simply being near the wall can put Palestinians in mortal danger.

The report is sprinkled liberally with pictures of the cement barrier section of the wall, ignoring the fact that the majority of the wall is a fence topped with barbed wire, which can be easily removed—if the Palestinians ever renounce terror against Israel. The main report, of course, glosses over the reduction of terror attacks in 2006—which is partly due to the fence.

But don’t let the facts stand in the way of a good Israel-bashing, Amnesty. You go, guys! You’ll be getting free drinks at cocktail parties all over the elitosphere thanks to yet another year of Israel-bashing.

By the way, if you hurry to the above link, you’ll see that they can’t even be bothered making sure “Israel” is spelled correctly. The current link says “Download Isreal as printable PDF file.”

Inspires confidence, that does. They must be big on accuracy.