Monday, February 2, 2009

150 US academics boycott Israel


This week Iran's PressTV lead with the story of the 150 US academics who "launched a national campaign calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel, as the regime began its deadly military campaign in the Gaza Strip."

The article, which was posted on presstv.com, cited that more than 1,330 Palestinians were killed and that there were no "achievements on the Israeli side."

PressTV informed its audience that "although in the past, similar campaigns have been organized in Europe, such a movement has been quite unprecedented in the United States." Which is arguable to anyone who attended a large college campus.

The story actually cites
USC's student newspaper, The Daily Trojan, quoting USC's own, David Lloyd, an English professor, as one of the academics who joined the campaign.
"We are calling for the boycott because Israel has systematically denied the rights of Palestinians to get a full and proper access to education. It's not just that they have bombed several educational institutions ...," said Lloyd.
"Up until this point, it has been virtually unspeakable in public to talk about boycotting Israel, and it produces a very hostile response. In the end, what we're aiming at is a full boycott of Israel, both academic and economic ... To circulate this idea as a possibility is of major importance. It's part of a larger campaign to say Israel cannot be the exception. ... All that we are asking is that the United States treat Israel the way it treats all other countries," he added.
Who knew Iran read
The Daily Trojan? Though it is a fine piece of journalism.

2 comments:

  1. The DT?? Oh my. This is especially interesting given the large number of more journalistically sound (no offense, DT) sources there are on the topic. Why cite the DT when you can cite the NYT or Chronicle of Higher Education? Also, it is hard to tell of the quotes are from the DT article, or if they reached out and contacted Professor Lloyd. The lack of a hyperlink to the DT article is just poor web-journalism as well.

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  2. I completely agree. I heard this story on NPR and many other more reputable sources. How did they even find the DT? The quotes are pulled form the DT article, btw, not something they got from themselves. In face they just rewrote the DT article and, it seems they didn't do any outside research. They also, I might add, didn't put any tone of opinion in the piece. But the fact that this made a headline is telling.

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