TAU professors denounce Dershowitz for speech against left

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Academics hit back after U.S. commentator slams university staff for backing boycotts against Israel.
By Or Kashti

Senior faculty members at Tel Aviv University have come out against remarks by Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz on Saturday in which he condemned Israeli university faculty who criticize Israel and have even supported an academic boycott of the country.

Dershowitz made the remarks, in which he also criticized academics who use their academic freedom and their Jewishness to chastise the Israeli government, at a ceremony awarding him an honorary doctorate at the university.

(Watch Dershowitz's speech - starts at 50th minute of video - here)

(Read the complete text of Dershowitz's speech here)

In a letter to the university's president, Joseph Klafter, a group of faculty members demanded that Tel Aviv University disassociate itself from Dershowitz's comments and "unequivocally defend the freedom of expression of all the members of the academic community."

They wrote: "The fact that Dershowitz mentioned the names of lecturers and accused them of hurting students and harming the resilience of the State of Israel already borders on incitement."

The letter was initiated in the history department and within hours attracted the support of 80 faculty members.


remainder in full: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/tau-professors-denounce-dershowitz-for-speech-against-left-1.289796