MINACCIA ALLA LIBERTA’ ACCADEMICA ED ALL’ESPRESSIONE DEL DISSENSO IN ISRAELE – BEN GURION UNIVERSITY
Riportiamo di seguito un appello
lanciato dal Department of Politics and Government della Ben Gurion
University per sensibilizzare gli ambienti accademici e l’opinione
pubblica a livello internazionale riguardo al rischio che il
dipartimento venga chiuso a seguito di un provvedimento del Council of
Higher Education, l’istituzione dello Stato israeliano che sovrintende
all’istruzione superiore. Sebbene venga dipinta come puramente
“tecnica”, la decisione del Council of Higher Education, qualora
divenisse operativa, rappresenterebbe un ulteriore passo nell’ambito di
una più generale aggressione contro l’espressione del dissenso in
Israele, soprattutto per quanto riguarda le politiche del governo
israeliano nei confronti dei palestinesi e del processo di pace –
denuncia il dipartimento dell’Università – oltre che una minaccia alla
libertà accademica in Israele.
Dear …
As you may well know I was a founding
member of the Department of Politics and Government and the first
Director of the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society at
Ben Gurion University in Israel. I am writing to seek your support over
the current attack on theDepartment of Government and Politics and the
threat to close the department by the Council of Higher Education in
Israel. As you may already be aware on 5 September 2012, a
sub-committee for quality control of the Israeli Council for Higher
Education proposed suspending student registration in the department for
academic year 2013-14, a step that if implement will effectively lead
in the closure of the department. On 23 October the Council of Higher
Education will be meeting to vote on the recommendations of the
sub-committee. This attempt to close the department has already caught
the attention of the international academic community, I hope I can
count on your support in expressing your opposition to this assault
notjust on the department at Ben Gurion University but the more
universal idea of academic freedom.
In recent years the department of Politics and Government has become the target of several ultra right-wing groups such as “Im Tirtzu”,
due to the personal political opinions of some of the department’s
members. But the step by the Council of Higher Education should be seen
as part of a much broader assault on expression of dissent in Israel
over the policies of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians and
the peace process, and serves as a red light over the future
of academic freedom in Israel’s higher education system. The closure of
the department of Government and Politics at Ben Gurion University
would be the first case, but by no means the last – unless this current
trend is strongly opposed and stopped.
The Department of Politics and
Government at Ben Gurion University was established twelve years ago
with an emphasis on developing an inter-disciplinary approach to study
of politics and international affairs. From an initial faculty of five,
the department quickly established a strong and growing national and
international reputation. Now numbering ten its faculty have published
widely in leading journals and university presses in their respective
fields. In addition to the introduction of a new BA in Politics and
Government, the department has added a master’s degree in Hebrew and an
international English language MA in the Politics of Conflict and has
played the lead role in the introduction of a minor in European
Studies. The department has hosted a number of international workshops
conferences, has been a member of two research consortium with the
European Commission Framework 6 and 7 Programs, and its members have
secured significant research funding. The department was responsible
for the establishment of the Centre for the Study of European Politics
and Society (CSEPS) at Ben Gurion University and its faculty have
directed the Centre over the past 10 years. Its academic programs are
highly sought after by students in Israel and its has become one of
themost popular political programs in Israel – it has an annual intake
of over 150 students per year with only 1 in every 4 applicants accepted
From the outset, the evaluation
process was deeply flawed and, the process appears to have been
inappropriately politicized. Prof. Ian Lustick, a prominent American
political scientist from the University of Pennsylvania, and an
internationally recognized expert on Israeli society and politics, was
removed from the evaluation committee for unknown reasons. The
committee’s findings were challenged by the department for being
methodologically flawed and full of contradictory statements. For
example, When counting the publication of referred journals, the
committee ignored over half of the department by including only articles
that were published in political science and international relations
journals, despite the fact that the department was established as an interdisciplinary department, whose faculty members have published inranking inter-disciplinary journals.
The report, whilst critical of the teaching and quality of the academic
programs, but also notes that graduates of the department, who had
continued their academic studies in political science, felt that they
were well , and as equally prepared as other students.
The evaluation committee recommended
in the report submitted to the Council of Higher Education that the
Department of Politics and Government implement a series of changes. The
most significant recommendations involved increasing the number of
faculty members in the department and expanding its curriculum so as to
cover more core courses within the discipline. The report also called
for greater “balance” in its programs but failed to note how such
“balance” was to be determined and by whom. As Prof. Galia Golan noted
in her minority, dissenting opinion on the recommendations of the
report “such a demand runs directly counter to the principle of academic
freedom, a basic principle of university education”. In an
unprecedented step, the committee recommended that should those changes
not be implemented then, “as a last resort”, the department should be
closed.
Despite the reservations expressed about
the evaluation process the university, and in close cooperation with
the department, the Council of Higher Education, and the two members of
the international evaluation committee Prof. Thomas Risse and Prof.
Ellen M. Immergut who had been appointed by the Council ofHigher
Education to oversee the next stages of the process, immediately
released money for the hiring of three new faculty members and the
department amended its curriculum. These changes, which were made in
record time, were consistent with the recommendations of the Council of
Higher Education’s evaluation committee and elicited a positive written
response from Profs. Risse and Immergut.
One might have thought that the
issue was now closed but the Council of Higher Education’s sub-committee
discussed the same issue once again at the beginning of this month and
published its new decision, extreme in it severity, which is totally at
odds with the evaluation written by the two international members which
it has appointed to oversee the process. This latest proposal implies
that the goal – to close the department – was marked in advance, without
regard to any academic problems; the means of so doing were determined
later-on. Just as had happened with the first professional report over a
year ago, the sub-committee’s decision was also leaked to the press
even before the department and the university’s top administrators had
been apprised of the meeting’s results. These leaks have fostered an
atmosphere of a “witch hunt” in the media, which has intensified the
feeling that we are dealing with a situation beyond routine professional
assessments of academic departments by the Council of Higher Education.
The approval of this decision by the
Council of Higher Education [expected in October] will constitute a
devastating blow to academic independence in Israel. Prof. Rivka Carmi,
the President of Ben Gurion University has appealed to the Israeli
academic community for its support. I hope that you will add your
personal voice and support to the faculty of the department of Politics
and Government.
How may you be of help:
1. Please inform member of your department so that they are aware of this issue and express their support.
2. Please sign the online petition Over a 1,000 people have already signed the petition
3. Please consider writing a personal letter to Israel’s Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar and members of the Council for Higher Education
4. Please circulate this email to your colleagues and friends
5. Please inform representatives of
any professional associations to which you belong and ask them to write
a letter in the name of the association to the Council ofHigher
Education. Many have already done so and their letters can be read on
the website
Further background on this issue can found on the website http://isacademyunderattack.wordpress.com/-the findings of Evaluation committee can be read Report of the Evaluation Committee
Many thanks for your support on this matterWith all best wishes
Joel
Joel Peters
Professor of Government and International Affairs
School of Public and International Affairs
Virginia Tech
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