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We Will Not Be Silenced: Palestinian Academics' UK Tour Cancelled

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
The Guardian - Oct 2, 2007
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/0,,2181968,00.html

Commentary:

We will not be silenced

The cancellation of the Palestinian academics' 
UK speaking tour amounts to censorship and bullying

by Amjad Barham

Tuesday October 2, 2007
EducationGuardian.co.uk

Palestinian academics received with dismay, although not entirely with
surprise, the decision by the University and College Union (UCU) to
cancel their UK speaking tour, during which they had planned to discuss
the academic boycott of Israel with colleagues at British universities.

Citing legal advice, the union released a statement saying that "while
UCU is at liberty to debate the pros and cons of Israeli policies, it
cannot spend members' resources on seeking to test opinion on something
which is in itself unlawful and cannot be implemented". Debating
effective means of countering Israeli colonial policies has thus been
declared illegal.

We believe that this ban on debating the Israeli academic boycott has
deprived our British colleagues of an opportunity to better inform
themselves about an issue that is of concern to conscientious academics
and intellectuals the world over. The complicity of the British
government, among others, in Israel's continued military occupation and
persistent violation of international law makes it all the more
relevant for British civil society, academics included, to rationally
deliberate on its moral responsibility in countering injustice.

We are disappointed to see that the leadership of the UCU has failed to
defend the right of its members to engage in unfettered discussions on
this or any other matter of concern to academics. Open debate, after
all, is one of the key foundations of academic freedom, and thus we
cannot understand why the door to open consideration of controversial
ideas has been so abruptly closed.

Palestinian academic unions will continue to pursue other avenues to
make our case heard in the academic community in the UK, and shall not
be deterred by the cancellation of the invitation extended to us by the
UCU. While we do not have the resources of the Israel lobby in the UK,
we do think that fair-minded British academics will be willing to
listen to our case and give it thoughtful consideration. Truth is
stronger than power, and we trust in the integrity of British academics
to know that instinctively.

In fact, we can detect the not-so-hidden hand of that lobby in this
latest episode of stifling debate on issues pertaining to Israeli
policies and the complicity of the Israeli academy in perpetuating
them. Given that the same suppression of academic freedom has been
proliferating among US campuses for quite some time, one cannot escape
the conclusion that an abhorrent wave of new McCarthyism has perhaps
crossed the pond.

By resorting to bullying, censorship and intimidation, however, the
Israel lobby in the US and UK, supported by the Israeli government and
academic establishment, is declaring its definitive loss of confidence
in its own ability to rationally refute the case for an academic
boycott against Israel.

By muzzling debate and free discussion on the boycott, the lobby and
its supporters within the UCU are suppressing academic freedom in the
most crude manner. They are proving once again that they were never
concerned about the alleged "infringement" of the boycott on academic
freedom; rather, their only concern has always been how to shield
Israel's unique form of apartheid from scrutiny and censure. Their aim
has been to protect the Israeli academy from damning accusations of
complicity in maintaining Israel's oppression of all Palestinians,
academics and students included.

We think that UCU members are aware of the significant role played by
the union's predecessor, the Association of University Teachers, in
upholding academics' commitment to justice in a historical precedent.
During the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa,
British academics were at the forefront of boycotts of the racist
state. We do not see why considering ways of fighting Israel's unique
yet equally pernicious form of apartheid should be subject to different
considerations.

We appreciate the sentiments expressed in the UCU statement about
finding a way of opening a dialogue with the Palestinian academic
community on building solidarity. The best form of solidarity with
Palestinians is direct action aimed at bringing an end to the
occupation and the regime of apartheid in Palestine. Isolating Israel
in the international arena, through various forms of boycott,
divestment and sanctions, and forcing it to obey international law and
to respect Palestinian rights, are among the most effective and morally
sound strategies open to international civil society. We are confident
that our British colleagues will begin to realise that true solidarity
with Palestinian academics requires a political commitment to bringing
about an end to oppression and injustice.

Needless to say, the boycott campaign will not only continue, but is
likely to gain public support among western academics in particular;
the true face of the anti-boycott camp has been exposed as a
McCarthyist front that unabashedly violates the most revered values of
academic freedom and open debate.

[Amjad Barham is head of the council of the Palestinian Federation of
Unions of University Professors and Employees]
                                 *
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BBC on Cuban Docs Saving Eyesight of Che's Murderer

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 

Teran was a lowly enlisted man who was ordered to carry out the
assasination after he drew the short straw. Che's famous last
quote, "Shoot, coward! You are only going to kill a man." was
was apparently required to stiffen Teran's spine enough to follow
his orders. Now he's old, and was blinded by cataracts when two 
years ago he was accepted for FREE surgery by Cuban doctors who
restored his sight as part of the Cuban-Venezuelan Operation 
Miracle program.

This was also reported by The Guardian. SEE:
"Cuban Doctors Restore Sought of Che's Killer" 10/2/07
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20071001/069401.html

                              **

MEANWHILE, the US-paid counterrevolutionary mercenary who was part of
the CIA-ordered Bolivian army operation to assassinate Che, and who
stole a map and other tropies like a set of fingerprints and a lock of
Che's hair from his body (which Gustavo Villoldo he has been flashing 
around Miami reporters  for years) is putting them up for auction on
Oct 25-26, 2007 at some auction house in Dallas. Guess the CIA
pension isn't buying as much rum for the scum as it used to. See
three reports from AP, UPI, and Herald Sun, Australia here:

"Gusano CIA Operative to Auction Off Lock of Che's Hair" 9/4/07
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070903/067683.html


BBC News - Oct 2, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7023706.stm

Cubans treat man who killed Che

Cuban doctors working in Bolivia have saved the sight of the man who
executed revolutionary leader Che Guevara in 1967, Cuban official media
report.

Mario Teran, a Bolivian army sergeant, shot dead Che Guevara after he
was captured in Bolivia's eastern lowlands.

Cuban media reported news of the surgery ahead of the 40th anniversary
of Che's death on 9 October.

Mr Teran had cataracts removed under a Cuban programme to offer free
eye treatment across Latin America.

The operation on Mr Teran took place last year and was first revealed
when his son wrote to a Bolivian newspaper to thank the Cuban doctors
for restoring his father's sight.

But Cuban media took up the story at the weekend as the island prepares
for commemorations to mark Che Guevara's death 40 years ago.

"Four decades after Mario Teran attempted to destroy a dream and an
idea, Che returns to win yet another battle," the Communist Party's
official newspaper Granma proclaimed.

"Now an old man, he [Teran] can once again appreciate the colours of
the sky and the forest, enjoy the smiles of his grandchildren and watch
football games."

Wounded

Che Guevara, who played a key role in the Cuban revolution of 1959,
travelled to Bolivia in 1966 to start a social revolution.

But in October 1967, the Bolivian army, with assistance from the CIA,
captured Guevara and his remaining fighters.

Che Guevara, wounded in the fighting, was taken to a schoolhouse in the
village of La Higuera on 8 October where the soldiers debated what to
do with him.

Mario Teran is reported to have drawn the short straw and been ordered
to execute the captured guerrilla.

Che Guevara was killed on 9 October and his body taken to a hospital in
nearby Vallegrande, where his corpse was paraded before the world's
media.

In 1997 his remains were discovered, exhumed and returned to Cuba,
where he was reburied.

                                 *
=================================================================
 NY Transfer News Collective     *    A Service of Blythe Systems
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
            Our main website:   http://www.blythe.org
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