stephen hawking

+972's People of the Year: Bloggers' picks

+972 People of the Year: Bloggers’ picks

Featured prominently in headlines this year were diplomatic initiatives that averted wars and lowered nuclear tensions, boycott victories, Israeli labor organizing, settlers settling in to mainstream politics, human rights defenders and at least one ruthless dictator. +972 bloggers pick the people who, for them, defined Israel, Palestine and the wider region in 2013. Read why…

By +972 Magazine December 30, 2013

Illustrative photo of boycott advocates. (Photo: Brian S / Shutterstock.com)

The academic boycott of Israel: No easy answers

There are some strong arguments against the ASA’s recent decision to support an academic boycott of Israel. But are they adequate? Members of the American Studies Association (ASA) voted last week to endorse a resolution supporting an academic boycott of Israel, following a unanimous vote by the National Council of the ASA earlier this month.…

By Dahlia Scheindlin December 22, 2013

Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at their Meeting in Jerusalem (photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Goodbye boycott: The cost of Kerry’s ‘breakthrough,’ part 2

The tactic of punishing Israel for the occupation was finally beginning to take a psychological toll – then the U.S. secretary of state rode to the rescue. The Palestinian Authority was planning to go to the UN in September, in line with the 20th anniversary of the failed Oslo Accords, and begin the process of…

By Larry Derfner July 21, 2013

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Catherine Ashton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (European Union / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Israel responds to EU: We only accept charity on our terms

Europe says it doesn’t want its largesse to be funneled over the Green Line – Israel screams anti-Semitism. Despite all the outrage and charges of Nazi-style behavior (here and here) that Israeli patriots are leveling against the European Union, the EU’s new guidelines concerning the occupied territories don’t take anything away from Israel; they just…

By Larry Derfner July 17, 2013

Stephen Hawking during the press conference at the National Library of France (Public Domain)

Consensus wisdom: The boycott of Israel is working

The only way to stop its spread is to end the occupation, say a growing number of prominent voices (none of whom, by the way, support the boycott). From reading my digital mail, I see that a lot of people who say they oppose the occupation also oppose the boycott against Israel, and not…

By Larry Derfner June 24, 2013

Alicia Keys performing at Tokyo Summer Sonic 2008 (Photo: LuxTonnerre/CC)

A double standard: Alicia Keys and sanctions on Iran

An example of distinctively Israeli, stone-blind hypocrisy. There seems to be a bit of a double standard in this country on the subject of BDS. For instance, we’re all supposed to be sneering in triumph over Alicia Keys’ decision to resist calls to cancel her Tel Aviv concert next month. No sane Israeli can support a…

By Larry Derfner June 2, 2013

Israeli and American flags (photo: flickr / hoyasmeg CC BY 2.0)

A house divided: Campus divestment reveals cracks within the American Jewish establishment

How can a community which so highly regards deliberation and dissent demand such unwavering unity on what is, perhaps, American Jewry’s most controversial issue? By Roi Bachmutsky Uproar recently broke out regarding world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s recent decision to cancel his headline appearance at the fifth annual Facing Tomorrow Presidential Conference hosted by Israeli President…

By +972 Magazine May 16, 2013

Techwashing: Hasbara group strikes back after Hawking boycott

Israeli hasbara organizations have been calling Stephen Hawking a hypocrite for daring to boycott Israel while simultaneously using an Israeli-designed chip in his wheelchair. And this, in essence, is the emblematic Israeli response: shut your mouth when you criticize me. (Translated by Sol Salbe) One of the more repulsive concepts underlying Israeli hasbara (the Hebrew term for…

By Yossi Gurvitz May 9, 2013

Stephen Hawking. (photo: Doug Wheller / CC BY 2.0)

A Zionist defense of Hawking

I wish there was a kinder, gentler way than acts of ostracism to get Israel to end the occupation, but those ways have failed terribly. I would not join a BDS protest; I’m a “two-stater” who believes Israel should remain a Jewish state because the alternatives would be worse, who believes Israel’s “original sin”…

By Larry Derfner May 9, 2013

Stephen Hawking during the press conference at the National Library of France (Public Domain)

Stephen Hawking’s message to Israeli elites: The occupation has a price

By choosing to avoid the Presidential Conference – an annual meeting of Israeli generals, politicians and business elites with their international fans, Prof. Hawking reminds that the occupation cannot be forgotten or avoided. A response to Haaretz’s Carlo Strenger. The British Guardian on Wednesday reported that Prof. Stephen Hawking has cancelled his appearance at the fifth Presidential Conference due to take…

By Noam Sheizaf May 8, 2013