Harvard President Lawrence Summers was on target last week in criticizing profoundly anti-Israel movements in academic communities. Patterned after the South African campaign, recent efforts call for universities and others to divest investments in Israel.
Such anti-Israel measures smack of double standards. While many may disagree with some of Israel’s policies and actions, conditions aren’t comparable to South Africa under apartheid. Nor do comparisons of Israel’s government to Nazi Germany and of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Hitler make any sense.
The current Israeli occupation is a response to terrorism. Israel doesn’t commit or condone genocide. Moreover, Israel is a democracy that includes Arab citizens.
Why don’t Israel protesters condemn terrorism aimed at civilians, i.e., Palestinian suicide bombers? Why not call for divestiture in Islamic dictatorships; or in China, which denies civil, political and religious freedoms; or in Cuba, a police state for 43 years?
There is great hypocrisy in condemning Israel while ignoring the world’s egregious human-rights offenders.