Boycotting Israel is Academic Nonsense



Last week we saw another suicidal attempt by so-called “academics” to sever themselves from the Jewish State. The real world, however, knows the true value of Israel’s life-enhancing innovations.

Whilst the American Studies Association was voting itself into oblivion, Israel’s VBL Therapeutics announced the development of the first of a new class of autoimmune disease medicines called Lecinoxoids.  ASA pro-boycott members must therefore be hoping that they are all immune from the likes of Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  It is also crazy for the “brainy” scholars at the ASA to ignore Israel’s groundbreaking neuroscience discoveries.  In contrast, Israel’s Brain Technologies has just signed a partnership research agreement with four US organizations with particular emphasis on Alzheimer's disease.

It is obvious that highbrow ASA philosophers never look out of their ivory towers at the likes of Israel’s Circ MedTech, which has just been selected by the United Nations and the Rwandan government to help stop the spread of AIDS / HIV in the African country.  ASA eyes must also be so tightly shut that they cannot see the image enhancement device developed by Israel’s MobileOCT that could prevent up to a quarter of a million women from dying of cervical cancer every year.


I hope that no ASA hypocrites are still sneakily using their Israeli-powered smartphones and computers.  I trust that they were all logged off when Keepod presented its Israeli-developed operating system at the Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation in Vienna.  Keepod runs from any USB drive, eliminating dependency on one physical computer. Keepod’s Unite project has the potential to provide access to computers and the Internet to 5 billion people.  Those “superior beings” in the ASA Executive apparently cannot envisage anyone of lesser ability.  So they must have been totally immobilized on hearing about Accelerating Inclusion in Israel (A3i) - the first start-up accelerator for hi-tech and social ventures that helps people with disabilities become entrepreneurs.

We cannot expect any straight talking from anti-Israel ASA members.  They would only be able to display crooked smiles if you spoke to them about the orthodontic system developed by Israeli Aerodentis that straightens the teeth during sleep, through the application of gentle pulsating force.  And they could only offer a limp response when presented with Israel’s Medic Shoes that relieve the foot pain common in those suffering from diabetes.


I would describe the ASA members that voted to boycott Israel as “hospital cases”.  They should be collected immediately by an IDF medical team, such as the one that rescued a 10-year-old Palestinian Arab boy whose head was cut open following a car accident.  They should be transported to the Western Galilee Hospital or Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel to watch as Israel treats (free of charge) the latest group of Syrians wounded in their civil war.  Alternatively, rush them to Sheba Medical Center to see Israeli doctors operate on a 4-year-old Syrian boy born with reversed ventricles. His Syrian father had a much more intelligent reaction than the ASA when he said, “I am happy to have met this country”.

We should put ASA BDS-ers onto one of the hundreds of Israeli trucks that delivered 1.2 million liters of diesel into Gaza to restart its power station.  And then stand them just outside the Hamas-controlled mini-state to watch as terrorists shoot rockets at Israeli civilians in gratitude.  We should parachute drop ASA BDS supporters into the Philippines to join Israel’s RADWIN which has just donated equipment to help re-establish communications networks in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).  Personally, I would have liked to shoot ASA BDS supporters into space on the Gaia project’s European Space Agency rocket.  They would then be the first to hear about the new planets soon to be discovered by the Israeli scientists working on the project.

But perhaps we should be generous and mindful that when trying to understand the Jewish State, anti-Israel members of the ASA suffer from a complete mental block.  To that end, I suggest we send in AcousticEye.  The Israeli pipeline diagnostic company gave an impressive demonstration at Tel Aviv’s recent WATEC water technology conference, of its unique system to detect defects, cracks, holes and blockages.


My quote of the week comes from the UK’s leading travel magazine, Condé Nast Traveller, which spotlighted Tel Aviv recently in its “Insider Tips” section.  It highlights “Tel Aviv’s creative energy and joie de vivre”. “Such positive energy is rare to find, and a pure joy to experience.” And in the next sentence it sounded a message that could be waved in front of all superficial anti-Israel academics. “This is a place where ideas are transformed into reality - where people enact their dreams rather than just talking about them.”

Now that is intelligent thinking!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
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