Is Israel uniquely bad, or has hypocrisy towards the Jewish state become so widely accepted among some progressives that even an eminent scholar like Hawking is susceptible to hypocritical and lazy double standards?
After a great deal of confusing reports, it was confirmed yesterday that physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has pulled out of a conference in Israel next month after being lobbied by pro-Palestinian campaigners.
Initially some had claimed his decision to pull out of the conference was due to ill health, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking’s approval cleared the matter up.
“This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”
So “respect for the boycott” was a humanitarian gesture, then?
Ok. But why did professor Hawking see fit to visit Iran in 2007 for a conference? As far as I am aware, there was no statement at the time from Hawking refusing to travel to the Islamic Republic out of “respect” for the country’s political dissidents, or until the government stopped executing homosexuals.
A year earlier, in 2006, Stephen Hawking visited China, whose government is responsible for large scale human rights abuses in Tibet. Tibet is, as Human Rights Watch noted several years before his visit, “a place where some of the most visible and egregious human rights violations committed by the Chinese state have occurred”. A 2008 UN report found that the use of torture in Tibet was “widespread” and “routine”.
There’s no need to be an apologist for the Israeli occupation of the West Bank to question where professor Hawking’s moral compass was when he chose to visit these two serial human rights abusers – and ask why it has suddenly appeared when the country in question is Israel.
Is Israel uniquely bad, or has hypocrisy towards the Jewish state become so widely accepted among some progressives that even an eminent scholar like Hawking is susceptible to hypocritical and lazy double standards?
346 Responses to “So why did Stephen Hawking think it was ok to visit Iran and China?”
Andre De Angelis
“Ten thousand rockets into Israeli civilian towns in the past few years”
Israel fired 14,400 shells into Gaza over 18 months. Are each of those a war crime?
And let’s remember that Israel started the wars both times by breaking ceasefires – that makes them responsible for all the war crimes that ensue.
“Hamas recently added crucifixion to it’s list of lawful punishments!Crucifixion!”‘
False.
It’s not fighting back when you have your boot on the other guys throat the whole time. It’s not fighting back when a rape victim tried to defend herself and the rapist decides he needs to kill he to stop her scratching his eyes out.
Andre De Angelis
“Ten thousand rockets into Israeli civilian towns in the past few years”
Israel fired 14,400 shells into Gaza over 18 months. Are each of those a war crime?
And let’s remember that Israel started the wars both times by breaking ceasefires – that makes them responsible for all the war crimes that ensue.
“Hamas recently added crucifixion to it’s list of lawful punishments!Crucifixion!”‘
False.
It’s not fighting back when you have your boot on the other guys throat the whole time. It’s not fighting back when a rape victim tried to defend herself and the rapist decides he needs to kill he to stop her scratching his eyes out.
Andre De Angelis
“Jews were there first? Only for thousands of years.”
False. The Canaanites and other tribes were there first. Jerusalem was already built when they arrived.
And it was only under Jewish dominio for about 400 years. Islam controlled it for 3 times as long.
“So now they have less than 1 percent of the Middle East. And STILL the Muslims can’t stand it.”
If you stole 1% of Warren Buffet’s wealth, he’d feel the same way.
Andre De Angelis
“Nicely avoiding the fact that the Palestinians rejected statehood. ”
False. What they rejected was 56% of the territory being given away to an immigrant population.
After all, the Palestinians have made 2 bids to for recognition of statehood at the UN.
” Most of the land was state property as wakifs (religious stipulation).”
False. It was land title.
talk nic
Say … Where was Netanyahu this last week? https://www.google.ps/search?q=Netanyahu%20china%20May%2008%202013
But let me get this straight….
If Hawking had not visited China, Netanyahu would not have visited China and;
There’d be no illegal acquisition of territory by war by Israel. No illegal annexation by Israel, no illegal settlements by Israel…. The Jewish state would suddenly adhere to the hundreds of UNSC resolutions reminding Israel of binding law, the UN Charter (binding in its entirety) and binding conventions?
WOW!! That’s amazing!!