Monday, September 5, 2016

Fearing BDS backlash, Syracuse U official uninvites Israeli director - News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff




by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Filmmaker Shimon Dotan was due to appear at a Syracuse University symposium to discuss his acclaimed film "The Settlers" • Invitation rescinded over concerns that anti-Israel movement on campus would disrupt conference • Dotan: This is very troubling.


An Israeli filmmaker was recently disinvited from a conference in New York's Syracuse University over pressure from the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement on campus.

According to a report in The Atlantic, Israeli film director Shimon Dotan was due to participate in a religion and film conference at the university to discuss his film "The Settlers," which recounts the history of the settler movement in Judea and Samaria.

The highly acclaimed film was hailed by the New York Times as "one of the first close-up views of the motives and personalities in a group that rarely opens up to outsiders."

A few weeks after the invitation was sent, Professor Gail Hamner, a member of the Syracuse University Religion Department, emailed Dotan, saying he should not attend the conference. 

"I now am embarrassed to share that my SU colleagues, on hearing about my attempt to secure your presentation, have warned me that the BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant for you and for me if you come," Hamner wrote in the email to Dotan.

Hamner confessed that she had not seen the film, but that its screening on campus could cause her to "lose credibility with a number of my film and Women/Gender Studies colleagues."
In an email also published by The Atlantic, Dotan called the incident "troubling."

In recent years, U.S. academic institutions have seen an increase in anti-Israel activity on campuses, with students actively promoting BDS campaigns. Student groups well known for their efforts to isolate the Jewish state have launched a number of initiatives to this end, including "Israeli Apartheid Week" and "Palestine Awareness Week."



News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=36197

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