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On August 10, Haaretz writer or Kashti headlined, "Im Tirtzu threatens boycott of Israeli university over 'anti-Zionist' bias," saying:
It threatened Gen-Gurion University of the Negev President/Professor Rivka Carmi in July "to put an end to (its politics and government department) anti-Zionist tilt" or face a donor boycott and campaign to "advise political science students to stay away from the university." Im Tirtzu (IT) gave Carni one month to comply.
Heads of all Israeli universities responded saying:
"No Israeli university has to prove its staff's love of their homeland to any organization, and certainly not to a political one that is trying to present a tendentious, manipulative document as 'research' to advance its own public relations."
Ben-Gurion's Professor David Newman, a tireless Israeli academic boycott campaigner, said IT's threat is "a clear attempt to threaten the university in an era of diminishing financial resources," calling its accusations "very far from the truth."
IT charged 11 permanent faculty members for their "radical left-wing" political activities, six for signing a letter supporting refusal to serve in the military, and two research fellows for their "anti-Zionist worldview." Professor Neve Gordon was included for advocating a "social, economic and political boycott of Israel."
In addition, IT called the department's course syllabi heavily (tilted) toward "anti-national and anti-Zionist content," adding:
The department's large number of "anti-Zionist" faculty "arouses grave suspicions that the main basis for acceptance into and promotion within the department is not professional, but political."
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