A persuasive and soulsearching (and long) letter from Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa, responding to a colleague’s support for British scientist Steven Rose’s April 6 call for a European intellectual boycott against Israeli universities and scholars. The manifesto, originally published as an open letter to The Guardian, has been signed by over 300 European academics, mostly British. Prof. Kellner’s response is very much worth reading. Posted on Israeli doctoral student Linda Montag’s weblog, Thunder and Lightning [thanks to Deborah Weisman].

The recipient responded:

Dear Professor Kellner:

I am moved that you should write me such a long and heartfelt letter. You have certainly succeeded in your aim to shake my confidence in the rightness of the letter that I signed. I am not saying I now think you are right. I am saying that I no longer know what to think, and I obviously need to learn more of the history. I shall not be signing any more letters on the subject, one way or the other. Thank you very much again for your letter. I wish you well.

Yours sincerely

RD

Related: Coverage of the boycott call from Ha’aretz — The Intifada reaches the ivory tower; a collection of letters from academics decrying the boycott call, including an expression of skepticism from Noam Chomsky; and support for the boycott from an Israeli academic (Tanya Reinhart, professor of linguistics at Tel Aviv University). Indymedia Israel