Organization Reports on Bar-Tal's "Anti-Israeli" Talk at S-CAR

Daniel Bar-Tal, one of the most prominent scholars in the fields of political psychology and conflict resolution visited S-CAR last month. Bar-Tal, a Professor Emeritus at the Tel-Aviv University, has been studying social processes in the Israeli society for several decades. One of his findings is that the moral and democratic values of Jewish-Israelis has been corroded as a result of Israel’s ongoing military control of Palestinians. Bar-Tal, now retired, came to the U.S. to talk about his initiative to consolidate Jews around the world that love Israel but oppose the occupation. The initiative’s central message is that the prolonged control must end as it poses a real threat not only for Palestinians but also for Israelis.

Many of you came to meet Danny Bar-Tal at a short reception held at S-CAR. Faculty members and students that attended were impressed with Bar-Tal’s vision and commitment to Israelis’ and Palestinians’ future and well-being. However, an Israeli group called Israel Academic Monitor (IAM), was less than happy about Bar-Tal’s visit to S-CAR. Since 2004, IAM has been blacklisting Israeli scholars that criticize Israel’s policies or portray the Israeli society in a critical way. In this capacity, they also reported Bar-Tal’s visit to S-CAR, misleading their readers to think Bar-Tal promoted his political initiative in the guise of an academic lecture. IAM’s activities are a part of a growing trend in Israel to silence voices that criticize Israel for its policies and actions in the Occupied Territories. Unsurprised by IAC’s actions, Bar-Tal asked to inform the S-CAR community about this report as it demonstrates clearly how democratic values, like freedom of speech, are gradually disintegrating in Israel today.