Omar Barghouti: Difference between revisions
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'''Omar Barghouti''' (born 1964) is a founding committee member of the [[Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel]] (PACBI) |
'''Omar Barghouti''' (born 1964) is a founding committee member of the [[Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel]] (PACBI) and of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. He was born in [[Qatar]] to Palestinian refugee parents, grew up in [[Egypt]], lived in New York for eleven years, where he obtained a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and worked for a research company, and later returned to Palestine. |
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== Education == |
== Education == |
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Barghouti holds a Masters degree in electrical engineering from [[Columbia University]]. His academic publications include essays in "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001). |
Barghouti holds a Masters degree in electrical engineering from [[Columbia University]]. He has recently completed a masters degree in philosophy at [[Tel Aviv University]]. His academic publications include essays in "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001). |
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Barghouti is currently studying for a masters degree in philosophy at [[Tel Aviv University]].<ref name=tau_letter>http://israel-academia-monitor.com/index.php?type=large_advic&advice_id=7064&page_data[id]=174&cookie_lang=en&the_session_id=5e7b5a0b8da3b887ce1003dad26a3064</ref> When an Israeli newspaper asked him for comment he said: "My studies at Tel Aviv University are a personal matter and I have no interest in commenting."<ref>[http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/academic-boycotter-study-tel-aviv Academic boycotter to study in Tel Aviv]</ref><ref>http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/omar-barghouti-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/</ref> |
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Despite a petition claiming to have 65,000 signatures,<ref>http://israel-academia-monitor.com/index.php?type=large_advic&advice_id=7055&page_data[id]=174&cookie_lang=en</ref> Tel Aviv University has announced it has no plans to expel him.<ref name=tau_letter>></ref> |
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In response to this petition, PACBI released a statement that branded the calls to expel Barghouti as "McCarthyist". In this statement, PACBI defended Barghouti by asserting that requiring Palestinians to boycott [[Israel]]i universities themselves as a prerequisite to endorsing the BDS call is "an absurd position, given the complete lack of alternatives available" to them and that it would effectively amount to requiring Palestinians to deny themselves education. PACBI's statement also adds that "Nelson Mandela studied law at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, one of the most notorious apartheid institutes then. Similarly, leaders of the anti-colonial resistance movement in India and Egypt, among many other countries, received their education at British universities at the height of the colonial era."<ref>http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=992</ref> |
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== Career == |
== Career == |
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Barghouti has consistently spoken of Israel as an apartheid state, stating: "From now on, it will be acceptable to compare Israel's apartheid system to its South African predecessor. As a consequence, proposing practical measures to punish Israeli institutions for their role in the racist and colonial policies of their state will no longer be considered beyond the pale." Also: "Characterising Israel's legalised system of discrimination as apartheid – as was done by Tutu, Jimmy Carter and even a former Israeli attorney general – does not equate Israel with South Africa. No two oppressive regimes are identical. Rather, it asserts that Israel's bestowal of rights and privileges according to ethnic and religious criteria fits the UN-adopted definition of apartheid."<ref>{{cite news | author =Omar Barghouti | title =Besieging Israel's siege | newspaper =The Guardian | location =London | date =12 August 2010 | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/12/besieging-israel-siege-palestinian-boycott | accessdate =<!--- 12 August 2010 ---> }}</ref> Barghouti advocates what he holds to be an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in present-day [[Gaza]], Israel, and the West Bank. |
Barghouti has consistently spoken of Israel as an apartheid state, stating: "From now on, it will be acceptable to compare Israel's apartheid system to its South African predecessor. As a consequence, proposing practical measures to punish Israeli institutions for their role in the racist and colonial policies of their state will no longer be considered beyond the pale." Also: "Characterising Israel's legalised system of discrimination as apartheid – as was done by Tutu, Jimmy Carter and even a former Israeli attorney general – does not equate Israel with South Africa. No two oppressive regimes are identical. Rather, it asserts that Israel's bestowal of rights and privileges according to ethnic and religious criteria fits the UN-adopted definition of apartheid."<ref>{{cite news | author =Omar Barghouti | title =Besieging Israel's siege | newspaper =The Guardian | location =London | date =12 August 2010 | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/12/besieging-israel-siege-palestinian-boycott | accessdate =<!--- 12 August 2010 ---> }}</ref> Barghouti advocates what he holds to be an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in present-day [[Gaza]], Israel, and the West Bank. |
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== Criticisms == |
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Barghouti accuses Palestinians who have engaged with Israelis in intellectual debates and artistic partnerships of being "guilty of moral blindness and political shortsightedness" and "clinically delusional or dangerously deceptive."<ref name="opendemocracy.net">http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-debate_97/against_2934.jsp</ref> [[Samir El-Youssef]] states that "Barghouti’s 'true peace based on justice' is that Israel must be punished, brought down to its knees, before a Palestinian is allowed to greet an Israeli in the street".<ref name="opendemocracy.net"/> |
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==Publications== |
==Publications== |
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Revision as of 09:07, 27 August 2010
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Omar Barghouti (born 1964) is a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. He was born in Qatar to Palestinian refugee parents, grew up in Egypt, lived in New York for eleven years, where he obtained a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and worked for a research company, and later returned to Palestine.
Education
Barghouti holds a Masters degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University. He has recently completed a masters degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University. His academic publications include essays in "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001).
Career
Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian political and cultural analyst whose opinion columns have appeared in several publications. He is also a human rights activist involved in civil struggle to end oppression and conflict in Palestine. Barghouti is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, PACBI.
Barghouti has consistently spoken of Israel as an apartheid state, stating: "From now on, it will be acceptable to compare Israel's apartheid system to its South African predecessor. As a consequence, proposing practical measures to punish Israeli institutions for their role in the racist and colonial policies of their state will no longer be considered beyond the pale." Also: "Characterising Israel's legalised system of discrimination as apartheid – as was done by Tutu, Jimmy Carter and even a former Israeli attorney general – does not equate Israel with South Africa. No two oppressive regimes are identical. Rather, it asserts that Israel's bestowal of rights and privileges according to ethnic and religious criteria fits the UN-adopted definition of apartheid."[1] Barghouti advocates what he holds to be an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in present-day Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank.
Publications
- Boycott, Désinvestissement, Sanctions, La Fabrique, 2010.
References
- ^ Omar Barghouti (12 August 2010). "Besieging Israel's siege". The Guardian. London.
External links
- PACBI
- Boycott of Haifa University and Bar-Ilan Universities
- The PIWP database has a profile and a listing of most of Barghouti's articles.
- A Debate on Divestment with Omar Barghouti and Rabbi Arthur Waskow - video by Democracy Now!