In his article "Why I ... urge academics to support Israeli academics' right to free expression" (April 30), David Newman writes:
"Academics have been accused of being anti-Israeli...". Accused?
One academic, Illan Pappe from Haifa University, recently published a book, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples . It is dedicated to: "Ido and Yonatan, my two lovely boys. May they live not only in a modern Palestine, but also in a peaceful one." Another, Ran HaCohen from Tel Aviv University, writes for the antiwar.com website. His articles carry a logo depicting the map of Israel. One can see the areas occupied by Israel in 1967, and see Israel within the green line labelled as "occupied by Israel in 1948". Both are Israeli academics in Israeli universities; one wishes Israel to be replaced by Palestine, and the other believes all Israel is occupied territory. If these are not anti-Israeli positions, what is? Neither has been fired and both continue to enjoy complete freedom of expression.
Jacob Amir
Jerusalem, Israel