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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: art slott who wrote (4444)	5/18/2002 8:17:03 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 32591

Counter-petition seeks to head off Harvard, MIT divestiture from Israel By BY ELLIOT LOWENSTEIN CAMBRIDGE, Ma. Reacting to the campaign at Harvard and MIT to force the two universities to divest from Israel, Harvard Presi-dent Lawrence H. Summers told the Harvard Crimson the campaign "is one I hope and trust will not be a majority view within our community." If numbers are an indication of support, Harvard's president's trust and hope are well-placed. In response to the two-week-old divestment petition, signed by some 400 people, over 4,000 individuals associated with the two universities have signed a counter-petition condemning those "who pour scorn on Israel alone, and call for abandonment and disengagement at this critical time." "Israel has the right to exist free from terror," the counter-petition states. "To place blame solely on Israel for the recent state of affairs, and to demand unilateral concessions without showing any concern for its self-defense, is unjust." The counter-petition, which calls on the two universities, both located in Cambridge, Massachusetts to publicly proclaim that they will not take part in any campaign to divest from Israel states, "We are appalled that, in response to the tragic situation in the Middle East our colleagues should choose to associate their names with a distorted position that ignores the history of the last few years and revives rhetoric long discredited by its use among extremists as a code for the destruction of the Jewish state." Signatories on the anti-divestment petition include international luminaries such as Harvard law professors Alan Dershowitz and Larry Tribe and philosopher Michael Sandel. The pro-divestment drive organizers claim Harvard and MIT have almost $800 million invested in Israel through investments in such companies as McDonald's, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and Lucent Technologies. Harvard and MIT alumni, students, faculty, and affiliates can sign the anti-divestment petition at www.harvardmitjustice.org.