>This boycott gives me the creeps. I'd boot a Sharon enthusiast off
>an editorial board, but not Israelis in general. Should I boycott my
>Israeli shrink, or does she get an exemption because she works on
>the Upper West Side? Was there anything comparable in the South
>African sanctions (or sanctions movement)?
A couple of comments on the academic boycott-of-sorts...
(1) Mona Baker's dismissal of two Israeli academics from the board of her journal is controversial even among people who have signed one of the two petitions floating around British academia. The most-often-signed petition states at the end that "I will continue to collaborate with, and host, Israeli scientific colleagues on an individual basis", and although Professor Baker has insisted to the UK press that "I am not actually boycotting Israelis, I am boycotting Israeli institutions", this is rather contradicted by the letter she is reported to have sent to Prof. Gideon Toury, whom she dismissed, which says "I do not wish to continue an official association with any Israeli under the present circumstances".
(2) Noam Chomsky has signed the Harvard-MIT Divestment petition <http://www.refuseandresist.org/newresistance/051002mit-harv-fac.html>, but he refused to sign a version of one of these petitions calling for academic boycott, and his short response is interesting and available here <http://www7.huji.ac.il/euroisrael2002/letters.html>.
(3) To reiterate Doug's question, if anyone does have information or opinions about the use of academic boycotts during the apartheid era (or in other times or places), I'd certainly be curious to hear about them.
Chris --
Phone: +44 (0) 1865-286793 Email: <chris.brooke at magd.ox.ac.uk> Web: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~magd1368