Silence that Hurts

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
-MLK

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/09/college_heads_oppose_slap_at_israel/

Israel is always being persecuted unfairly. Now a British academic union is proposing a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Thankfully, 286 American colleges and universities are opposing this boycott and have signed a petition against it. Several big name Boston area schools are noticeably missing from the petition. These schools include:

-Boston University
-Boston College
-Amherst College
-Wellesley College
-Harvard

How can these schools not stand behind academic freedom? How can they not reach out to one of America's greatest allies?

More importantly, how can they censure a country whose human rights record (when evaluated fairly) is far superior to so many other countries who are not being boycotted?

If we should start boycotting academic institutions, let's boycott all the Academic institutions in Arab countries. Let's boycott all the institutions in Asian countries. These countries surely have worse human rights records. Israel doesn't stone women for being seen in public without supervision like in Middle Eastern countries. Israel also doesn't kill people and then sell their organs like China.

No, Israel has a healthy rule of law and does its best to protect its citizens and innocent lives in other countries that it attacks. Notice, during the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006, before bombing Hezbollah, Israel would always shower the area with pamphlets so civilians would have a chance to escape.

Now is not the time to withdraw support from Israel. It's time to stick with our friends and voice our support. Shame on those Boston schools who failed to stand by Israel.