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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV>Dear
colleagues,<BR><BR> Last year at about this time
some of you signed a petition to the director of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in
response to her cancellation of a meeting planned by the Collectif Palestine
ENS. I am now writing to inform you that the administration of the
Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis has withdrawn permission to host a
full-day meeting planned by the Collectif Palestine Paris 8. The Collectif
has issued the following statement:<BR><BR><B
style="COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">Statement regarding conference on Israeli apartheid
at Paris 8</B><BR style="COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">We learn with
consternation that the President of the University Paris 8 has</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">decided to
retract the authorization that had been previously granted for a</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">conference
entitled "Israel, a state of apartheid?" This initiative, to be held on
the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">27th and 28th
February, intended to bring together specialists from France, Italy,</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">the United
Kingdom and Belgium in order to have a rational discussion about the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">aforementioned
subject matter.</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">Using the
pretext of possible "trouble to public order", the President of Paris 8
has</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">retracted
permission for the conference, despite there having been detailed</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">knowledge of the
program, the speakers and a budget allocated by the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">management of
the university for the event.</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">What is clear is
that the intolerable pressure exerted by the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">Representative
Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) has led the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">President of
Paris 8 to retract its permission for the event. In a recently published
statement, the CRIF</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">denounced the
conference, waving the threat of possible disturbance to "public</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">order".</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">Is it no longer
possible to exercise freedom of speech in French universities in</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">relation to the
field of the politics of Israel and Palestine? According to the CRIF and its
followers,</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">the response is
no. This buckling in the face of pressure from the CRIF is not unusual.
Last</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">year it
succeeded in shutting down a forum for discussion, which resulted in
the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">cancellation of
a conference at the Ecole Normal Supérieur (ENS).</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">The cancellation
of the upcoming conference and last year's at the ENS is a clear</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">demonstration of
how the management of a public academic institution will</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">yield to the
injunctions and threats from a corpus that presents itself as the
voice</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">of the entire
Jewish community in France but is in reality a mouthpiece for the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">Israeli
embassy.</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">We ask the
President of Paris 8 to reverese this decision and permit the</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">conference to
take place. Freedom of expression and academic liberties are far</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">too precious to
be smothered by intimidation campaigns.</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); COLOR: rgb(102,0,0)">
</SPAN><BR>A letter protesting this decision, signed by 300 academics, has been
posted at<BR><BR><A
href="http://blogs.mediapart.fr/edition/les-invites-de-mediapart/article/190212/lettre-des-100-contre-l-interdiction-du-colloqu">http://blogs.mediapart.fr/edition/les-invites-de-mediapart/article/190212/lettre-des-100-contre-l-interdiction-du-colloqu</A><BR><BR>and
has been delivered to the Paris 8 administration. You are invited to
support<BR>this statement by writing to "Zakaria Arrassi" <<A
href="mailto:zarrassi@gmail.com">zarrassi@gmail.com</A>>, with a copy<BR>to
this address (<A
href="mailto:academicfreedom.ens@gmail.com">academicfreedom.ens@gmail.com</A>).<BR><BR>Best
wishes,<BR>Michael Harris<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>P.S. The letter written by
the administration of Paris 8 explaining their decision<BR>to withdraw his
authorization for the meeting is translated below. <BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>Saint-Denis, February 17, 2012<BR>Statement by the
administration of the Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis<BR><BR>The
Université Paris 8 was recently asked to authorize the organization on campus
of a conference<BR>entitled "New sociological, historical, and juridical
approaches to calls for an international boycott: Israel,<BR>an
apartheid state?", planned for February 27 and 28.<BR><BR>The president of the
university initially gave his approval to the organizers, on the condition
that<BR>a certain number of conditions were respected: an absolute
respect for the<BR>university's principles of neutrality and "laïcité", on the
one hand, and the removal of any logos and<BR>visual symbols of the university
Paris 8, on the other, given that the meeting was not planned<BR>at the
initiative of the university. <BR><BR>As with any request to organize a public
meeting, the president of the university, in authorizing<BR>this
meeting, took into account the rights of members of the university community
to freedom of expression <BR>and assembly, the need to maintain order on
campus, the intellectual and scientific independence of<BR>the university, and
the principle of neutrality of public service, all in the interest of the
expression of<BR>a plurality of opinions.<BR><BR>Today, however, it seems that
these conditions have not been respected adequately in order to
guarantee<BR>the maintenance of order on campus, nor the intellectual and
scientific independence of<BR>the university, where the pluralism of
scientific approaches and critical and multifaceted analysis <BR>must be seen
as fundamental academic obligations. <BR><BR>More precisely, the
representation of this "conference" as "academic," in addition to the
repeated<BR>references to "Paris 8" on the written and electronic materials
related to this meeting, may <BR>in and of themselves lead to
misunderstandings incompatible with the requirement that<BR>the university be
independent from any political or ideological influence. The
reactions<BR>to the plans for this meeting, insofar as they call into question
the university's role, show that a degree of <BR>confusion is already present
and that there is a real risk to the respect to the principle of
neutrality<BR>of the public service of higher education and
research.<BR><BR>The theme of this conference, the nature of the planned
lectures, and their highly polemical titles, have<BR>led to strong reactions
that indicate a serious risk of public disorder and of
counter-demonstrations;<BR>the university must take all necessary measures to
avoid this risk.<BR><BR>Under these circumstances, the president of the
university has decided to withdraw the approval previously<BR>granted.
The office of the presidency has contacted the organizers, proposing that
space within the university<BR>be provided at some future date for the
organization of a day devoted to studying the questions, including<BR>a public
and multi-sided debate, in which a plurality of opinions will be
presented.<BR><BR>Finally, as regards the organization of the conference on
February 27 and 28, the president will place the<BR>services of the university
at the disposal of the organizers in order to identify other
locations,<BR>outside the campus of the Université Paris 8, appropriate for
hosting this conference.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BODY></HTML>