Angela Bertz

It is unlikely that in any of their discussions the British Association of University Teachers will include the death of Sgt. Nadav Kudinski. He was part of the Israeli Defense Force Canine Unit. On December 7, 2004 his unit was involved in a predawn search several meters from the Israeli–Gaza border. They were, as is often the case, searching for weapons that Palestinian terrorists have used relentlessly against Israel since the start of the current Intifada.

With no warning, a bomb placed in a booby trapped chicken coop that Nadav was searching exploded. By the time his comrades found his body, both he and his dog were dead. Four more soldiers were wounded in cross fire with Palestinian Arabs, as they evacuated his now lifeless body to safety.

Nadav was 20 years old. He was the only male grandchild of Holocaust survivors.

Later that day members of the armed wing of Hamas held a press conference in Gaza City. They proudly held rifles in the air and wore hoods while claiming responsibility for the attack.

Still later on that same day young Israeli soldiers also covered their faces. Not with hoods to hide their evil faces from the world, but with their hands to cover their tears at the tragic loss of their friend and comrade.

Three days later on December 10, Professor Lars Thelander of the Royal Academy of Sciences addressed the Swedish Royal family and a packed auditorium in Stockholm. He was about to present that year’s laureates with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The prize would be awarded for the discovery of life's own death-labeling system. The discovery of controlled protein degradation could lead the way to producing new medicines against many deadly diseases.

Two out of the 3 recipients of this prize were from Israel, Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, both from The Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

Israel is no new-comer to innovation and many of its ideas in technology, science and medicine are used around the world to save and enhance the lives of millions.

Even while Israel was looking on with pride at yet another testimony to its fantastic achievements, the Palestinians were keeping themselves busy testing mortar shells and Kassam rockets. They fired close to 10 shells and 2 rockets into Jewish towns in Gaza. As many as eight people were wounded, one seriously.

Two days later, on December 12, the Palestinians reached yet another high in innovation. Five Israelis were killed, and six more were wounded, when a tunnel packed with explosives blew up underneath the side of an Israeli Defense Force post in Southern Gaza. After the explosion, Palestinian gunmen, not satisfied with their work, continued to attack by throwing grenades and firing rifles. Still others fired mortar shells. Two terrorist organizations, Hamas and Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack. One and a half tons of explosives had been placed inside the tunnel for the blast.

The campaign of The Association of University Teachers in the United Kingdom has been lucky to have at its disposal terrorist apologist Sue Blackwell, a lecturer at Birmingham University. Gargi Bhattacharyya, executive member and president-elect of this biased bunch of bigots, also supported the boycott. He says Palestinian academic colleagues support this boycott saying the international emotional pressure is an important and peaceful way to support them.

One can only show utter contempt at the blatantly low level of moral integrity displayed by this bunch of terrorist supporters. In all their rhetoric on Israel's actions in the so-called "occupied territories" not one of these academic hypocrites have bothered to point out the over 100 homicide bombings perpetrated by well trained Palestinian terrorist organization on Israel's buses and restaurants. Most of these attacks were not carried out in any "occupied territory" but in a sovereign and recognized state, against innocent people.

Gargi Bhattacharyya and Sue Blackwell, with all their excellent education, seem to have no idea what it means to scrape a dead Israeli baby off a restaurant wall and wonder if its mother will ever regain consciousness to hear the tragic news. British academics are seemingly unable to make any distinction between cold blooded terrorism and a country that has had to take every measure to protect itself against this onslaught of barbarism.

Israel will continue, with or without the support of British academics, to take great leaps forward in all its endeavors. It will continue striving for the same excellence that won it the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and has placed it solidly on the world's stage as one of the world's most innovative and advanced nations.

Angela Bertz is a writer living in Israel.