Attached is Stallman's announcement about the lecture in Israel.
I enclose my response (I put it after the announcement of Stallman) only because I see Stallman's decision is contrary to the logic of freedom of expression.
Eddie
-
Am I the only one who thought, "Holy shit, that translates incredibly well to English."?
Stallman lays out the choice he had to make clearly, and he made a valid choice. That choice does not constitute /his/ boycotting Israeli Universities at all, only declining to cause distress or offence to the people who are paying for his trip. Based on his own account, he would be happy to speak at Israeli Universities, so the title of this post is wilfully misleading.
Boycotts? No. He was forced to make a choice, and he did so. As he explained, either side of the choice meant he didn't end up speaking at Israeli universities.
not so. he is simply respectful of his hosts, who are paying for his trip. there is no evidence of partiality on his part in the facts presented, only on the part of his hosts.
Respectful of his hosts? Don't think so. They kind of twisted his arm. It would have not happen the other way around by the way (if the Israelis were paying for his trip).
The obvious way to counter that would be for the interested Israeli parties offer to pay for his trip with no strings attached as whether he gave or not he gave speeches for the Palestinian group that's paying the current plan.
Can't be that hard to cough up funds for that. I doubt Stallman demands to fly first class or private jet.
Another, perhaps better approach would be to contact the Palestinian group who's paying for RMS's trip and offer to foot part of the bill, perhaps making his stay longer and more productive. Such dialogue is important and appears to be absent from this affair.
I agree the title is misleading. I wrote it while angry and can't find a way to change it to: Richard Stallman cancels lectures at Israeli Universities.
It pisses me that everything in our region is political. Even listening to RMS' lecture.
ps., if there is a way to change the title - let me know.
11 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 36.8 ms ] threadAttached is Stallman's announcement about the lecture in Israel. I enclose my response (I put it after the announcement of Stallman) only because I see Stallman's decision is contrary to the logic of freedom of expression.
Eddie
-
Am I the only one who thought, "Holy shit, that translates incredibly well to English."?
These deliberately wrong titles need to stop.
Can't be that hard to cough up funds for that. I doubt Stallman demands to fly first class or private jet.
Another, perhaps better approach would be to contact the Palestinian group who's paying for RMS's trip and offer to foot part of the bill, perhaps making his stay longer and more productive. Such dialogue is important and appears to be absent from this affair.
It pisses me that everything in our region is political. Even listening to RMS' lecture.
ps., if there is a way to change the title - let me know.