Even Stephen Hawking’s Joining the Fight for Palestinian Freedom
Adam
Clark Estes, The Atlantic, May 7, 2013
Stephen
Hawking is known for a lot of things — theoretical physics, quantum mechanics,
general relativity — but being an an activist for peace in the Middle East is
hardly one of them. Not any more!
Stephen
Hawking is known for a lot of things — theoretical physics, quantum mechanics,
general relativity — but being an an activist for peace in the Middle East is
hardly one of them. Not any more! On Tuesday, the Cambridge professor made a
bold move when he joined a larger academic boycott of Israel in the name of
Palestinian justice. Hawking had previously agreed to attend a conference
hosted by Shimon Peres, one that marks the Israeli president's 90th birthday,
but after being bombarded by messages from friends and fans decided against
going. Although he explained his decision in a brief letter to Peres last week,
Hawking hadn't made the news public until The Guardian reported on
his decision Tuesday night.
Though
private, Hawking was hardly vague about why he was backing out of the
conference. The wheelchair-bound 71-year-old said that "his independent
decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on
the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there." The news was
reported quickly and
soberly by the Israeli press, as Hawking joins a small but growing
list of British celebrities who are taking a stand against Israel's treatment
of Palestine.
This
isn't the first time that Hawking's spoken out against Palestine, though. While
he hardly ever chimes in on global politics, the physicist has actually been
turning up the volume on his criticism of Israel. In 2011, he told Al Jazeera
that Israel must engage
with Hamas to put an end to the violence. "If Israel wants
peace, it will have to talk to Hamas, like Britain did with the IRA. Hamas are
the democratically elected leaders of the Palestinian people, and cannot be
ignored," he said. "The situation is like that in South Africa before
1990. It cannot continue." This statement came after Hawking made a famous
visit to the region, one that piqued his interest about the
Palestine issue.
It appear
that Hawking's not alone
with his latest defiant statement. On Tuesday, Google tweaked the language on
its homepage in the occupied Palestinian territories to read as
"Palestine" rather than "Palestinian Territories." This
small adjustment of verbiage had a big impact with Israeli authorities. Israel
responded immediately with a power play of its own. "I think that the
Google decision from the last few days is very, very problematic," deputy
Israeli foreign minister, Zeev Elkin told Israel's
Army Radio. "When a company like Google comes along and
supports this line, it actually pushes peace further away, pushes away
negotiations, and creates among the Palestinian leadership the illusion that in
this manner they can achieve the result. Without direct negotiation with us,
nothing will happen."
