Despite Israel’s “war on human rights activists”, state gives award to radical org’s founder

Shulman was given the ultimate 'establishment' award - a decision approved by the putatively far-right Education Minister Naftali Bennett - despite the fact that he is just the kind of 'peace and human rights activist' he claims is being persecuted by the "far-right" and "the establishment".

On May 14th, the Independent reported that David Shulman, a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, won the Israel Prize for his academic work on Indian culture and languages. 

Recipients of the prestigious award, granted by the State of Israel, receive $20,000. 

In addition to his academic work, Shulman is an activist with, and co-founder of, the radical group Ta’ayush, a pro-BDS, pro-lawfare “grassroots movement working to break down the walls of racism, segregation, and apartheid…”.

The Indy article includes the following quote by Shulman on his decision to accept the award. 

Speaking about the award in a video on Thursday, Mr Shulman said: “I hesitated to accept this prize giving the deteriorating situation, which now includes persecution of Ta’ayush activists and other peace and human rights activists by the establishment and the far right, who seek to perpetuate the Occupation.”

Of course, the absurd claim that Israeli authorities are “persecuting” human rights activists is amplified frequently in the British media, despite the fact that nearly two dozen foreign funded, radical-left ‘human rights’ NGOs (some of which call for the end of the Jewish state) operate freely in the country.  

Interestingly, the decision to grant the award to Shulman was approved by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who Shulman once characterized – in a New York Review of Books article on Israel’s putative war on civil society – as “one of the most extreme spokesmen of the fanatical right”.

So, Shulman was given the ultimate “establishment” award by the “fanatical right” pro-settlement minister despite the fact that he is arguably the embodiment of just the kind of “peace and human rights activist” he claims is being persecuted by the “establishment”, pro-settlement right.

Our guess is that Indy editors didn’t notice the irony. 

 

Written By
More from Adam Levick
This Guardian photo isn’t what it seems
The one good result from Maxine Peake’s interview at the Independent is...
Read More
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *