OUR FRIENDS AT THE "FINANCIAL TIMES"

Britain's Financial Times came out against the AUT boycott of Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities--unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. The FT writes:

There are plenty of other countries also accused of heinous oppression of their peoples - including genocide - such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Burma. Yet the union has no boycotts for them: Israel is its only target other than Colombia. Meanwhile it bizarrely supports the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, defending a country not noted for its upholding of academic freedom.

To which Melanie Phillips responds:

So to the FT, Israel is in the same genocidal league as the tyrannies of the world. It regards Israel as abhorrent, and more or less said so. Thus the climate of hatred is still being whipped up even by those who were apparently on the side of the angels over the Steven Rose/Sue Blackwell putsch.

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen shares Phillips' sentiments.