The present senior lecturer in law at Sheffield-Hallam university in the United Kingdom weighs in on the NTNU decision to hold a series of lectures by people highly critical of Israel. KGS
9. oktober, 2009 2:00 pm — Lesley Klaff
In my academic career I had never heard about any Norwegian university, until a variety of newspaper articles and e-mails drew my attention to the anti-Israel hate seminars at NTNU and the fact that it was the first time ever in a democratic country that such a series was sponsored by a university rector. I have since looked in some detail into the attitude of Norwegian governments towards Israel and the Jews. It seems to me that it is much more important for NTNU’s students that the rector sponsors a seminar on this subject.
It could include many topics, such as Norway’s long histroy of anti-Semitism, the scandalous restitution process after the Second World War and the systematic obstruction by many authorities during the renewed restitution process in the 1990s. Other subjects could be Norway’s own ethics and those it demands from Israel, double standards in behaviour and ethics towards Israel and Arab counrties, media bias, internationally pioneering anti-Semitic acts in Norway, and so on.
For more history behind the NTNU story, click here.
