The academic intifada at home and in the world

One of the aftershocks of the Al-Aqsa Flood has been the exposure of the pressure under which the freedoms of universities in the West, famed for their scientific quality, autonomy and freedom, actually exist. A freedom with very strict rules and firm limits that no one pronounces but everyone knows and obeys. A freedom with very heavy penalties for the slightest violation, with rules that say "freedom of expression goes this far and no further."

The red line beyond which, once crossed a little, neither university autonomy nor the scholar's freedom of expression means anything is Israel and Zionism. In fact much has been written and said on this before, even books have been published (for example, John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt's The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Küre publications, trans. Hasan Kösebalaban). But with the Al-Aqsa Flood it has emerged far more clearly and strikingly how active and how rigid the fascistic pressures protecting Israel are.

Against Israel's barbaric attacks in Gaza, reaching the dimensions of genocide, university students in the US who hold solidarity demonstrations with Palestinians are being obstructed by school administrations. However, on the grounds that she did not exert the pressure expected of her and did not prevent the protests, Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the country's oldest and most prestigious universities, was openly accused of anti-semitism in Congress, after the testimony she gave with the presidents of Harvard and MIT against the claims of "allowing anti-semitism on campus." There is also a sanction dimension to the accusation, of course. When pro-Israel donors threatened to cut off the 100 million dollar donation they had given to UPenn, the president had to resign.

There is nothing left in Israel's aggression, occupation and injustice that can be hidden or defended in any respect. That is why universities' ignoring this savagery, a genocide carried out before the eyes of the world, means their denying themselves. But we have seen it: under what kind of pressure must some of the world's most sought-after scientists and thinkers (for example Habermas and his friends) have been, at the price of denying themselves and drying up their consciences, that they not only ignored the genocidal savagery but even published declarations that exonerate and defend Israel. We can say that the pressures to which the world's prestigious universities have been subjected on this matter will form a reference that will affect every word to be said about universities and every comparison to be made from now on.

The Al-Aqsa Flood seems also to have given some university professors the courage to go, as it were, into intifada against this discursive pressure they are subjected to. Harvard University's faculty members published a declaration with 570 signatures standing by their own president, so that what happened to the University of Pennsylvania's president would not happen to their own. The academic intifada looks set to continue, spreading at a global level.

In Turkey, in the field of academia, a very meaningful call was made at this year's ceremony of the award program for scientists that TÜBİTAK and TÜBA have held for years under the patronage of President Erdoğan. In his speech at the award ceremony, after explaining that a witch hunt has been launched against everyone who criticizes Israel, students included, in many internationally renowned educational institutions, President Erdoğan announced that the doors of Turkish universities are open to scientists subjected to this witch hunt.

After saying that "just as in Nazi Germany 80 years ago, today too honorable scientists who show the courage to call the oppression in Gaza 'oppression' are being subjected to pressure, blackmail and threats," President Erdoğan expressed his call in these words:

"Truly, we are living days that will later be remembered with shame, in the name of humanity, in the name of democracy, in the name of freedom of thought and opinion. From here I call on all scientists who are subjected to pressure solely for expressing their opinions and defending human dignity: the doors of Turkish universities are wide open to you. We are ready to give you the necessary support to continue your scientific work. Our Ministry of Industry and Technology, TÜBİTAK, TÜBA and our other institutions will not hesitate to help you."

It was of course all the more meaningful that this call came at the TÜBA and TÜBİTAK award ceremonies, where the distance Turkish universities have covered in 20 years is most clearly seen. These awards, now institutionalized for years under the patronage of President Erdoğan, also present a graph of the rise of creative-innovative scientific production, with more scientists being awarded each day. With the number of universities having reached 207, an examination of these awards would show, from another angle, that universities in Turkey are in a qualitative development beyond quantity.

In his speech at the ceremony, TÜBA president Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker set out the relationship of Turkish philosophy of science with human values in the context of Gaza as well: "Science aims not at destruction and killing... but at sustaining humanity and all living beings."

In his speech, Şeker referred to the fact that Israel is carrying out a systematic genocide against innocents in Gaza, and that conscientious scientists who oppose this genocide have been silenced and had their podiums taken from them. He described as a double-standard, hypocritical attitude the way Europe and the US ignore, in this context, the scientific freedoms and academic autonomy they have long used as a pretext for accusations against Turkey, and called it an imposition tool and perception management strategy of all imperialist countries. Şeker's words, describing the censorship imposed on conscientious scientists and impartial journalists as a black stain on the academic community, and the participation of Turkish scientists in these words, revealed a clear picture: a global intifada against the discursive fascism displayed in the name of protecting Israel.