. . . a rump contingent of the board seized the opportunity afforded by the absence of their colleagues, most of whom had already departed for the holidays. The group--computer scientists and medical researchers, mostly--passed a motion lamenting the fate of the Palestinians and urging the European Union not to renew its cooperation agreement with Israeli scientists, researchers, and universities. The boycott motion had not been on the council's agenda; it was discussed with only 33 of the group's 60 members present; it passed with just 22 votes.Zut alors! Zey sneaky Frenchie intellectuelles! Zey play ze same game in l'academie Concordia d'Montreale, non?
The CSU Council meeting was held Monday, December 2, the last day of classes for the fall term and on the eve of the university's examination period. The resolution was considered at approximately midnight. Only 9 of the 27 CSU counsellors were present and the resolution passed by a margin of 8 to 1.Aha! Quelle sophistication, eh? Baise les juifs, eh? Mais non!
When the motion was reported, there was a predictable uproar. Predictable, that is, to everyone but the board members, who declared themselves shocked, dismayed, and deeply hurt that their Nobel prize checks were not already in the mail. Biochemist Anne-Marie Leseney, who voted for the motion, remarked indignantly to the French press that "in the mail which I receive, they treat me like an anti-Semite; I am scandalized!" Alas for Leseney, being scandalized is something of a spécialité de la maison for French academics.Aha! Zere is un explanation tres sophistique pour cette action. Les intellectuelles Francais possess - q'est que-ce le bonne mot? - un grande passion pour le power - oui, le power internationale!
Opposition to the boycott was led by Bernard-Henri Lévy, the popular public intellectual who, when not appearing on television to discuss the finer points of French philosophy, dabbles in cinematography (he directed a soft-porn film starring his own wife). BHL, as he is styled, launched a petition denouncing the motion that swiftly attracted more than 21,000 signatures.
France seeks to play a major role in world politics; given that it has no hope of expressing this aspiration through military might, it must do so through diplomacy. To have any influence in the Middle East, France must at least appear to be an honest broker. . . . The government was well aware that particularly coming from France, with its bleak historic record of participation in the destruction of European Jewry, such a motion was apt to appear to the world to be precisely what it was: unconscionable and repellent.Exactemente! Zeze are my vrai sentiments! Les Frenchie intelletuelles aimez les juifs! **smooch!** Cette resolution, it vaz all un grande misunderstanding!
. . . Over the course of a single day, in a carefully choreographed series of statements, Education Minister Luc Ferry described the motion as "inappropriate"; the Education Ministry indicated its hope that French and foreign universities might amplify their exchanges; the Foreign Ministry took pains in a press conference to disassociate official France from the caprice of a few misguided academics.Mon couer, c'est overflowing with pride pour la belle France! Vive la France! Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!
Shortly thereafter, the mayor of Paris denounced the motion as a "shocking act and a tragic error"; Jack Lang, the Socialist deputy of Pas-de-Calais, declared that "Israeli universities are oases of tolerance, fraternity, freedom and democracy" and that "the proposal for a boycott is an act that encourages fanaticism and obscurantism." For good measure, the Quai d'Orsay reminded the press that "French authorities do not feel bound by the decisions of Paris VI university," and Le Monde published an editorial deploring the motion.
PS. Historical background: Bigwig's list of wars lost by France over the past 2000 years.
(via Shark)
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