New York University in Tel Aviv

Articles, NU Voices for Israel

JPost reports that NYU is opening a study abroad program in Tel Aviv, over the objections of some faculty members! Here’s one professor’s objections:

Referencing NYU’s sister campus in Abu Dhabi, Andrew Ross, [an NYU professor who chairs the university's chapter of the American Association of University Professors], said the university went out of its way to assure foreign nationals from any country, including Israel, would be allowed into Abu Dhabi. But he said the university was not likely to obtain similar assurances from the Israeli authorities.

“We have a number of Palestinian students at NYU,” he said. If they wanted to enroll in the study abroad program, he added, “They might not be able to.”

Is this a legitimate gripe? Not clear from the article — the reporter doesn’t get a response from Tel Aviv U. or Israeli authorities.

But keep reading — he raises a series of objections that seem to impose a double standard on Israel. Does NYU regularly “vet” other countries on the criteria he describes? NYU has programs in Argentina, Shanghai, Ghana, Thailand, and Mexico. Are each of these locations 100% virtuous? Or is Israel (as always) a special case?

 

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