RMS Cancels Lectures In Israel

Eesh writes "Globes and Haaretz report that Stallman cancelled his plans for lecturing in Israeli universities as part of a visit to the Palestinian Authority, due to threats by the Palestinian organizers that they won't be paying for his trip if he does so. Globes write: 'Stallman was scheduled to visit Israel in July and to speak at Haifa University, Tel Aviv University and Shenkar College. The Palestinians initiated the visit, but when they understood that Stallman would also be speaking at Israeli universities they told him they would no longer fund the trip. In response, Stallman announced that he would cancel the speaking engagements in Israel, and would be satisfied with visiting the Palestinian Authority regions only.'" Here's the email from RMS and response from the Israeli organizer. Hopefully RMS will brush off being named "Linux founder" by Haaretz. Update: 05/29 19:39 GMT by T : Oops! As user Windrip points out below, it's Globes, not Haaretz, which attributed Linux to RMS.

Comments

And the Palestinian women

[sv_libertarian]

Will they be there, listening to Stallman, or will they be carefully segregated from their sexual superiors?

Stupid move, rms

[Stormwatch]

In his place, if someone tried to manipulate me like that, I'd do the opposite -- give them a big fat "fuck you" and go meet the other side instead, even if I had to pay for the trip.

Re:It's Ironic

[betterunixthanunix]

The first question you need to ask is, "What are Stallman's bills?" The man does not have a permanent residence, as far as I know, and his travel expenses are paid for by the people who invite him to come speak. For the most part, it appears that the only things he would have to pay for in life are food and clothing, and even then it is likely that other people cover that for him. Essentially, he appears to be living the same lifestyle as Socrates.

Re:ha

[mooingyak]

Eddie pointed out the hypocrisy pretty accurately IMHO. RMS is willing to accept conditions on his travel and speaking plans that he would find completely unacceptable in software.

When drawn into a boycott...

[sciencewatcher]

Since RMS consequently rejects any piece of software that restricts his rights or movements, the only right thing to do would be to reject the Arab invitation to visit the former British mandate of Palestine. Of course the Israeli invitees then should pick up the tab to pay for his travel expenses to Israel. The Israelis did not restrict RMS's whereabouts and should be lauded for their policy of sticking to freedom for all, including the Arabs.

Re:This should be a non-story

[ciaran_o_riordan]

> that RMS went and booked the other speaking engagements shows that he truly has no political sensitivities

By booking engagements in Israel, he showed that he looks past sectarian boundaries and sees people, each of which deserves freedom in their use of computers.

RMS writes extensively about politics:

http://stallman.org/archives/polnotes.html

Israel and Palestine are one of the most recurring topics.

Re:nothing ironic about it

[Anonymous Coward]

Noam Chomsky was barred entry into Palestinian territories (entry and exit to which is controlled by Israel) last year:

My daughter and I, along with two old friends, were going to Ramallah from Amman and were stopped at the border, waited several hours, several hours of interrogation, and finally my daughter and I were denied entry.

The reasons are quite straightforward. I’ve spoken at Bir Zeit University before, but in every prior occasion, it was a side trip, when I was visiting Israel and giving talks at Israeli universities. This time differs in one respect. I was—I had an invitation from Bir Zeit, and I accepted it gladly, as in many other cases, and I had no intention of going on to speak in Israel as well this time. That’s the only difference. So, essentially, what Israel is saying is that they insist on the right to determine who is allowed to just visit a Palestinian university at their invitation and talk.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/denied_entry_israel_blocks_noam_chomsky

Re:Why is he choosing sides on this at all?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh please. You really should read up on the history of the region before you make analogies like that. While I support the Palestinian cause to get a land of their own, both they and the Israelis are and have always been the unwilling pawns in someone else's political game. And the fact that Israelis have managed to build a highly developed society in the little piece of desert they turned into a blooming oasis is commendable. The Palestinians aren't as much the victims of Israel, as of their Arab neighbors' manipulations and schemes. About 2/34rd of the territory originally (1948) intended for the Palestinian state is now part of Jordan, and nobody's even asking to give it back. All the fight is over the remaining third. This is so typical of cynical hypocrisy that the rest of the world is treating both sides with.

Anyway, if I were him, I'd just cancel the whole thing.

Re:Key lesson

[rossz]

That was in 1948. What is happening today? In case you haven't noticed, Israel has done everything they could to bring peace to the region. They gave up large tracts of land hoping it would bring peace. It didn't. The terrorist simply moved their rocket launch points up to the new borders.

Re:makes sense

[poetmatt]

How is israel an apartheid state? Is it not the same middle eastern people that every other country surrounding them is?

Re:He was willing to speak in Israel at all?

[makomk]

Where do you get that? Interfaith marriage is not illegal in Israel, and non-jews can certainly own land.

I'm guessing slightly mangled second-hand information. The current state of affairs is that interfaith marriages are legally recognised by Israel, but it's impossible to actually conduct a legal interfaith marriage within Israel (or indeed any kind of secular marriage), due to the political influence of orthodox Judaism IIRC. Oh, and while it is legal for non-Jews to own land, a lot of the land is owned by organisations that are forbidden to lease to non-Jews or to sell it outright to anyone.

Re:It's Ironic

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't pretend to be objective about the economy when you are pushing for a completely bankrupt model (that is the laissez faire capitalism you worship). As for the supposed marxism in RMSs statements you should RTFM. RMS clearly says that he is not for abolishing corporations. What sort of marxism would support that? Oh and don't come back and say that the Soviet Union did this or that, the SU model was a bureaucratic state capitalist model with central planning. Its very sad to see so many discussions in /. talking about all the latest facts and then seeing commenters ranting about marxism using 1950s propaganda as a source.