The Students for Justice in Palestine started a petition to promote the idea that an academic prize offered by the Israeli Government for academic study of the Israeli Democratic system be withdrawn by Victoria University of Wellington.
Last week, the Shalom Students Association responded with a petition of their own, asking that the University not to discontinue the prize. The petition was hosted on petition platform, Action Station.
Within hours of the petition going live, Action Station unilaterally withdrew the petition.
Below is the email correspondence that followed after we asked them to explain their actions (newest at the top).
From: tony.kan@nzfoi.org
<tony.kan@nzfoi.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2019 7:02 PM
To: ‘ActionStation’ <support@actionstation.freshdesk.com>
Cc: ‘info@actionstation.org.nz’ <info@actionstation.org.nz>
Subject: RE: Embassy of Israel Scholarship Petition
Hi Eliot
Thanks for getting back to me.
You say Action Station’s goals are to promote peace and human rights, deepen democracy and create a more just, fair and sustainable society.
Sounds laudable, and NZ Friends of Israel shares these goals.
But in issues of controversy, where which path to peace is under debate, and there are credible arguments for multiple paths, how will you choose?
Does the Action Station then become a petition platform that only reflects its Member Review Panel’s political biases?
The scholastic prize is offered without strings attached. The Victoria University of Wellington’s academic integrity is not compromised in any way. It’s goals are to encourage scholars to study the Israel and its democracy.
The prize is awarded on the recommendation of the Head of the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, in consultation with the academic staff and Head of Programme in Political Science and International Relations, of a piece of work that has already been carried out.
The Embassy has no say in who will be the prize winner, nor does it put preconditions on whether the piece of submitted scholastic work is supportive of Israel or not.
The Students for Justice in Palestine, ironically and misguidedly obstruct the course of natural justice, by removing an incentive for people from carrying out independent study of Israel and its democracy.
Are they afraid that independent academics might find out something they don’t want the world to know?
The discussion as to whether the petition should be allowed should include a discussion as to whether preventing it from running is in the interests of freedom of speech and whether freedom of speech is an integral part of any democratic system.
In petitioning for the prize to be withdrawn, they are not promoting a free and open society where controversial issues may be subject to public discourse. Instead they are seeking a closed society where only their own biases may be promoted.
I look forward to finding out the outcome of your panel’s deliberations.
Warm regards
Tony Kan
President
NZ Friends of Israel Assoc Inc
Box 37 363
Halswell
Christchurch
New Zealand 8245
+64 (27) 433 9745
tony.kan@nzfoi.org
www.nzfoi.org
From: ActionStation <support@actionstation.freshdesk.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2019 10:38 AM
To: tony.kan@nzfoi.org
Cc: info@actionstation.org.nz
Subject: Re: Embassy of Israel Scholarship Petition
Hi Tony, thanks for the enquiry.
Both petitions have been hidden for now and our Member Review Panel are considering them for approval. It should take a couple of days.
Just to correct you, the OurActionStation site is not values neutral and the community campaigns you see here are started by members of the public and align with the mission of the ActionStation community as set out in our People’s Agenda. It’s not just a ‘petition site’ for any issue but to promote peace and human rights, deepen democracy and create a more just, fair and sustainable society.
Eliot
—
Eliot
Community Campaign Organiser
On Fri, 12 Jul at 2:57 PM , Tony.kan <tony.kan@nzfoi.org> wrote:
Hi Action Station
A petition has been launched by Students for Justice in Palestine that is calling for the discontinuance of the Israel Prize in Political Science & International Relations at Victoria University which is funded by the Embassy of Israel.
A new petition has been created in response to this by the Shalom Students Association to support the continuation of the Israel Prize. Unfortunately this petition has been withdrawn.
As a petition platform, we would expect that you would be wish to protect an ethically neutral reputation. However we understand that you unilaterally withdrew this petition, which raises disturbing questions for us.
We invite you to share your side of how this petition came to be withdrawn.
Yours faithfully
Tony Kan
President
NZ Friends of Israel Assoc Inc
Box 37 363
Halswell
Christchurch
New Zealand 8245
+64 (27) 433 9745
tony.kan@nzfoi.org
www.nzfoi.org
The petition is now hosted on change.org
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