Neve Gordon | |
|---|---|
ניב גורדון | |
 Gordon in 2018 | |
| Born | |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Politics and International Law |
| Institutions | Queen Mary University of London |
Neve Gordon (Hebrew:ניב גורדון; born 1965) is anIsraeli professor[1] and fellow of the BritishAcademy of Social Sciences.[2] He is a professor ofinternational law andhuman rights atQueen Mary University ofLondon[3] and writes on issues relating to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict andhuman rights. He used to teach atBen-Gurion University of the Negev. He is a member ofAcademia for Equality, an organization working to promote democratization, equality and access to higher education for all communities living in Israel.
A third-generation Israeli, Gordon completed his military service in anIDFParatrooper unit, suffering severe injuries in action atRosh Hanikra which left him with a disability. During theFirst Intifada, he served as director ofPhysicians for Human Rights, Israel. He is an active member inTa'ayush, Arab-Jewish Partnership.[4] He identifies himself as a member of the Israeli peace camp, has described Israel as an "apartheid state", and supports theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement.[5]
Gordon received his doctorate at theUniversity of Notre Dame in 1999. In the same year he started his academic career in the Dept. of Politics and Government at theBen-Gurion University. He became a department chairperson in 2008-2010 and was promoted to full professor in 2015. During these years Gordon has been a visiting scholar atUniversity of California, Berkeley;University of Michigan;Brown University; theInstitute for Advanced Study at Princeton; and atSOAS, University of London. Gordon has participated in the 'Humanitarian Action in Catastrophe' group at theVan Leer Jerusalem Institute.[6]
In 2009, after Gordon wrote an article for theLos Angeles Times supporting a boycott of Israel and calling Israel an apartheid state,[5]Rivka Carmi, the president of Ben-Gurion University, declared that "academics who feel that way about their country are invited to look for different professional and personal accommodation", and right-wing organisations demanded that his department be closed. In 2012, education ministerGideon Sa'ar called for Gordon's dismissal. Gordon and his partner received threats to their lives and decided to move to London with their two sons, and Gordon became a professor atQueen Mary University of London.[3]
Gordon's articles have been published inLA Times,The Washington Post,The Nation,The Guardian,Ha'aretz,The Jerusalem Post,The Chicago Tribune,Boston Globe,London Review of Books,Al Jazeera,In These Times,The National Catholic Reporter,The Chronicle of Higher Education andCounterPunch.
Gordon was co-editor, together withRuchama Marton, ofTorture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel and editor ofFrom the Margins of Globalization: Critical Perspectives on Human Rights. His bookIsrael's Occupation was published by theUniversity of California Press in late 2008, and his co-authored booksThe Human Right to Dominate was published byOxford University Press in 2015, andHuman Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire was also published by University of California in 2020.
Gordon describes himself as a supporter of theone-state solution[7] and as a member of the Israeli peace camp.
Directly after the February 2009Israeli election, Gordon stated that it would have "devastating effects". He also stated that the newYisrael Beiteinu party possessed 'neo-fascist' tendencies. He concluded that theObama administration should pressure theLikud-based government coalition economically and politically to adopt thetwo-state solution.[8]
Gordon wrote in aLos Angeles Timeseditorial on August 20, 2009, that he had decided to support theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement. He stated that Israel had become soright wing and'an apartheid state' that he felt he had no choice but to support this course of action.[5] This led to threats by some US donors to withhold funds from Ben-Gurion University, and to a heated debate within Israel over the rights of academics to freedom of expression.[9]
The Ben-Gurion University management responded by denouncing Gordon's views. The President of the university, ProfessorRivka Carmi, said, "We are appalled by Dr. Neve Gordon's irresponsible remarks, that morally deserve to be completely and utterly condemned. "We disapprove of Gordon's disastrous views and reject his cynical exploitation of thefreedom of speech in Israel and the university." IsraeliEducation MinisterGideon Sa'ar called Gordon's article "repugnant and deplorable.[10]Religious Affairs MinisterYa'akov Margi called on the university to immediately suspend Gordon from his job and to publicly condemn his article.[11]
Aside from his vocal criticism of Israeli policies, Gordon was well known in a high-profile controversy involvingSteven Plaut in which Gordon sued Plaut forlibel. In May 2006, the Israelimagistrate court inNazareth ruled in favour of Gordon, and ordered Plaut to pay Gordon 80,000shekels in compensation plus 15,000 shekels in legal fees.[12] Both sidesappealed to theDistrict Court inNazareth and in February 2008, the court upheld a libel judgment relating to a publication in which Plaut called Gordon a "JudenratWannabe" but reduced the damages to 10,000 shekels (about $2,700) because the court reversed three out of four of the libel claims.[13][14] TheSupreme Court of Israel rejected Plaut's request to review the case.[15]
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