OPINION LETTERS

摘要

In his defence of Stephen Hawking's support for an academic boycott of Israel, Jonathan Rosenhead compares the boycott to those that once targeted the institutionalised oppression in apartheid South Africa and racial segregation in the US (15 June, p 28). This comparison is unfair. He overlooks the wider context of the academic boycott, which is that of a concerted attempt since 1948 to destroy Israel. For example, there have been calls for the expulsion of all Jews from the land; Iran explicitly threatens destruction of the state of Israel; and there are continual rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon.