"People told me when I came to Norway that the country has a long tradition of anti-Semitism. They were wrong. It is not history. It is happening here and now." -- Alan Dershowitz, Harvard

IAFI had previously reported on the recent attempts by key Norway universities to impose an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Although the universities had formally backed away from imposing the boycotts, Alan Dershowitz's recent experiences indicate that there is a de facto boycott in place in Norway at this time.

To understand the significance of what Dershowitz experienced, you need to know that the heads of Norway's top universities had paid anti-Israel lecturers to speak on their campuses. But they refused to allow Alan Dershowitz to speak when he offered free lectures on Israel and international law to the universities of Oslo and Trondheim. Apparently a pro-Israel lecture by a top scholar was deemed too controversial, whereas demonizing, anti-Israel lectures were not only acceptable, but were worth paying for. The university libraries reportedly declined free copies of Norwegian translations of his book, The Case for Israel.

Ultimately, Mr. Dershowitz gave three successful well-attended and well-received lectures at the Norwegian universities because he was invited by student groups. Faculty members stayed away.

This is a very disturbing and very public way of demonstrating that these universities deliberately and institutionally limit their students so that only one side of a very controversial subject is available, whether by lecture or by library book. The universities cannot have been unaware of how outspoken Mr Dershowitz is on the subject of boycotts and it makes one wonder why they chose to handle his offer of lectures and boks in this way. Could it be the universities's way of deliberately publicizing their de facto boycott?

To read Alan Dershowitz's full account of what took place in Norway - which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on March 29, 2011,  click here. 

To read an interesting analysis by Mandred Gersentfeld, an esteemed IAFI Board Member, of Norway's long-standing policies regarding Jews and Israel, go to:  click here.