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Row over Edward Said

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JAN. 31. Edward Said, renowned and outspoken Arab intellectual, is reported to have been turned down for an honorary fellowship at King's College, Cambridge, apparently because of his trenchant criticism of Israel. A spokesperson for the college told The Hindu that "we are not commenting on it'', but the issue has generated controversy on the campus.

A number of academics believe that the decision is `inconsistent' with Cambridge University's tradition of dissent and point out that Prof. Said has been equally critical of the Palestinian leadership, particularly Yasser Arafat.

The surprise is the greater because the college has a strong left-wing flavour.

The controversy comes in the wake of a deep split in the British academia over its attitude to Israel with the `liberals' calling for a boycott of all academic links with Israeli scholars and institutions. The Provost of King's College, Patrick Bateson, was in fact among the signatories to a letter to The Guardian suggesting a freeze on cultural and research links with Israel until it complies with the U.N. resolutions on Palestine.

The move to confer the fellowship is believed to have been shot down by those who led a rival campaign denouncing the calls for a boycott as "an improper and immoral act of collective punishment''.

The Guardian named two college fellows, Melissa Lane and Peter Lipton, as among those who opposed Prof. Said but neither was available for comment.

The Palestinian-born Prof. Said teaches English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, U.S.

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