He is now famous for two things – his supervising a ludicrous thesis claiming that Jewish soldiers are racists because they do not rape Arab women, and for himself being arrested under suspicion of multiple counts of rape. From his role in that now famous “rape thesis,” it was already known that Ben-Ari had goofy ideas about sexual (mis-) behavior. But it turns out that the ultra-feminist Israel-bashing professor of sociology practices what he preaches.
In the summer of 2008 Ben-Ari was arrested after numerous complaints had been submitted to the police that he had raped his female graduate students. According to the leftist daily Haaretz, “Both professors and students Thursday described a reign of terror at Hebrew University’s sociology department that kept female students from reporting his sexual harassment.” Complaints had come from at least 10 women students. Ben-Ari was suspected of indecent acts and extorting sexual favors from students and doctoral candidates. He allegedly threatened their grades and funding if they refused to comply. One student published a blog of her being harassed, under the byline ”A.-from the Sociology Department.” Ben-Ari was accused of taking his female students on sexual trysts with his university research funds. He purchased for one of them a vibrator and then submitted the bill for reimbursement to the Hebrew University’s Shaine Center. He was not the first Hebrew University professor arrested for sexual misbehavior.
The head of Ben-Ari’s own department admitted publicly that Ben-Ari was harassing female students. In a letter published on the Internet he confirmed in a letter that there exists a “reign of terror” in the department. ”Neither academic freedom nor academics can exist in this environment,” he wrote. Moreover, complaints about Ben-Ari had been brought to the attention of the university administrators years before Ben-Ari was arrested. The University officials had buried them and stonewalled, refusing to take action until the police got involved, and even then circling their wagons to support Ben-Ari.
Ben-Ari was the supervisor of what may be the most embarrassing piece of pseudo-research ever to emerge from an academic institution. Shortly before he himself was arrested for rape, one of Ben-Ari’s MA students, Tal Nitzan, received a Hebrew University award for her “research” purporting to prove that the absence of cases of rapes of Arab women by Israeli Jewish soldiers indicates that the Jewish soldiers are racists.
The Hebrew University graduate student claimed in her thesis that the Jews are racists and oppressors, people who do not even regard Arab women as worthy of being sexually abused. She and her “research” were awarded an honor for these impressive “discoveries” by the same Shaine Center, a Hebrew University sociology “research” center dominated by far leftists. Under Ben-Ari’s supervision Nitzan claimed that abstaining from rape is just as inhumane and oppressive as “symptomatically raping” and in fact replaces it, because it just serves to reinforce the intolerance felt toward Arabs by Jewish soldiers. These racist soldiers think of Arabs as so inferior and horrid that they do not even feel a compulsion to rape them. While giving some shallow lip service to how the “question” of rape refusal is “very complex,” Nitzan’s own “answer” was quite simple and straightforward – it reflects Jewish racism against Arabs.
Israel, she claimed, is so racist and anti-Arab that abstaining from rape is part and parcel of its determination to enforce rigid “lines of division.” She asserted that individual soldiers who refuse to rape represent an intentional policy of oppression roughly similar to when governments order mass rape, because in both cases the “policy” serves to subordinate and dehumanize the oppressed victim population. The thesis drew its “scientific” conclusions from interviews with 25 reserve soldiers, ages 23-32, who served as combat troops in the “occupied territories” during the intifada. None of the comments by any of these soldiers supported or provided any confirmation, even the most indirect, to any of the lunatic “conclusions” reached by Nitzan. (I know, because I read the whole piece.)
When the world media first discovered this “thesis,” they had a field day. The Hebrew University was transformed overnight into a laughingstock, particularly when the President and the Rector of the University jointly issued an announcement defending the student and dismissing those who expressed outrage over the contents of the thesis. Israeli feminists were strangely silent, no doubt to show their solidarity with the far-leftist Ben-Ari and Nitzan. The same ultra-feminists in Israel, who insisted that an (unmarried) cabinet minister be indicted because he gave a French kiss to a woman in his office, have had nothing to say about the behavior of this member of the Tenured Left.
The police later closed the file on Ben-Ari and never indicted him. There are rumors that the Hebrew University pulled strings to prevent an indictment. Ben-Ari still teaches his wacky sexual political “ideas” to hapless students in the sociology department there, to the chagrin of the female students who claim they were molested by him.
Ben-Ari has not been dismissed for his “sexual insensitivity.” Unlike Leavitt, Ben-Ari is a far leftist. Could that have anything to do with the difference in his treatment?
I am asking Israelis, why do you allow Ben Gurion university to operate? Can you not realize the way it operate and who operates from it one can see it as the enemy of the entire state? Under the circumstance, BGU must shut its doors
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pALENSTAINS SHOULD BE KILLED BUT OBAMA DOES NOT CARE HE IS A STUPID PRESIDENT.mARY MILLER&BELL MILLER ARE NAZIS.
Professor Plaut is one of the most incisive analyst of the onslaught by, in this case flocks of what I call are unJews, elements formatted over the years in the seminars, colleges and universities penetrated by the former Jews. Those individuals were allocated key positions during and just afer the Oslo heyday and under the cover provided by the Rabin assessination.
They are not self hating. Those are veritable, well trained and paid by foreign centers enemies of the Jews. Some called them fith columns, other degenrate lements, to my view those are unJews, renegades, traitors, criminals well organized to sabotage the state and all Jews.
This article is another clear ringing bell of warning about that nefarious aggregate.
They must be identified, extracted and forever branded and set aside. The US is also infested by that element.
Couldn't agree more… as a person living in israel, i can tell you that this country has nothin gto do with a state where jews can live, but more with the next ghetto of warsaw, (of course our court jester jews like the rothschild, shimon peres and other will gain nicely from slling of the jews to the heathens; what new new, we did it in the roman times, we did it during the crusades and hell…. we did it in biblical times…. see josef).
Sadly enough I cannot go home to my native europe, as the court jews there were also instrumental in getting the muslims in and destroting my home!
aT THE STERLING CLUB OR WEWSTCHESTER COUNTY JAIL,OR ARDSELY sOS IT WILL BE DECIDED THEY,SAID SO ON NHK TV JAPAN.
We need a little McCarthyism. We know today who are Communists, Marxist, Progressives, Far Lefties and Liberals and we see with our own eyes the damage they have and will continue to do to our Republic is we don't stop them…
There has to be a pay-off for such thinking by the university. What could that possibly be? Otherwise, it's utter lunacy.
Given the impressive discipline in the IDF, and the great lengths they go to fight in a humane way (like using paintball guns against viscious thugs), I would be very surprised to learn that systematic rape of Jewish women or anyone else was part of their repertoire.
I wonder if those who don't rape any women (the majority, I suppose) are seen as misogynist rather than racist by the perverted professor.
Ben Gurion U, Tel Aviv U, and Hebrew U all have outstanding departments in the sciences. But the dominance by the extreme left in the humanities and social sciences departments and by their administrations has dissuaded many from supporting them. (Money, after all, is fungible.) Indeed, I replied to a solicitation from Hebrew U noting the "soldiers don't rape because they're racist" thesis. They never responded.
I myself do support both the Technion and the Weizmann Institute – both world class – given their focus on science, research and technology. Yes, I'm sure they've got their share of leftists, but they can do less damage there. Nobel laureate (in Chemistry) Yonath, for example, caused a furor when she suggested Israel free all its Palestinian prisoners so they would have no motivation to kidnap. She subsequently retracted, and apparently decided to stick to Chemistry.
But things may be starting to change. One of TAU's Governors (and major benefactor) resigned when a proposal to sanction professors who promote the boycotting of their own university was obstructed by the university's President. Others look to follow suit. Moreover, government legislation is being considered on the matter. Leftists, of course, are screaming about "academic freedom" and charging "McCarthyism".
yes operation paper clip brought the nazis over this country after ww 2,eventually they all died of old age but,before that they had kids they taught their children how to become nazis.
Could you contact me at 423-650-7222? We have the same name apparently.
Thanks.
Superb article. Neve Gordon really IS a Neo-Nazi and a Holocaust Denier
In leftist thought, everything is relative to outcome. Good is everything that benefits the cause, bad is anything that hurts it. Therefore, there is no truth other than what they define it as and truth's definition is amorphous and changing as well. It is a Machivellian-universe to near perfection, that is drrven by an unjustifiable arrogant savior-syndrome and its attendant need for power.
Oh, how George Orwell would have a field day with these "smelly litttle orthodoxies"!
That was an amazing string of words, I like how undulated through the various unrelated stories to come to a grand conclusion.
Where is the Israeli Government on this? If they can't fire them maybe they can give them free
medication. Or get them a job on HBO as stand up comedians .
It is too bad the father or brother of one of these women was not given the opportunity to demand an explanation from this liberal pseudo academic POS. Had it been my daughter this guy would be excreting his body fluids through a catheter and drinking through a straw permanently.
Why the outrage? The Shabak only targets religious Jews, so-called settlers and Zionists. Wherein lies the difference between the government and the university?
Perhaps Israeli soldiers are just too fastidious to rape arab women.
Surely the funds which support these treacherous Universities are derived from patriotic Jews and non-Jewish friends of Israel who must be oblivious to these suicidal policies. There must be more deserving institutions in Israel which are faithful to the spirit which nurtured the State.
Starving those with policies which are unhelpful to Israel's spiritual status would surely be a Mitzvah. Thank you Professor Plaut for acting as did our Prothets of old and enlightening us all of the cancerous nature of the policies of some of Israel's institutions of learning. I hope there are just too many others, observing healthy policies to publicize.
Wondering where the Israeli Government is on this? operation paper clip brought them to this country post www2, they had kids and now there is a legacy …. an alarming thought that has many a person all in gd poker thinking about what could be waiting in the next generation…..scary stuff that has me reaching for the good book.