[Elder of Ziyon] How low can Israel-haters go? They lie about Stephen Hawking boycotting Israel!

Last night, the Israel haters were crowing about their latest "victory." As the Guardian gleefully wrote:

Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.

Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions.

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine is, of course, an anti-Israel group and anything they say is automatically suspect - but not for The Guardian.

Here was BRICUP's announcement:

We understand that Professor Stephen Hawking has declined his invitation to attend the Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow 2013, due to take place in Jerusalem on 18-20 June. This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.

Only one problem. As usual, the people who have a delusional, pathological hatred of Israel and the idea of a Jewish state aren't the most trustworthy people on the planet.

As The Commentator - a media outlet that actually does real reporting - discovered:

A Cambridge university spokesperson has confirmed to The Commentator that there was a "misunderstanding" this past weekend, and that Prof. Hawking had pulled out of the conference for medical reasons.

...[The] University spokesman said: "Professor Hawking will not be attending the conference in Israel in June for health reasons - his doctors have advised against him flying."

When asked for further information, the spokesperson confirmed that the BRICUP organisation had "assumed" Hawking's position on the matter, and that it was fundamentally untrue.

To be fair, the BBC quoted a different university spokesperson as saying that "the renowned scientist had approved the BRICUP statement." Which makes it sound like the University of Cambridge needs to gets its act together. But it seems likely that the statement quoted in The Commentator, which is the latest one we have and was made with the knowledge of the earlier reporting, is the correct one.

How sick does someone have to be to take advantage Stephen Hawking's illness to spread vicious lies?

Well, it is pretty much the same sickness that causes them to irrationally attack only the most liberal state in the Middle East, and condone the acts of its neighbors, every chance they get.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 5/08/2013 09:14:00 AM