Steven Rose's Mailbox

British biologist Steven Rose doesn't seem to be doing much biology these days. Most of his time is apparently spent organizing boycotts against Israel for the benefit of Islamic fascists. The rest of his waking hours seem to be spent reading and responding to e-mails from people, who -- who'da thunk it -- have issues with his boycott. How does he manage to accomplish all of this? He saves time by not correcting his spelling mistakes. Or his cognitive or ethical mistakes, for that matter. After posting my own brief exchange with him below, I heard from a few other readers who shared their own correspondence with Prof. Rose. Here is a sample:

J Lichty wrote:

Your petition marks a march with the Wermacht back to 1936. To single out Israelis amongst all nations is a malicious and evil return to dark days. By vilifying a country whose history has been nothing but defense of a tiny sliver of land, and large slice of humanity, you have exposed your-self as an ignorant, hateful fool, whom history will shame.
Am Yisrael Chai.

to which Rose replied

Dont be absurd. Thre best security for Israel would be exactly what we call for in our letter - a return to the 1967 orders, removal of illegal settlements and a palestinian state

Thanks for your helpful efforts, Steve, but if you think you know more about what Israel should do for its own security than do the Israelis themselves, why don't you, say, move over there and run for Prime Minister?

Diane E of Letter From Gotham fame wrote

I do not understand what you hope to accomplish by this. Would you consider proposing a boycott of Iraq because Saddam Hussein's security forces torture toddlers?

to which Rose replied:

I oppose the dictatorship in Iraq and would support in what way i can those demovratic forces in Iraq opposed to it incuding the Kurds with whom i have worked in the recent past) . i would remind you that there are already sanctions in place - US imposed - against Iraq

one can almost see him scowl as he typed the words "US imposed". but I believe those are UN sanctions, not US ones.

Donald Hertzmark wrote

Your call for a boycott of academic interchange with Israeli institutions and scholars needs to be faced squarely as a sick manifestation of growing fascism on the part of self-defined "progressives" in your country's institutions.

You have followed a well-trod historical path of collaboration with dictatorships, death cults, and rank bigotry. Since you are not accomplished enough to be known for your professional activities, perhaps you have decided that you can make your mark as a gaulieter for the new Nazis of radical Islam.

When the fascists you champion come for you, as they certainly will, maybe we will take our sweet time with the rescue. After all, you cannot really call us up and say that "our civilization is at stake", as in the 1940s, when you promote the very fiends who will carry out your sentence. If you haven't noticed the way that your heroes spit out the word "Jews" (hint: think "chooz") maybe you should take a listen.

Your disgusting behavior fills me with pride that we sent your royal
government packing in 1782. Yes, we have evolved into different societies. We worship life and liberty and you collaborate with psychotic fascists and worship death (I know, you don't really worship the fascists, you just like the uniforms and the gun play - lots of you idiots do).

Have a nice day!

The 'Have a nice day!' adds a nice touch, but the Rose wasn't amused

Dont be ridiculous - i have spent my lifetime fighting fascism and racism and will continue to do so - there is nothing fascist or nazi about opposing Israeli illegal settlements and calling for a peace setttlement along Un lines. I would remind you that hate mail is a prima facie cyber crime and if you persist the police may be informed

There's nothing fascist or nazi about calling for a peace settlement. The Nazi part comes in when you call for a unilateral boycott against the Jewish state. Cyber crime? I don't think so. You can sure dish it out, but you just can't take it.

Univ. of Pittsburgh Biologist Michael Vanyukov shares his correspondence with Rose

In spite of all the nasty vituperation that Steven Rose is so deservedly receiving, he is fortunate to have been born into the right people. For selling out the Jews to the Islamic fascists he's not going to suffer anything worse than a large number of angry e-mails and a self-inflicted wound to his reputation. The Palestinians whom he holds to be morally superior, on the other hand, are not nearly as gentle to those whom they accuse of collaborating with the enemy.

Steven Rose's e-mail address is s.p.r.rose@open.ac.uk

UPDATE (7/20): Dawson Speaks posts another e-mail to Steven Rose. And better yet: reveals the shocking discovery of Rose's "Separated at Birth" twin

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 18, 2002 07:45 PM