Jeff Weintraub, organizer of the petition against the proposed boycott of two Israeli universities by the UK’s Association of University Teachers, informs me that my post in praise of Prof. Rashid Khalidi’s decision to sign the anti-boycott petition was based on a hoax. Prof. Weintraub writes:
Prof. Khalidi has indicated on several occasions that he is opposed to the present AUT boycott decision, so his signature on the petition did not seem implausible on the face of it (though, of course, opposition to this boycott does not necessarily imply agreement with the petition). I also thought I had taken adequate measures to ascertain that his signature was not forged. However, this was not the case. In response to my most recent e-mail query, Prof. Khalidi has informed me (a) that he does oppose this boycott, but (b) he does not often sign petitions, and (c) he did not sign this one.
Too bad. But I’m still glad to hear that Prof. Khalidi is opposed to the boycott.