Sharp Profs ?

The failed academic blacklist from last year still exercises people’s mind and two articles came to my attention:

1) Engage have highlighted Sue Blackwell's rather shoddy methods before and associations. We tend to demand slightly higher standards from academics and with just cause in this case.

2) Prof. Geoffrey Alderman’s “The gesture politics of an Israel boycott” brought up an issue from 2001, the treatment of Egyptian scholars:

“For example, last year, the Egyptian government put 28 scholars on trial for "impugning Egypt's international reputation." Many were imprisoned, some with hard labour. Why didn't the AUT or NATFHE demand a boycott of Egyptian universities? Why did Professors Hilary and Steven Rose, who have taken a leading part in the Israel boycott movement, not demand a cessation of all academic links with Egypt?”