Ordinarily, the Weizmann Institute is not the main target on our radar screen for political correctness and suppression of academic freedom. It is usually the least politicized of Israel's academic institutions and has the smallest number of leftist faculty "moonbats" (even fewer than Bar Ilan University). But there is always an exception.

Igor Pecherksy is a Russian-born (St. Petersberg) Israeli computer programmer who works in the molecular genetics department at the Weizmann Institute. The administration at the Weizmann Institute is threatening to fire poor Igor. His grievous sin? He expressed his political opinions quietly by wearing a small pin on his lapel. The pin is about the size of one of those AIDS ribbons the PC profs often wear. But it shows a small orange Jewish star. It is the symbol of the movement to support the Jewish "settlers" in the Gaza Strip and expresses opposition to their expulsion under the Ariel Sharon-Amram Mitzna "Disengagement Plan".

Doctor Igor wears the pin when he comes to work. Some leftist busybodies on campus complained that the pin is interfering with their ability to do their work. Now, if you saw exactly what Igor looks like in his pin, you'd agree he's not exactly Hulk Hogan threatening the leftist secretaries. But that pin is interfering with the work of campus lefties. Leftists at Weizmann, of course, always park their cars with the "Expel the Settlers" bumper stickers on campus parking lots, but that is protected academic free speech.

Doctor Igor is now under threat of expulsion and dismissal from his job for quietly expressing an opinion.

If you would like to tell the chiefs at Weizmann what you think of all this, go to the university president's web page, or the web page of the leading administrators, or find your local Weizmann Institute Supporting Committee on this web page.

Doctor Pechersky can be reached at [email protected].

Aside from Weizmann's Dr. Pechersky, you know how the far-left in Israel is always demanding that rabbis allegedly breaking the law or defying the government be prosecuted, indicted and jailed?

Well, there is one "rabbi" who we think should be chained and set to hard labor breaking rocks and making license plates.

"Rabbi" Arik Ascherman is a Reform rabbi and far-leftist anti-Zionist from Erie, Pennsylvania. He came to Israel to operate alongside the usual pro-terrorists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM anti-Semites oppose Israel's security fence and other anti-terror operations, and interfere with Israeli military operations against Palestinian terrorists.

"Rabbi" Ascherman, a Waskovian type, was convicted last month of breaking the law when he tried to pull a Rachel Corrie, in an effort to prevent Israeli army bulldozers from demolishing homes of terrorists and suicide bombers. This is not the first criminal act by the "rabbi". Ascherman was convicted of interfering with police performance of duties on two different occasions in 2003, and with the intention to commit acts to prevent police from performing their duties.

Ascherman represents the far-leftist extremist splinter group Rabbis for Human Rights. I usually say that they should change their name to Rabbi for Human Rights, but Ascherman's membership boosts their number to at least two. Naturally, RHR is awash in oodles of megabucks, donated by the usual overseas sources of funding for Israeli far-leftist and seditious splinter groups.

The "rabbi" was represented by Leah Zemel in his trial, a communist party lawyer who often represents Arab murderers and terrorists. She, and he, lost.

If you would like to write the Israeli Minister of the Interior and urge him to deport "Rabbi" Ascherman, along with all the ISM pro-terrorist troublemakers from abroad, write to [email protected], with copy to [email protected].

Further Reading:

Here is another commentary on "Rabbi" Ascherman's career of crime.

Here is "Rabbi" Ascherman being cheered on by Al-Jazeera. And here, by a PLO front group.

Here is "Rabbi" Ascherman publishing his views on a neo-Nazi Holocaust Denial web site.