Professor Tanya Reinhardt breathed her last in New York on Saturday, 17th March 2007. Numerous obituaries have already been written for her and, no doubt, numerous others will follow. This is just meant to be a brief remembrance.
An Israeli, Tanya was a strong, outspoken critic of successive Israeli governments and a strong defender of Palestinian rights. Despite the euphoria from many quarters at the time, she opposed the Oslo Accords, arguing that it would perpetuate and strengthen the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
One of her important contributions to international solidarity with the Palestinian struggle was her contribution to the debate on the academic boycott of Israeli academics and academic institutions. Favouring a boycott, she nevertheless differentiated between institutions and individual academics, offering a nuanced perspective on the boycott question. (See, for example, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6700.shtml)
Tanya Reinhardt is among those who, being part of a privileged oppressor class by accident of birth, is able to transcend that and fearlessly articulate themselves in favour of justice and in opposition to their privilege. Like a number of other Israeli Jews and a number of White South Africans under Apartheid, she chose the difficult path of spaking truth to power, despite the uncomfortable and, often, frightening personal consequences, isolation, etc.
Long live your spirit, Tanya!
And, in the Muslim tradition, when one hears of a death, I conclude with: "Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un - To God we belong and to Him is our return."
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