Subject: Dr. Daniel Amit's decision
From: "saeed urrehman" <urrehman-AT-myrealbox.com>
Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 22:55:27 +0000


Dear All
Pasted below is an exchange of emails between an Italian scientist Daniel
Amit and his US counterparts, Editor of a leading research journal. Dr
Amit refused to professionally interact with his US colleagues, due to US
role in Iraq. His letter addressed to the Editor is worth reading.

Copied to this are responses from South Asian historians and academics,
including Veena Das,
on Dr Amit position.




best, 
nadeem omar tarar




 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "rama raj" <rama.raj-AT-lpn.cnrs.fr
 To: <rama.raj-AT-lpn.cnrs.fr
 Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 8:01 AM
 Subject: dismay


  Dear friends and colleagues,
  I have wanted to express in some way my dismay both as a human being and
  as a scientist  about our role with respect to this clean barbaric war
  that we have just witnessed. But what actions to take?  I have just read
  an exchange of emails, in which Prof Daniel Amit has put into words some
  of  my thoughts regarding the possible stance that we as individuals can
  take. I am adjoining  a copy of his correspndance for your careful
  perusal.
 
  I have no hartred towards any individual human being any where in the
  world, but I feel it is important to take our distance with respect to
  America at this juncture in time and may be even rekindle in our own
  countries the debate of the responsibility of scientists.
 
  Please do write to me if you think of any actions that we can all take
  collectively  as well.
 
  sincerely,
  Rama Raj
  CNRS-LPN
  Rout de Nozay
  91460 Marcoussis
  France
 
  Tel 33 1 69 63 61 95
 
 
  Dr. Daniel Amit
  Univ. di Roma, La Sapienza
  Ple Aldo Moro 2
  00185 Roma, ITALY
 
  Electronic URL-Download Referral from Physical Review E
 
  Code: EA8932
  Title: Transitions in oscillatory dynamics of two connected neurons with
 
  excitatory synapses
 
  Received 08 January 2003
 
  Dear Dr. Amit:
 
  We would appreciate your review of this manuscript, which has been
  submitted to Physical Review E. This message is the COMPLETE REFERRAL.
  No hardcopy will be sent unless requested.
 
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: "Daniel Amit" <daniel.amit-AT-roma1.infn.it
  To: "Physical Review E" <pre-AT-ridge.aps.org
  Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 6:11 PM
 
  Subject: Re: Review_request AMIT EA8932 Roudi
 
     I will not at this point correspond with any american institution.
  Some of us have lived through 1939.
 
     Daniel Amit
 
  -----------------------------------------------------------------
  From: "martin blume" <blume-AT-aps.org
  To: <daniel.amit-AT-roma1.infn.it; <damita-AT-green.fiz.huji.ac.il
  Subject: your email to the American Physical Society
 
  Date: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 10:31 PM
 
  Dear Dr. Amit,
 
  We have received your email with your decision not to review a paper for
 
  us in light of American actions in the middle east. We recognize that
  reviewing manuscripts is a voluntary activity, one that you perform as a
 
  service to the physics community, and we thank you for your efforts.
 
  Given the voluntary nature of your participation we of course respect
  your decision to cease, and have made an indication in our database so
  that no further papers will be sent to you for review until you inform
  us otherwise.
 
  We ask, however, that you consider the following in hopes that in the
  not too distant future you will decide to review for us again.
 
  We regard science as an international enterprise and we do our best to
  put aside political disagreements in the interest of furthering the
  pursuit of scientific matters. We have never used other than scientific
  criteria in judging the acceptability of a paper for publication,
  without regard to the country of origin of the author.
 
  We have done this even in cases where some of us have disagreed strongly
 
  with the policies of that country, and we will continue this practice.
  We believe it is essential that all parties involved make every effort
  to separate social and political differences from their participation in
 
  scientific research and publication. The pursuit of scientific knowledge
 
  needs to transcend such issues.
 
 
 
  Sincerely,
 
  Martin Blume
 
  Editor-in-Chief
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: "Daniel Amit" <daniel.amit-AT-roma1.infn.it
  To: "martin blume" <blume-AT-aps.org
  Date: Wednesday, April 09, 2003
 
  Dr Blume, Editor in Chief
  American Physical Society
 
  Dear Dr Blume
 
  Thank you for you letter of April 8. I would have liked to be able to
  share the honorable sentiments you express in your letter as well as
  your optimism in the future role of science and the scientific
  community. To be frank, and with much sadness and pain,  after 40 years
  of activity and collaboration, I find very little reason for such
  optimism.
 
  What we are watching today, I believe, is a culmination of 10-15 years
  of mounting barbarism of the American culture the world over, crowned by
 
  the achievements of science and technology as a major weapon of mass
  destruction. We are witnessing man hunt and wanton killing of the type
  and scale not seen since the raids on American Indian populations, by a
  superior technological power of inferior culture and values. We see no
  corrective force to restore the insanity, the self-righteousness and the
 
  lack of respect for human life (civilian and military) of another race.
 
  Science cannot stay neutral, especially after it has been so cynically
  used in the hands of the inspectors to disarm a country and prepare it
  for decimation by laser guided cluster bombs. No,  science of the
  American variety has no recourse. I, personally, cannot see myself
  anymore sharing a common human community with American science.
  Unfortunately, I also belong to a culture of a similar spiritual
  deviation (Israel), and which seems to be equally incorrigible.
 
  In desperation I cannot but turn my attention to other tragic periods in
 
  which major societies, some with claims to fundamental contributions to
  culture and science, have deviated so far as to be relegated to
  ostracism and quarantine. At this point I think American society should
  be considered in this category. I have no illusions of power, as to the
  scope and prospect of my attitude.
 
  But, the minor role of my act and statement is a simple way of
  affirming that in the face of a growing enormity which I consider
  intolerable, I will exercise my own tiny act of disobedience to be able
  to look straight into the eyes of my grandchildren and my students and
  say that I did know.
 
  With regard
 
  Daniel Amit
 
  PS I intend to distribute our exchange as much as possible. I  authorize
 
  and pray that you do the same.
 
 
 
------------------
I urge everyone to respect such serious gestures of defiance that look 
at the way that science and technology have taken such adestructive 
turn in our lives. I would like to propose that we ask for a truth 
commission on Iraq that can document the human right abuses during Sadam's 
regime and the question of how we establish agency that can also hold 
those who supported him adn provided Irawq with the material means of 
producing the very means that are now seen as threats to humankiind - this 
commission should also look at the fact that no account of civilian 
casualties ahs been provided, tht no one has seriously put into question 
the dividng line between what constitutes weapons of mass destruction - 
who is to be held responsible for the continuous killings tht are 
occuring thorugh police firing everyday in Iraq and thorugh the cluster 
bombs. Scuh an inquiry that includes Arab intellectuals aor jurists as well 
as others from the USor Europe or India or Sri Lanks aor Israel wou
ld atleat begin to generate a disourse tht can ddress facts. 
Veena das

----- Original Message -----
From: Linda Hess <lionda-AT-stanford.edu>
Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 12:27 pm
Subject: Re: dismay

> What a grouchy reaction Paul Brass has offered us, with more than 
> a 
> little touch of the self-righteousness and self-congratulation of 
> which he accuses Amit.
> 
> We are gesturing in the dark.  It is a dark time.  I found Amit's 
> tone humble and modest but determined and perhaps experimental.  
> It 
> takes some courage to cut yourself off from the comfort of your 
> network of professional colleagues, at least the powerful US piece 
> of 
> it.  His gesture reminded me of the eventually effective drive to 
> isolate South Africa's government and business interests in the 
> apartheid era.  This obviously didn't preclude alliance with the 
> anti-apartheid movement, and Paul's stiff advice to Amit to join 
> forces with the anti-war movement in the US is unnecessary.  I'm 
> sure 
> he is doing so.  I don't detect in his words any message that he 
> is 
> "condemning an entire society."    Where does an insect bite the 
> behemoth?  He considered this urgently and personally.  This step 
> may 
> lead to others.
> 
> A couple of months ago I scolded a friend in Delhi for comparing 
> Bush 
> to Hitler.  This is vicious and potentially catastrophic 21st-
> cent. 
> imperialism, I said, but loose comparisons with Nazi Germany are 
> really off-track.  Since then I have noticed more ominous 
> parallels 
> with Germany in the 30s.   Are we in  situation comparable to 
> 1939? 
> I don't know.  Let some of the brilliant historians in this group 
> tell us.
> 
> Meanwhile, I appreciate Daniel Amit's gesture, as I appreciate 
> those 
> who camp in redwood trees, throw blood at missiles, stand in front 
> of 
> Israeli bulldozers, live with Iraqi people through the bombing, 
> criticize the media, and undertake all kinds of political organizing.
> 
> linda hess
> 
> >Dr. Amit's behavior is foolish and counterproductive.  There is a 
> broad>movement against the war in the United States.  There was a 
> great U. S.
> >movement against the war in Vietnam, in which I was a founder.  
> It did not
> >stop the war, but it restrained American misuse of its power for 
> many years
> >thereafter.  The right and proper thing for persons such as Dr. 
> Amit to do
> >is to join forces with the anti-war movement in the United States 
and
> >elsewhere without condemning an entire society, its people, its
> >institutions, its scientific community.  Dr. Amit's response is a 
> mirror>image of everything he claims to be against.  It is self-
> righteous and
> >condemns a whole society.  It is also a pathetic act.  Specious 
> comparisons>with other situations in the past, such as 1939, are 
> of no use or scientific
> >merit.  The situation is bad enough, but needs its own analysis.  
> There are
> >plenty of grounds on which to fight.  Dr. Amit needs to find a 
> more serious,
> >responsible, and less self-congratulatory ground.
> >
> >Paul R. Brass
> >Professor Emeritus of Political Science and
> >   South Asian Studies
> >University of Washington
> >
> >http://www.paulbrass.com
> >http://members.authorsguild.net/brass/
> 





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