Benjamin Alpers

Overview

Benjamin L. Alpers [Ben Alpers] has demonized Israel and promoted an anti-Israel agitator.

Alpers is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma (OU.) He joined the faculty of the OU Honors College in 1998 and is affiliated with OU’s Department of History and Film and Media Studies programs.

Demonizing Israel

On March 17, 2019, Alpers tweeted: “Speaking only for myself, I despair at the politics of Israel-Palestine. I see no practical way to change Israel's behavior. And, as a Jew, I feel a particular horror that Israel feels it can in any way claim to act in my name in its treatment of people in occupied Palestine.”

That same day, Alpers tweeted that he doesn’t support BDS “in part because I think it's ineffective.” He later tweeted: “I wish I believed in the efficacy of BDS, because that would give me hope for Israel-Palestine that I currently lack.”

On February 4, 2014, Alpers signed “An Open Letter on the Anti-Boycott Bills,” which opposed anti-BDS legislation then pending before New York State’s legislature. The open letter appeared on the Crooked Timber blog.

Alpers also signed an open letter demonizing Israel and calling for an end to foreign aid. 

The July 31, 2014 letter, addressed to former U.S. President Barack Obama and the American Congress, called “to suspend US military aid to Israel, until there is assurance that this aid will no longer be used for the commission of war crimes.”
In a blog post that Alpers wrote on February 4, 2013, he urged people to “consider signing” a petition in support of Brooklyn College co-sponsoring a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) panel discussion about BDS with Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti.

In the post, Alpers wrote: “I happen not to support BDS,” then continued: “But an academic unit is fully within its rights to sponsor panels as it sees fit… If you feel as I do about these things, please consider signing this petition in support of academic freedom at Brooklyn College.” 

Judith Butler, a board member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP,) has urged others to view anti-Israel terror groups as “progressive,” stating in 2006: “understanding Hamas, Hezbollah as social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left, is extremely important.”

Omar Barghouti is a co-founder of BDS. He rejects the existence of Israel and falsely claims the international law grants everyone with Palestinian ancestry the unqualified right to settle in Israel. Barghouti also insists that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable” — and if people object, then “tough.”

Alpers signed a 2003 open letter suggesting that Israel would use the “fog of war" in Iraq to engage in "full-fledged ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians. No retractions were ever issued for the letter after its claims failed to materialize.

Promoting an Anti-Israel Agitator

As of July 2019, Alpers signed a statement titled: “We Stand with Ilhan,” along with anti-Israel activists including Naomi Klein, Ilan Pappé, Sarah Jaffe and Rebecca Vilkomerson.