Israeli professor awarded Nobel Prize in Stockholm

[Behind the Aegis]

At the yeshiva high school where he studied, he was told he was not very good in mathematics, and they advised him to choose something simpler, like auto mechanics. But on Thursday, Professor Robert Aumann received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his mathematical research into game theory, together with American Thomas Schelling.

Aumann, a professor at Hebrew University, received the $1.3 million prize from the hand of Sweden's king at a ceremony in Stockholm. Following the ceremony, the recipients were hosted at a festive dinner attended by diplomats, politicians, businessmen and members of the royal family.

Aumann arrived in Sweden with his 35 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as his new bride, Batya, the sister of his deceased first wife.

"We had tears in our eyes," said his son, Yonatan. "It doesn't matter that we've known for a long time already; the excitement was enormous."

...http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656039.html

[Englander]

1. Calls grow for withdrawal of Nobel prize

· Israeli group objects to award for 'warmongers'
· Game theory used for political bias, say critics

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Saturday December 10, 2005
The Guardian

A group of Israeli intellectuals and activists has demanded that the Nobel prize committee withdraw the award for economics to be made today to an Israeli mathematician and his American colleague on the grounds that they are "warmongers".

The economics prize is to be presented to Robert Aumann of Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Thomas Schelling of Maryland University in recognition of their "having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis", a mathematical study of how individuals and governments react to other people's actions including in war.

The awarding of Nobel peace prizes is often controversial but it is rare for the scientific laureates to generate significant opposition. However, a petition to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences signed by about 1,000 intellectuals and academics from Israel, Europe and America describes the awarding of this year's prize to the two professors as "monstrous".

The critics accuse Professor Aumann - a member of the hawkish thinktank, Professors for a Strong Israel, which believes the Jewish state should retain the occupied territories - of using his mathematical theories to promote his political views. "Aumann uses his analysis to justify the Israeli occupation and the oppression of the Palestinians," the petition says.

It describes Professor Schelling's theories as directly inspiring the US military strategy in Vietnam, including the indiscriminate bombing of civilians. "This strategy resulted in 2 million civilian deaths and was a complete failure in realising its objectives," the petition says.

More at;
Guardian Unlimited


:)

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Not surprising...

...from someone who has such a strong anti-Israeli bias (The Guardian's Chris McGreal).

[Englander]

5. Seen this?

'Professors for a Strong Israel (PSI)

Who are we?
Professors for a Strong Israel is a non-partisan organization of academics united by a shared concern for the security and the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

The organization was founded in 1988 by a group of professors to counter the activities of some left-wing members of the academic community in support of anti-Zionist and "post-Zionist" political parties. The association expanded its activities after the signing of the Oslo agreement, when many new members joined us to express opposition to the policies of the Rabin Government that endanger the security of the State of Israel.

Our membership includes professors, researchers, and scientists encompassing all major academic disciplines and academic institutions in Israel. Our ranks are open to all who hold a doctoral degree, whether in the sciences or the humanities, working in both the public and the private sectors.

We are affiliated with Pro Israel and with American Academics for Israel's Future.


Principles

We support and lobby for the following principles:

* The Land of Israel is the Homeland of the Jewish People: Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan Heights are integral parts of the Land of Israel. Every Jew has an inherent right to live in security and under Israeli sovereignty in any part of this Land. We are categorically opposed to yielding control of any part of the Land of Israel to any foreign entity.
* Jewish Heritage: To preserve the Jewish character of Israel, Jewish heritage and national values should constitute the basic elements of Israel's educational and legal systems.
* Free Market Economy: To enable Israel to achieve its economic potential, the Israeli political and economic system should adopt the principles of a free market economy, eliminate political favoritism, and reduce government intervention.


Activities

To influence Israeli national policy and public opinion we engage in the following activities:

* Conferences, symposia, and public forums
* Publication of reports, articles, and newsletters
* Press campaigns, advertisements, and petitions
* Preparation of position papers by committees of experts in such fields as education, foreign affairs, economics, public law and administration, city planning, transportation, and science and technology policies
* Assistance for developing communities in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan
* Briefings with members of Knesset and leading public policy experts

http://www.professors.org.il/

[Behind the Aegis]

7. you have no point.

:shrug:

[Englander]

9. It's there, you've missed it. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

10. somehow I doubt it.

:)

[Englander]

11. I don't.

Any thoughts on the wingnuts from PSI?

[Behind the Aegis]

14. not sure, as I don't know the PSI...

...but I am sure you can provide some more biased links.

[Englander]

17. How's this one?

'>snip

The only organized group of Israeli academics with a clear political orientation is the extreme right-wing Professors for a Strong Israel. Members of this group advocate policies which are far to the right of the present Likud government, including the transfer of Arab-Palestinian citizens out of Israel and opposition to any form of peace accords or territorial withdrawal—even the limited Gaza disengagement proposed by Sharon. Some of their articles appear on extreme right-wing websites, including those associated with the illegal Kahane organization.

Google cache;
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:NlUTEG5B_JYJ:www.campus-watch.org/article/id/1214+Professors+for+a+Strong+Israel+&hl=en

[Behind the Aegis]

18. so you agree?

An evil "one-sided" person of whatever nationality shouldn't get a Nobel Prize? I guess that means you agree Arafat shouldn't haven't received one for Peace.

On edit: I guess they should be politically pure, despite their area of expertise.

[Englander]

19. lol.

Are you regretting starting this thread, yet? I'm enjoying this, you wouldn't believe
the stuff I've found about PSI, no wonder you don't want to comment on them.

No, let Aumann keep his prize.

[Behind the Aegis]

20. no regrets.

And, no surprises.

I can't comment on PSI because I am not "googling" them like a madman.

Oh wait....this thread was about an Israeli winning a Nobel prize, yet a sub-thread has been created to talk about something all together different.

So, again...no surprise.

[Englander]

21. Well, if you'd read all of the Haaretz article -

'>snip

However, it is rare for the scientific prizes to arouse controversy. Thus the opposition to Aumann and Schelling's award was exceptional: Close to 1,000 people, including several dozen Israelis, signed a petition proclaiming it "monstrous" to award a Nobel prize to "two war-mongers."

The petition charged that the theory developed by Schelling encouraged the use of military force and helped inspire the U.S. bombing campaign during the Vietnam War, and it accused Aumann, who is right of center politically and belongs to the rightist organization Professors for a Strong Israel, of using game theory to justify Israeli control over the territories.'

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656039.html


you wouldn't be channeling Nostradamus.

[Behind the Aegis]

22. not all that rare...

...because Arafat was also decried by many to revoke (although, that is not possible) his Peace Prize.

[Englander]

23. Still no mention of Aumann, or PSI.

Yes, it is rare. *Scientific*, not Peace. The article said;

'However, it is rare for the scientific prizes to arouse controversy.'

[Englander]

24. See also -

Sean Macbride, 1974.
http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1974/macbride-cv.html

Menachem Begin, 1978.
http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1978/begin-bio.html

Nelson Mandela, 1993.
http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html

Terra? Terra!

[Coastie for Truth]

40. Luddite Crap

:sarcasm:
:rant:
facetious

The petition charged that the theory developed by Schelling encouraged the use of military force and helped inspire the U.S. bombing campaign during the Vietnam War,

Nobel's invention of dynamite encourage munitions makers - and also encourage coal miners to rape and pillage the land.

The Wright Brother's invention of the airplane encouraged aerial bombardment.

Fleming's discovery of penicillin encourage militarists to treated wounded soldiers and put them back in battle.

Turing's invention of the computer encouraged the all manner of military things.

Shockley's inventions encouraged smaller and more deadly munitions -- and his post Nobel activities encouraged racism.

ElMasry's work encouraged the used of electronic design automation tools (VHDL, Veralog) and their use in creating smaller and more effective munitions.

:sarcasm:
:rant:
facetious

[Englander]

48. No, accurate & informed comment.

Which, bizarrely, is enough to give some folks an excuse to *distract*distract*distract*.
What's with that?


'All Pain, No Gain

Nobel laureate Thomas Schelling's little-known role in the Vietnam War.
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005, at 1:43 PM ET

'>snip

When, in the early months of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara were looking for ways to step up military action against North Vietnam, they adopted Schelling's concept.

The link was direct. McNamara's closest adviser was an assistant secretary of defense named John McNaughton, who had been friends with Schelling since their days administering the Marshall Plan in Paris. They were both teaching at Harvard when Schelling got a call to come work at the Pentagon; he didn't want the job, but he recommended McNaughton. His friend objected that he didn't know anything about arms and strategy, but Schelling told him that it was easy, that he would teach him everything. And he did.

Schelling's lessons can be seen clearly in the classified memorandums reproduced in The Pentagon Papers, the top-secret history of the Vietnam War that Daniel Ellsberg leaked to the New York Times.

On May 22, 1964, National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy sent a memo to President Johnson. "An integrated political-military plan for graduated action against North Vietnam is being prepared under John McNaughton at Defense," he wrote. "The theory of this plan is that we should strike to hurt but not to destroy, and strike for the purpose of changing the North Vietnamese decision on intervention in the south." Two days later, Bundy sent a follow-on note recommending that the United States "use selected and carefully graduated military force against North Vietnam," that troops be deployed "on a very large scale, from the beginning, so as to maximize their deterrent impact and their menace. A pound of threat is worth an ounce of action—as long as we are not bluffing."

In an interview 25 years ago for a book that I was writing about the nuclear strategists, Schelling told me what happened next. McNaughton came to see him. He outlined the administration's interest in escalating the conflict in order to intimidate the North Vietnamese. Air power seemed the logical instrument, but what sort of bombing campaign did Schelling think would best ensure that the North would pick up on the signals and respond accordingly? More broadly, what should the United States want the North to do or stop doing; how would bombing convince them to obey; how would we know that they had obeyed; and how could we ensure that they wouldn't simply resume after the bombing had ceased?

Google cache;
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:GVo2RtDDM-UJ:slate.msn.com/id/2127862/+game+theory+vietnam+schelling&hl=en&client=firefox-a

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

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[Coastie for Truth]

50. Check here

[Englander]

52. ~~

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1987723.stm

[Coastie for Truth]

34. Let's be fair and even handed (Caution Facetious Sarcastic Rant)

:rant:
:sarcasm:

1. We should petition the Nobel Committee to resecind William Shockley's Nobel Prize in Physics because he became a racist in his later years.

2. We should petition the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) to revert Waterloo University Professor Mohamed Elmasry"s status from the (honorific) "Fellow" status to "Senior" status - he may be a racist (, ) - Nothing against Elmasry personally - I have several of his books.

:rant:
:sarcasm:

[eyl]

3. also from the article

Shraga Elam, an Israeli writer among those behind the petition, concedes that his objection is to Prof Aumann's political views and not to the quality of the analysis on game theory.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. hmmm...

It would seem that many only object to Israel's political views, so a positive is met with derision. I guess it would be no different than any time Abbas did something positive, his Holocaust revisionist views were quoted.

[Englander]

6. Wow. Abbas was given a Nobel Prize?

:)

[Behind the Aegis]

8. nope.

But Arafat, the terrorist, was.

BTW...poor reading skills on your part. I never said Abbas was awarded a Peace prize. I said: "I guess it would be no different than any time Abbas did something positive, his Holocaust revisionist views were quoted."

[Englander]

12. Exactly!

Anything to avoid the subject of the thread, eh?

http://www.cleysmokehouse.com/red_herring.asp

[Behind the Aegis]

13. Like here?

Wow. Abbas was given a Nobel Prize?

http://www.cleysmokehouse.com/red_herring.asp

[Englander]

15. ~boink flip!~

[Behind the Aegis]

16. so predictable...nonsense.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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[Orangepeel]

31. double post

[Orangepeel]

32. So, he shouldn't win the Nobel PEACE prize

but since when is "not being a warmonger" a criterion for winning a prize in economics?

[Jim Sagle]

39. Since an Israeli won the prize, I suspect.

;)

[pelsar]

35. this is actually funny

It describes Professor Schelling's theories as directly inspiring the US military strategy in Vietnam, including the indiscriminate bombing of civilians. "This strategy resulted in 2 million civilian deaths and was a complete failure in realising its objectives," the petition says.

so if a theory inspires somebody else to do something...that means the theorist is to be blamed? Perhaps we should blame edison for putting electrcity to use which inspired the electric chair?

the article is simply doing the usual.....lets find something wrong with the professor becuase we dont like his political views...therefore that negates his acomplishments in game theory.

i'm curious...were the other scientific nobel prize winners political views checked out before given their prizes by the guardian...

[Name removed]

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[IndianaGreen]

36. Israeli, Jew, Palestinian, blah, blah, blah,

I saw the title of this thread in LBN and I clicked on it to see who had been bestowed the Nobel Prize only to find the mod message that it had been moved to the Semitic Dungeon.

So down here I came ready to blast the way that any article that has anything related to Israel seems to always get moved to deepest entrails of DU.

Then I started to notice the tone and language of some of the posts, and I was reminded that any thread about Israel will likely get hijacked and end up as something entirely different from the OP.

We have beaten the I/P horse to death since 2001. Nothing has been said that hasn't been said before, on either side of the issue. Nothing has been accomplished by any of the threads posted in I/P. Not one of them has contributed to a deeper understanding of the issues. No one has been enlightened by any of them. The only lesson that one can draw from the entire I/P fora experience is that anytime one injects religion and irrationality into any dispute, it becomes and intractable problem.

That's my two cents worth! :grouphug:

Now back to the news of Benny Tabak being named the new coach for Maccabi Tel Aviv...

:popcorn:

[Name removed]

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[Jim Sagle]

43. Excellent idea, I think. It might lead to a less one-sided discussion.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

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[Jim Sagle]

45. Mordy needs to ponder Iran and its upcoming nuclear status.

Israel denuking at this point would just mean another holocaust.

[0007]

46. Elpaso Jim, tis not worth the effort to discuss anything further

with you. I now have you on ignore. Feel lucky, you're the first.

[Jim Sagle]

47. I'm honored. Really.

[Name removed]

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[barb162]

51. Bravo for Aumann