02 August 2007
Thousands of scholars from around the world have strongly condemned UK trade union plans for a boycott of Israeli academics over allegedly unfair treatment of the Palestinians. The group, called “Scholars for Peace in the Middle East”, said the boycott plans attacked academic freedom. More than 10,000 academics have signed a declaration saying they would not join any project which barred Israelis.
At its annual congress in May, Britain’s University and College Union (UCU) voted a motion urging lecturers to "consider the moral implications of existing and proposed links with Israeli academic institutions." Thirty-two Nobel prize winners are among the thousands who signed the condemnation of the UCU boycott plan. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who drafted the declaration, said the signatories represented a cross-section of academics from around the world. "The message of the signatories is crystal clear," he declared, adding: "should the UCU go forward with a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions, the end result will be a self-inflicted wound on British academia."
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt had urged delegates not to support the boycott call, saying she did not believe the majority of UCU members supported an academic boycott of Israel. But delegates voted in favor of a motion to further discuss an all-out boycott which could include academics refusing to write for journals published by Israeli universities and prevent travel to Israel for conferences. Hunt has written to UCU members outlining the process needed to conduct a debate over the proposed boycott, including nationwide appearances by Palestinian and Israeli academics.
