smart people??????

Pearl ↓

Mon, May 02 2005, 6:09 am

please forgive me for posting such a long article, but thought it was worth sharing:

(1) Article from Jerusalem Post, April 22:

AUT boycott: Jewish lecturers resign
By Yaakov Lappin
The Jerusalem Post
April 22, 2005

The decision by Britain's 40,000 member Association of University Teachers (AUT) to boycott two Israeli universities on Friday has ignited scathing condemnation from Jewish communities worldwide and has prompted the immediate resignation of Jewish academics from the AUT.

In a blitz procedure timed - on the eve of Passover - to exclude Jewish members from the conference, the AUT rushed through two motions to boycott Haifa and Bar Ilan universities, exhibiting an unprecedented escalation of a campaign by British academics to target Israel.

A jovial executive union meeting heard unanswered orations by Sue Blackwell and Shereen Benjamin, both lecturers at Birmingham University. The academics labeled Israel as a "colonial apartheid state, more insidious than South Africa," called for the "removal of this regime," and depicted Israeli universities as "repressing" academic freedom.

In her allegations against the Israeli institutions, Ms. Blackwell relied heavily on a letter by Ilan Pappe, lecturer in political science at Haifa University. A message from Dr. Pappe was distributed to every executive member at the conference, in which Pappe called on the conference to adopt a boycott of his own university, and alleged he was the victim of "restriction" and "harassment."

The speeches were met with rapturous applause from the audience, before AUT executive president Angela Roger cut short the session and moved to deny a right of reply to opponents of the motions. The session was then directed towards a vote, and a "lack of time" was cited as the reason preventing challenges to the motions from being heard. The executive passed by sizeable majorities two separate motions adopting boycotts against Haifa University for its restricting academic freedom and against Bar Ilan university for its college located in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

There was no opportunity for academics who had planned on opposing the motions, such as executive member Alistair Hunter, to address the conference. Dr. Hunter described the AUT's endorsement of a boycott against Israeli universities as an "ill judged decision" and expressed disgust at the absence of debate before voting commenced.

Ronnie Fraser, chair of the Academic Friends of Israel group, said: "The union effectively asked its membership to break its own laws on racism and discrimination."

An alternative motion, tabled by executive member Hugh Manson, called for a "peaceful resolution of the problems facing the Middle East," and for the establishment of "contact with the Israeli Higher Education Union representatives."

"The Palestinians are not boycotting Israeli universities," said Manson, "why should we?" Professor Manson emphasized a need to "establish contacts in both communities," and spoke of advocating "dialogue and understanding." His motion was rejected by the executive after it was attacked by Sue Blackwell, who described it as "an insult to Palestinians."

Before the session, Sue Blackwell, a key figure in the anti-Israel boycott initiative, stood outside of the conference center in the coastal town of Eastbourne, draped in a Palestine flag. She was joined by kaffiya-clad activists of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who handed out leaflets branding Zionism as a "racist ideology," and accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing."

Asked why she wished to boycott Israeli institutions, Ms. Blackwell told The Jerusalem Post that she was responding to a call made by Palestinian organizations, among them a trade union, to "show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to draw attention to the way Israeli universities were complicit in the occupation."

Shereen Benjamin, the second speaker to advocate a boycott of Israeli universities, was unable to answer questions about the Palestinian union which signed a letter calling for the conference to boycott Israel and could not identify its membership. In her speech to the conference, Ms. Benjamin used a number of photographs, and later conceded that the images were obtained from the "Electronic Intifada" website.

The text of the AUT resolutions is somewhat vague when it comes to spelling out the practical implications of the boycott. The motions resolve "that the boycott should take the form described in the Palestinian call for academic boycott of Israeli institutions."

This is a reference to the Web page of Lisa Taraki, an academic at Birzeit university, which is linked by Sue Blackwell's website, and upon which the AUT motions are modeled. Under the heading "Suggested Guiding Principles," a document advises boycotters to "refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions." The Web site also calls for internationalizing the boycott, and advocates "a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions." In addition, Taraki writes about the promotion of "divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions." Taraki says that the boycott should target Israeli academics who disagree with her political stance, and this clause has been mirrored in the AUT resolutions.

However, the above "guidelines" appear to be in contradiction of the AUT anti-racism code, which pledges to ensure "full recognition for, and participation by, members of all racial and ethnic groups in the AUT, in universities, and in the life of society generally."

AUT general secretary Sally Hunt released a statement saying that "the executive committee will issue guidance to AUT members on these decisions."

The boycott motions have prompted the immediate resignation of two Jewish academics from the AUT. Jonathan Ginzburg and Shalom Lappin, professors at King's College London, wrote in an open letter: "We feel that we have no choice but to resign from the AUT immediately, and we call upon our colleagues to do the same. We also appeal to the administrations of British universities and to other labor unions, at home and abroad, to withdraw recognition from the AUT until it rescinds this motion." Plans to launch an international boycott of the union are currently being discussed by Jewish academics in Britain.

In a statement released Saturday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry denounced the decision as "scandalous" and hypocritical.

"The fact that AUT chose to target Israel, the only country in the Middle East that has complete academic freedom for all segments of the population and all political streams is scandalous," the ministry said.

The ministry singled out countries such as Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia for suppressing academic freedom. The statement urged British academics to distance themselves from the boycott.

The Israeli embassy in London released a statement criticizing "the fact that no AUT member who wanted to argue against this decision was allowed to speak," and described the motions as "perverse in their content."

Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks expressed his disappointment in the AUT's decision.

"I am most distressed by this outcome. Academic life is about building bridges of dialogue, not destroying them; opening minds, not closing them; hearing both sides of an argument, not one alone. The AUT has betrayed the academic principles it supposedly represents. This is a sad day for British universities," the rabbi concluded.

"This is a political campaign," Jonathan Spyer, Director of the European Affairs of the Global Center in International Affairs at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya, told The Jerusalem Post after Friday's vote.

"The boycott," added Spyer, who is an expert on Europe-Israel relations and on the new anti-Semitism in Europe, "should be seen as part of a broader strategy toward the de-legitimization of Israel, leading to eventual sanctions against the country. This is a political campaign. The people behind the campaign, such as Sue Blackwell, are opposed to the continued existence of the State of Israel. In line with PLO policy of the 1970s, they wish to see the Jewish State replaced by a 'democratic-secular state', I.e., a single state with a Palestinian Arab majority between the Jordan and the Mediterranean."

Danny Stone, head of campaigns for the Union of Jewish Students said: "I think the motion is an absolute disgrace. It's a betrayal of academia and academic principles. At a time when there are moves forward towards peace, the AUT is moving backwards into a pit of hatred and unpleasant discourse."

Mr. Stone added that "whenever there have been boycott motions on campus, they've been accompanied by anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish students." Mr. Stone had recently returned from an NUS conference during which Jewish student officials resigned, in protest at the distribution of the anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." In addition, Jewish students at Soas university have been protesting remarks which justified arson attacks against synagogues.

In a conversation following the vote, the AUT's Assistant General Secretary, David Bleiman remarked to Shereen Benjamin that the motion would "carry little moral authority," as there had been "no debate."

(With Talya Halkin, Sari Cohen and AP)

↑ Pearl ↓

Tue, May 03 2005, 3:19 am

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON AUT ACADEMIC BOYCOTT
(FROM STANDWITHUS - A pro Israel advocacy organization)

WHAT IS THE AUT? The Association of University Teachers, with 48,700 members, is the largest and most influential union of higher education lecturers and support staff, such as librarians, in the United Kingdom. THERE WERE 190 DELEGATES AT THE AUT MEETING.

WHAT WAS THE BOYCOTT RESOLUTION AND HOW DID THE AUT VOTE?

The resolution centered around five separate motions:

1. Contact and work with the Israeli Union of Higher Education. (An Israel-friendly counter-proposal.) This motion was tabled.

2. Boycott Hebrew University because it allegedly confiscated Palestinian land to build dorms. This motion was referred for further investigation because of inconclusive evidence.

3. Officially circulate the Call for a Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel that was issued by Birzeit University in the West Bank and signed by 60 PA academic unions and NGOs. This motion passed.

4. Boycott Haifa University because it allegedly violates academic freedom as evidenced by one professor's-Ilan Pappe's-complaints. This motion passed BY A NARROW MARGIN (96 TO 92).

5. Boycott Bar-Ilan University because it supervises degree programs at the Israeli College of Judea and Samaria in the West Bank. This motion passed BY A NARROW MARGIN (96 TO 92).

WHO INTRODUCED THE MOTION? Two anti-Israel activists, Sue Blackwell and Shereen Benjamin, both from Birmingham University AUT branch, co-wrote the resolutions calling for specific boycotts. The resolutions calling for the circulation of a boycott call was proposed by the open university branch of the AUT Blackwell draped herself in a Palestinian flag at the event. Blackwell and Benjamin were following the lead of Mona Baker, an instructor who was born and educated in Egypt, and linguists Steven and Hillary Rose, both Jews, who had led the way in calling for academic boycotts of Israel. The controversial Haifa University professor, Ilan Pappe, also worked closely with these AUT members.

WAS THERE DEBATE? No. Opponents were not allowed to speak.The AUT's Assistant General Secretary David Bleiman commented that the absence of debate meant the motion would "carry little moral authority." The AUT refused Jewish members' request that the motion be rescheduled from late Friday afternoon when Sabbath and Passover were beginning to an earlier day in the 3-day conference so they could attend and vote. The AUT also refused to accept evidence from Haifa and Bar Ilan Universities which disputed the facts stated in the motions.

WHY NOW? A motion to impose an academic boycott against Israel had been defeated in 2002. The proponents revised their strategy to make it more likely to pass. The new motion was more specific, targeting individual schools and their alleged abuses and it excluded Israeli academics if they signed an affidavit condemning Israel's policies. In addition, the AUT finally had the support of some Palestinians, which it had lacked before. The Birzeit Call for a Boycott had been signed by 60 academic unions and NGOs in the PA.

HOW HAVE OTHERS RESPONDED TO THE AUT VOTE? In general, British leaders and even newspapers normally hostile to Israel have been shocked by the violation of academic freedom and by the frank expression of anti- Semitism. Many point out that this academic boycott is reminiscent of Nazi policy in the 1930's.

"The decision ... is a mockery of academic freedom, a biased and blinkered move that is as ill-timed as it is perverse ...[It] can quickly become an excuse for anti-Semitism ... Why does the AUT not call for a ban on contacts in dozens of other countries inimical to human rights?... AUT members should defeat this pernicious ban by cultivating every contact available as soon as possible with the two Israeli universities." London Times editorial, April 25 2005 http:// www.timesonline.co.uk/article/.....0.htm

The boycott was "swiftly and rightly condemned by university vice-chancellors and principals." London Times editorial, April 25 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542 -1584297,00.htm

The boycott "would appear to run contrary to contractual law, race and religious discrimination law, and academic freedom obligations, which are built into the contracts of staff in pre -1992 universities." Jocelyn Prudence, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association in Britain http://education.guardian.co.uk/ higher/worldwide/story/ 0,9959,1469980,00.html

"A boycott attempt based on nationality encourages discrimination and goes against the principle of judging academic work on its merits alone. It inhibits progress in areas that benefit humanity, cuts the UK off from leading research, prevents collaborations and encourages discrimination against some students and staff within the UK." Andre Oboler of Britain's National Postgraduate Committee, which includes all MA and PhD students. http:// www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ ShowFull&cid=1113445110820&p=1091072353995

"The AUT motion cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a tiny minority of far-left academics in a marginal union ... this development is merely the latest in an apparently unstoppable stream of comments and incidents of an anti-Jewish nature. And the crucial thing is the absence of outrage in the wider community ..." Melanie Phillips http://www.melaniephillips.com/ diary/archives/001150.html

The boycott is "an academic terror attack on Israeli academe." Its initiators were "a radical and extremist group" that has been trying for a long time to find an excuse to boycott Israel. Prof. Eitan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan's political science department. www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/568887.html

"The boycott should be seen as part of a broader strategy toward the de-legitimization of Israel, leading to eventual sanctions against the country. This is a political campaign. The people behind the campaign, such as Sue Blackwell, are opposed to the continued existence of the State of Israel." Jonathan Spyer, Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya. http:// www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellit.....icle/ ShowFull&cid=1114136298531

email: info@standwithus.com
phone: 310-836-6140
web: http://www.standwithus.com

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(5) And if you or your synagogue's social action committee want to write a letter of protest...

Here are the suggested AUT people to write to:

press@aut.org.uk
president@aut.org.uk
sally.hunt@aut.orguk
paul.cottrell@aut.org.uk,
brian.everett@aut.org.uk,
catherine.wilkinson@aut.org.uk

Send a copy of your letter to the British press ...
Suggested addresses as follows:

letters@the-sun.co.uk,
stletters@telegraph.co.uk,
info@ap.org,
oneclick@bbc.co.uk
newsbeat@bbc.co.uk
psdalexander@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
info@standwithus.com
editor@thisislondonco.uk,
help@ft.com ,
newsdesk@news-of-the-world.co.uk,
politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk,
foreigneditor@independent.co.uk,
newseditor@independent.co.uk,
expressletters@express.co.uk,
editorial@dailymailonline.co.uk,
dtletters@telegraph.co.uk,
online.editor@timesonline.co.uk