Campaign Update 11
24th August 2007
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82% of Imperial College UCU Members Reject Boycott Call
- The University and College Union representing staff from Imperial College London overwhelmingly oppose an Israeli academic boycott, a new survey shows.
- 82% of Imperial College UCU members said they did not support Motion 30, which calls for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions, which was passed at UCU congress earlier this year.
- The survey also shows that 90% of Imperial College UCU members think that there should be a national ballot of membership - something that the Stop the Boycott campaign has been calling for - before UCU adopts any international boycott.
One of the Imperial UCU members who opposes Motion 30, leading UK academic Michael J McGarvey from Imperial College said:
"The members of Imperial College UCU have voted overwhelmingly (by more than 5 to 1) to reject Motion 30 - Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions.
"In conjunction with the very similar results from the recent ballots of members at the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this clearly demonstrates that the vast majority of ordinary members of UCU are against a boycott and the damaging effects that this could have on British Academia."
Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council and joint Chair of Stop the Boycott said:
"Once again ordinary members of the UCU have spoken and rejected the politics of extremism promoted by the pro-boycott camp that dominated UCU Congress. Imperial College UCU members must be applauded for this initiative. It demonstrates how out of touch boycott supporters are with the wider academic community. We urge other UCU branches to follow Imperial College's example, speak out against the boycott and help to overturn this perverse policy."________________________________________________________Stop the Boycott Campaign Fights Back Against ‘Handbook of Hate'
The UK based Stop the Boycott Campaign this week fought back against a report that attacked "Israeli apartheid" and called for the boycott of Israeli goods and institutions. The report, published jointly by the London-based War on Want and Stop the Wall organisations has been labelled a "handbook of hate" by Stop the Boycott campaigners.
War on Want's campaign makes a number of far-reaching accusations against Israel and calls on supporters to damage the Israeli economic infrastructure through "boycott, divestment and sanctions." The booklet claims that "investment in Israel represents investment in a system of occupation, injustice and apartheid." It also states that Israel has "arm a variety of dictators, juntas, factions in civil wars and regimes well known for systematic human rights abuses."
Lorna Fitzsimons, Co-chair of Stop the Boycott Campaign and CEO of BICOM deeply resented the comparison of Israel with Apartheid South Africa. She said:
"To equate the Palestinian's situation with the absolute powerlessness of black South Africans under the Apartheid regime is at best misguided and at worst an insult and a tragedy. Having been heavily involved in the Anti-Apartheid movement, I totally reject the picture War on Want and others are trying to paint.
"The key to conflict resolution is empowering individuals to take responsibility for their own situation. Unlike in South Africa, Palestinians can vote, they can own property and run businesses. And of course they can renounce violence - no one is stopping them.
"All those who want to see a two state solution and a viable Palestinian state as we do, must stand up to this campaign as it will do more to hurt the Palestinians than any one else"
The report is available by clicking here
- The New York Times page advert of two weeks ago, in which 300 US university presidents spoke out in solidarity against the boycott was highlighted in this week's Times Higher Education Supplement within the ‘World Encompassed' section.
US STAFF CONDEMN ISRAEL BOYCOTT CALL
More than 300 US academics have backed a statement by Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, condemning calls for a boycott of Israeli academics by some members if the UK's University and College Union.
The first signatures were published in an advertisement in The New York Times by the American Jewish Committee.
Additionally, the presidents of both Harvard and Yale Universities have added their illustrious names to the petition.
