PRESS RELEASE:
"Boycott on UCU's motions document"
Immediate release 16th April 2008
Following the publication of the draft motions to be discussed at UCU's Congress, the Stop the Boycott campaign has confirmed that it will now instruct expert lawyers to obtain an opinion on the legality of this boycott motion. Last year's boycott motion was ruled unlawful by the Union after it obtained its own advice, which UCU has refused to publish.
Speaking for Stop the Boycott, Jeremy Newmark said
"The attitude of the UCU leadership is utterly irresponsible. The President and General Secretary have allowed a situation to emerge in which UCU's policy is decided by the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. In the face of its own legal advice, it is shameful that UCU would press ahead with a discredited and discriminatory policy.
We are now seeking legal advice on this new boycott move, to empower regular UCU members in their attempt to force the Union to abandon this destructive course of action. This is something that many UCU members have asked us to do."
Lorna Fitzsimons, speaking for Stop the Boycott, said
"UCU seems to have an obsession with boycotting Israel. The Union's credibility has almost run out; it is behaving like a fool repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Boycotts are obviously discriminatory, as the UCU's own advice confirmed. This boycott move puts new obstacles between Israelis and Palestinians and hurts the cause of peace."
The main boycott motion is in fact a composite of several similar pro-boycott motions, including the National Executive Committee's motion which was revealed a few weeks ago. Other pro-boycott motions came from UCU branches at Brighton and the University of East London - the branches that proposed 2007's UCU boycott motion.
The motions were composited by UCU's Congress Business Committee (CBC). CBC had the power to rule motions out of order; however, the small committee is dominated by pro-boycott activists.
The composited motion includes all of the text in the NEC's motion, and also adds a call to UCU members to "consider the moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli institutions, and to discuss the occupation with individuals and institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they are collaborating;". This text may reintroduce the ‘political test', where Israeli academics are quizzed on their political views, and face boycott if they give the wrong responses.
The motion can still have amendments proposed by UCU branches, and is due to be debated by UCU's annual Congress on the afternoon of Wednesday 28th May.
