Stop the Boycott news

Campaign Update 18

Dear friend,

Following the publication this week of the preliminary agenda for UCU Congress, we would like to bring you up to date with latest developments in the campaign against an academic boycott of Israel.

UCU Boycott Motion

UCU has now formally published the initial motions document for their Congress.
The document contains a motion to boycott Israeli academics.
The motion can still have amendments proposed by UCU branches.
You can read the full motions document here.

Next Steps

The Stop the Boycott campaign has confirmed that it will 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.
Several UCU members have already asked to be part of any future action.
If you are a UCU member and are interested in possible action, email campaign2008@stoptheboycott.org
We have also set up a fighting fund to help pay for the legal work - donate by credit card through paypal by clicking here, or email campaign2008@stoptheboycott.org for other ways to give!

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."

Other news - UCU Palestinian Lecturers Tour

UCU are bringing four Palestinian academics for a tour of union branches.
The tour includes Lisa Taraki, co-founder of the international pro-boycott organisation, PACBI.
The meetings are for UCU members only.
Most of the meetings take place next week, with several on the second day of Passover, which means observant Jewish lecturers are unable to attend.
Full details of the tour are on the UCU website here.

Campaign Update 17

26th March 2008

Dear friend,

We would like to bring you up to date with some important developments in the campaign against an academic boycott of Israel.

What happened?

At its last meeting on Friday 14th March, The University and College Union (UCU)'s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted to submit a motion to the Union's annual Congress in May. The motion is an attempt to reintroduce a boycott of Israeli academics.
This NEC motion was proposed to the poorly-attended meeting by Tom Hickey, a Socialist Workers Party activist, and was seconded by Linda Newman, UCU's president.
All of this is despite the UCU accepting advice from its own lawyers, under pressure from the Union's Trustees, that a boycott would be unlawful. This brought to an end 2007's UCU policy promoting a boycott of Israeli academics, which dominated the Union's business for eight months.
The new motion is similar to the 2007 motion - both call on UCU members to reconsider academic links to Israeli institutions.
Stop the Boycott originally supported the call by UCU members to ballot the entire membership on the question of a boycott - the Socialist Workers' Party, which promoted the 2007 policy, admitted that in a democratic ballot "the boycott would almost certainly be heavily defeated".

The Motion

The motion submitted by the NEC claims there is "Apparent complicity of the Israeli academy" in Israeli government policies towards the Palestinians, and that UCU should "promote a wide discussion by colleagues of the appropriateness of continued education links with Israeli academic institutions".
The scope of the motion is all Israeli academic institutions, including universities, colleges and schools.
If UCU were to implement the motion, it would encourage its 160,000 members to consider cutting off links with Israeli academic institutions - most of these links are with individual Israeli academics such as research partnerships, peer review of papers, or academic conferences.
The motion initiates ‘greylisting' against Ariel College in the West Bank, a long procedure that can end in a formal boycott; however, this is actually a weaker procedure than the boycott against all universities, promoted in the rest of the motion.
The motion encourages actions like silent boycott activity, as well as explicit boycott action (below).

Impact of Silent boycott

The ‘Silent Boycott' is where Israeli academics are the victims of secret discrimination.
For example, if an Israeli has an academic paper rejected by a journal, he or she won't know if the rejection was because of poor quality work or because the referee is boycotting Israel.
The silent boycott creates suspicion and damages the integrity of the Peer Review system, which is the foundation of the international academic community.

Impact of explicit boycott actions

The UCU motion, if adopted, would turn UCU into a vehicle for encouraging members to openly and explicitly boycott Israeli academics.
As an example, in 2002 Prof Mona Baker of UMIST fired two Israelis, Miriam Schlesinger and Gideon Toury, from the boards of two academic journals because they were Israeli academics.
The UCU motion institutionalises and encourages actions like rejecting academic papers from Israeli authors, cutting off research partnerships, and refusing to allow Israeli PhD students to work in British university departments.
UCU members might reasonably expect the Union to defend them from action by their universities if they take open boycott actions like those above.

Next steps

The UCU NEC is acting recklessly and promoting discrimination by taking a pro-boycott position similar to that which was found to be illegal. It is farcical that a small minority has hijacked the union in this way.
In this scenario, union members are likely to challenge the NEC's decision to reopen this issue through the courts.
Stop the Boycott will support and empower to any union members who choose this course of action through seeking our own legal opinion.
A number of UCU members have already been in contact; if you are a UCU member and interested in further action, please contact us on campaign2008@stoptheboycott.org

Commenting on the UCU NEC's action, Henry Grunwald QC, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:

"Last year's successful campaign to defeat the previous boycott proposal demonstrated that our community is committed and able to deliver an effective and hardhitting response to boycotts wherever they come from.

STB will once again co-ordinate the community's efforts with those partners inside the UCU to overturn these flawed proposals."

Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of BICOM, said:

"It is absolutely farcical that a small and unrepresentative minority has hijacked the Union and resurrected this discriminatory and unpopular motion. We've been here before, defeated it and will do so again. We know that most ordinary Union members don't want anything to do with this and we will work closely with many of them to help them fight it within the Union.

"The UCU know that we can tackle this politically and win it politically, but this must be put to bed before it gets that far. Last year the UCU declared, under pressure from Stop the Boycott and others, that boycott action was illegal and unenforceable. In the face of the UCU's steadfast refusal to now publish their legal advice, we are seeking our own legal advice so that individual UCU members can use this to stop the plans for a boycott immediately."

Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said

"Even the SWP admit that in a democratic ballot, the boycott would be heavily defeated. UCU members overwhelmingly believe that boycotts are bad for British academia, bad for the Palestinians and do nothing to promote peace in the Middle East. By bringing this motion to Congress, UCU's Executive is once again relying on an unrepresentative, factionally dominated conference to foist a discriminatory boycott policy on their membership."

Other News

UCU held elections for its NEC during February - half the committee's seats were up for election.
Jon Pike, an Engage activist who worked to overturn academic boycotts of Israel in 2005 and 2007, was elected to the NEC. Also elected were several members of the broadly anti-boycott Unity Network
The new NEC members will replace their predecessors in June.

Campaign Update 16

2nd November 2007

Thank you for signing up to support the Stop The Boycott campaign.

University Vice Chancellors Visit Israel

A delegation of Vice Chancellors of British Universities visited Israel over the last week.
The visit was organized by the British Embassy, the British Council in Israel and the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (IAB)
The delegation met with Minster of Education Yuli Tamir and the new Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Ron Prossor, at a dinner hosted by the British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Philips
They also to a number of Israeli and Palestinian universities to investigate possible joint research projects
The group was accompanied by Prof David Newman of Ben Gurion University.
Professor Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK, said

"I am struck by the tremendous academic strength of Israeli universities, which is something we want to interact with."

The Vice Chancellors' visit was covered by the Independent in an article "Middle Eastern links: In place of a boycott..."
It also inspired a leader in the same paper, "It's good to talk"

Architects promote dialogue not boycott

A group of British Architects and other construction professionals announced the launch of Constructive Dialogue
The group will act as a counter to imbalanced and one-sided attitudes to the situation in the Middle East, and provide a forum for ideas, debate and discussion
Constructive Dialogue is planning a series of events over the coming year
If you are interested in being involved in Constructive Dialogue, email info@constructivedialogue.co.uk

Campaign Update 15

21st September 2007

Thank you for signing up to support the Stop The Boycott campaign.

UCU members campaign for boycott ballot

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) have launched a campaign to hold a ballot of all members on the issue of an academic boycott of Israel.
The new UCU Members for a Ballot campaign was launched by Jimmy Donaghey (Queens University, Belfast UCU) and Jon Pike (Open University UCU).
'UCU Left', a political grouping inside the Union, opposes a ballot and many of its prominent members support a boycott.
UCU Members for a Ballot aims to ensure that the whole UCU membership is consulted before the union institutes a boycott.
UCU Members for a Ballot are running a petition for UCU members only to call on their leadership to hold a membership ballot.
Their website is at http://ucu-ballot.org

ACTION:

If you are a UCU member, sign the petition on http://ucu-ballot.org right now.
If you are not a UCU member, help raise awareness of the new initiative by emailing any academics, FE teachers and students to tell them about the petition for a ballot, and encourage them to pass it on too.

The vast majority of UCU members - upwards of 80% - believe that a ballot of all members is the best way to settle the boycott debate. Help inform them how to make it happen.

Universities Minister at Stop the Boycott Labour fringe.

Bill Rammell MP, Minister for Higher Education and Universities strongly condemned moves inside the UCU to boycott Israeli academics as "politically self-indulgent", explaining that peace in the Middle East will be achieved by "the politics of engagement, not the politics of isolation".
He was speaking at a fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference, entitled "Academic Boycott: a Flawed Approach".
The event was jointly organised by the Jewish Labour Movement and the Stop the Boycott Campaign. The Labour Arab group also participated in the meeting.
Mr Rammell announced a forthcoming visit by UK University Vice Chancellors to Israel.
Professor Drummond Bone, Vice Chancellor of Liverpool University and outgoing Chair of Universities UK, noted that there was a "sinister edge" to the boycott movement, and felt that the boycott would fail whatever the UCU decides.
Agreeing, Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council (speaking for Stop the Boycott) stressed that the lack of implementation "doesn't let UCU off the hook. If they support a boycott they will have a discriminatory policy".
Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of BICOM (speaking for Stop the Boycott) rejected analogies between apartheid South Africa and Israel/Palestine.
Israeli Labour party MK Ophir Pines-Paz MK and Wes Streeting of the National Union of Students expressed support from the audience.

Campaign Update 14

21st September 2007

Thank you for signing up to support the Stop The Boycott campaign.

Lib Dem Conference condemns boycott

The Liberal Democrat Party‘s annual conference condemned academic boycotts of Israel this week.
Lembit Opik MP, Baroness Ludford MEP and Cllr Monroe Palmer - among others - spoke in favour of the motion, which passed overwhelmingly.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Michael Moore MP said:

"I hope that the UCU's members will get the opportunity to reject this boycott and will return to the spirit of free academic exchange that will do much more to improve relations in the Middle East."

Matthew Harris of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, which drafted and supported the motion, said:
"We brought this motion to Conference to emphasise the Liberal Democrats' opposition to the academic boycott of Israel. We are pleased and proud that the party's members have confirmed that a boycott is misguided and wrong."
Speaking for the Stop the Boycott campaign Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said:
"As the party conference season gets under way we are confident that this will be the first of a series of moves that will leave those promoting the boycott out in the political wilderness."
You can read the full motion passed at Conference on the LibDem website, here

TUC General Secretary opposes economic boycott of Israel

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), opposed economic boycotts of Israel last week.
In an interview in the Independent, he said:
"If you are really asking whether there should be an economic boycott of Israel, my answer is no. I fully share outrage over the plight of the Palestinian people that gives rise to this call, but destroying Israel's economy when it is clear that in a two-state solution Palestine and Israel will need strong economic ties will do nothing to build a sustainable settlement. I want to help strengthen links between ordinary Israeli and Palestinian workers as part of the search for peace and a boycott would derail all those efforts."
He also spoke in favour of a two-state peace settlement at Trade Union Friends of Israel's fringe meeting at the TUC‘s annual Congress

Stop the Boycott at Labour Conference

Stop the Boycott have teamed up with the Jewish Labour Movement to run a fringe meeting at next week‘s Labour Party Conference.
The meeting will be chaired by Louise Ellman MP and will feature Universities Minister Bill Rammell MP, Head of Universities UK Prof. Drummond Bone, and other guest speakers.
The event starts at 7pm on Monday the 24th of September (next Monday), at the Connaught Hotel in Bournemouth.
This is outside the Secure Zone so anyone may attend.

Board of Deputies asks UK universities to oppose boycott

The board of Deputies of British Jews has sent letter to the Vice Chancellors of every university in the United Kingdom expressing the UK Jewish community's concerns about proposals for an academic boycott.
Written by Board president Henry Grunwald QC, the letter asks the universities to ‘make clear and public' their opposition to the proposed boycott
It also stresses the damage to British academia and the impact on Jewish students on campus.
The letter was sent to more than 130 universities throughout the UK.

Israeli and Palestinian universities cooperate on water research.

Researchers across the Middle East have teamed up for a project alleviating the water scarcity in the region.

The project will include researchers from:

The Technion's Grand Water Research Institute
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
The Volcani Institute in Israel
The Palestinian Research Group
Al Quds University in East Jerusalem
The National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension in Jordan.

Joseph Hagin, the project's manager, said:
"The project has been a complete success and has fostered excellent technical and scientific cooperation among Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli institutes."
The project was supported by funds from the British Technion Society. Executive Director Tony Bernstein commented:
"This project has bridged the political divide and encouraged innovation and cooperation to develop amongst different peoples of the Middle East. It is yet another example of why the proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions by UK trade unions would be so detrimental"

Campaign Update 13

7th September 2007

Thank you for being part of the Stop the Boycott campaign. You can help us by donating to the campaign: - just click here
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Anti-boycott motion at Liberal Democrat Party Conference

A motion opposing the academic boycott of Israel will be debated at this year's Liberal Democrat Party conference.
The motion, proposed by Councillors Monroe Palmer
and Jonathan Davies, notes that "Academic freedom and the exchange of ideas are of paramount importance in conflict resolution".
It also calls on Sally Hunt to hold an all-member ballot on the issue of boycott, and "Urges all UCU members to vote to reject the boycott proposal".
The debate will take place on Sunday, 16th September as one of the first policy debates of the conference.

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Boris condemns boycott

Boris Johnson, likely Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, condemned the campaign for an academic boycott this week.
The former shadow Universities Minister, quoted in in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, said:

"You get the feeling that people don't want to find a solution, they don't want to help, they just want to strike attitudes and look cool. And that makes me absolutely furious."

Problems on both sides "won't be solved by wearing a T-shirt saying ‘I'm with Hizbollah' and indulging in puny pointless boycotts that go against your own principles anyway".

Current London Mayor Ken Livingston has also previously opposed an academic boycott of Israel

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German Trade Unions oppose Israel boycotts

The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) has opposed boycotts of Israel.
The DGB represents eight major German unions
In a statement, the DGB:
"categorically rejects calls for boycotts that are targeted one-sidedly at Israeli citizens, institutions and products. Anyone resorting to a one-sided boycott of Israel will in fact weaken the position of the majority on both sides who are ready for peace and will play into the hands of radical and fundamentalist forces."

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Parliamentarians visit Hadassah Hospital

A group of Labour MPs and peers visited Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem this week with Labour Friends of Israel.
While there, they saw the hospital save the life of a young Palestinian girl from Gaza who was badly burnt in a house fire.
Hadassah is a teaching hospital and is threatened by the proposed academic boycott of Israel
Barbara Keeley MP, who led the delegation, said:
"Watching Palestinian and Israeli doctors working side by side is extremely encouraging and reaffirms our belief that any UK effort to boycott Israeli academics or doctors is completely misplaced."
The leadership of Stop the Boycott has met with Hadassah both in Israel and in the UK.

News in Brief:

Lorna Fitzsimons and Jeremy Newmark briefed the Chief Rabbi's Conference on the Stop the Boycott campaign, at the request of the Conference.

Finally, we would like to wish a happy new year to all our Jewish supporters.

Campaign Update 12

31st August 2007

Thank you for being part of the Stop the Boycott campaign. You can help us by donating to the campaign: - just click here
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New Envoy for Israeli Academia

Professor David Newman of Ben Gurion University has been appointed the representative of Israeli academia in the UK.
He will work under the auspices of the International Advisory Board (IAB) for Academic Freedom, alongside the Israel Academy of Sciences.
His main role will be to strengthen existing links between Israeli and UK academia, and help develop new ones.
His work will be in coordination with the Stop the Boycott campaign, and he met with the leadership of the campaign early this week.

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Letter in New Statesman

Last week, the New Statesman carried a piece by John Pilger supporting a boycott movement against Israel.
In response, the New Statesman this week published rebuttal letters from Lorna Fiztsimons and Linda Grant
Lorna's letter appears below:

Is an Israel boycott movement "growing inexorably", as John Pilger suggested? The facts suggest otherwise. The NUJ boycott was recently overturned by its wide-ranging membership, not the executive, and every broadsheet newspaper has come out in print and shown its opposition.

This past week, 82 per cent of Imperial College UCU members voted against a boycott. Over the summer, large numbers of universities - among them Oxford, Cambridge and University College London - have publicly rejected a boycott. Whenever there has been a poll of UCU members the results are clear: 90 per cent feel that their views haven't been heard so far and 80 per cent say they reject a boycott.

One hundred and three MPs signed an early-day motion condemning the proposal as "an assault on academic freedom", and the three major political parties have been united in their condemnation of a boycott.

I don't think this is the definition of "inexorably".

Lorna Fitzsimons
Stop the Boycott Campaign

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War on Want

The recent publication of a boycott pamphlet labelled a "handbook of hate" by Jeremy Newmark from Stop the Boycott has been defended by War on Want, who are sponsoring it.
John Hilary, Director of Campaigns at War on Want, told Third Sector magazine that the Charities Commission had cleared the boycott campaign in principle:
Hilary said the charity had already received the green light from the commission to advocate boycotts and sanctions as means to alleviate "the root causes of poverty and human rights abuses".
The Board of Deputies of British Jews will be seeking clarification from the Charities Commission as to what advice they have given War on Want.

Upcoming meetings

Manchester Engage Public Meeting "THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL CAMPAIGN AND CONTEMPORARY ANTISEMITISM".

Engage's first Manchester public meeting is to be held on Sunday 9th September.
The meeting is 19:00 - 22:00 at Manchester Maccabi, Bury Old Road , Prestwich.
Admission is £5 by ticket only (payable on the night), light refreshments will be provided
Email engagemanchester@gmail.com for a place with many tickets you require and in what names.

Speakers include:

Denis Macshane MP (Chair 2005 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Anti-Semitism)
David Hirsh (Editor Engage)
Jane Ashworth (Campaigns Director Engage)
Richard Gold (North West Organiser Engage)
Philip Spencer (Advisory Editor Engage)

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."

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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.

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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.

Campaign Update 10

17th August 2007

Thank you for signing up to support the Stop The Boycott campaign.

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Head of Field Ops Appointed

Stop the Boycott has appointed Paul Simpson as Head of Field Operations.
Paul will be working to roll out the campaign nationally through coordinating with local UCU branches, academics and students.
Paul is currently the Labour Party's head of Corporate Communications, and has also worked for two MPs.
Poju Zabludowicz, Chairman of BICOM, the organisation spearheading Stop the Boycott together with the Jewish Leadership Council said:

"We are delighted to welcome Paul to the campaign. We are sure that he will be able to repeat the success that he enjoyed at the Labour Party with us at the Stop the Boycott campaign."

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Stop the Boycott in Israel

A delegation of campaign staff and advisors, led by Jewish Leadership Council Chief Executive and campaign co-chair Jeremy Newmark travelled to Israel this week.
The delegation included Rick Nye (Director of Populus Research and Stop the Boycott Campaign Pollster) and newly appointed Head of Field Operations Paul Simpson (see above)
They briefed Israeli universities at a meeting convened by the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom.
Jeremy also briefed Rafi Barak, head of the Israeli Government's Interdepartmental Task Force on Boycotts.
Commenting on the meetings, Jeremy Newmark said: "As we gear up for the start of the new academic year in September it is important that all international resources are properly coordinated."

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New National Postgraduate Committee anti-boycott rep

Andre Oboler, an international PhD student from Australia, was elected as a Project Officer for the National Postgraduate Committee (NPC).
His remit is to promote links between the NPC's affiliates and Israeli academics, as a means of opposing the proposed academic boycott of Israel.
His election came after Dr Jon Pike, a lecturer at the Open University and a founder of Engage, spoke at the NPC's conference.
Commenting on the appointment, Andre said:
"The NPC has opposed an academic boycott of Israel since before the AUT called for their 2005 boycott, and we continue to oppose it. We oppose it because boycotts do not further higher education in the UK, only collaboration and positive engagement can do this. In this new role I hope to facilitate such engagement, not only mitigating the damage the UCU are causing, but hopefully also achieving positive academic engagement between Israelis, Palestinians and UK academics as well."

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Hadassah Director-General responds to boycott debate

After the British Medical Journal's debate on the Academic Boycott, Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director-General of Hadassah, a medical organisation in Israel wrote a letter to the BMJ
In the letter, which appeared on the BMJ website, he highlighted examples of collaborative health projects between Hadassah and Palestinians.
Prof. Mor-Yosef wrote:

"We do not let politics into our premises when we save lives of Palestinian babies with severe heart defects. We ignore political aspects when we conduct dozens of collaborative research and clinical projects with Palestinian physicians in a variety of medical and health areas."

Campaign Update 9

10th August 2007

300 US University presidents say 'Boycott us too'

In an advert published in the New York Times this week, 300 presidents of US Universities and colleges condemned the academic boycott of Israel.
The advert raised the threat that an academic boycott could seriously damage the relationship between British Universites and their American counterparts.
The presidents endorsed comments by Lee Bollinger President of Columbia University, who said:
"...if the British UCU is intent on pursuing its deeply misguided policy, then it should add Columbia to its boycott list, for we do not intend to draw distinctions between our mission and that of the universities you are seeking to punish. Boycott us, then, for we gladly stand together with our many colleagues in British, American and Israeli universities against such intellectually shoddy and politically biased attempts to hijack the central mission of higher education."
Commenting on the statement, senior UK academic Professor Mark Pepys FRS said:
"This is a matter of grave concern. The robust position of 300 US institutions in defence of the universally recognised principle of academic freedom cannot be ignored. American academia, with its depth, breadth and scale, has enormous impact in the UK at all levels of academic life.

"There is now an immediate imperative for all British universities to take an equally rigorous and unequivocal public stand so that they are not tainted by association with those individuals who propose a boycott. Before even more damage is done to our universities and the reputation of the country itself, every university should state, as Cambridge, Oxford, UCL and LSE have already done, that they oppose the boycott."

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Stop the Boycott in Israel

Senior leaders of the Stop the Boycott campaign will travel to Israel next week.
While there they will be briefing the International Advisory Board on Academic Freedom and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They will also be dicussing strategy, and making sure that all international resources are used in full coordination.

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UCU Update

The UCU has published more details about the regional meetings it will be holding on the academic boycott of Israel.
These meetings will be in October and will only be open to UCU members, who will need tickets in advance. The speakers will be Israeli and Palestinian Trade Unionsists.
The (provisional) dates for the meetings are:

Monday 15th October
Southampton

Tuesday 16th October
Cardiff

Wednesday 17th October
Birmingham

Thursday 18th October
London

Monday 22nd October
Manchester

Tuesday 23rd October
Glasgow

If you are a UCU member, put the date of your local meeting in your diary and remember to apply for tickets.
Stop the Boycott will send more information as it becomes available.

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UNISON Distances itself from Boycott

UNISON made moves to distance itself from a boycott of Israel this week.
Dave Prentis, the union's General Secretary, wrote to Ofir Eini of the Histadrut to confirm that the Union's policy "does not commit Unison to boycott Israel or Israeli organisations".
Keith Sonnet, the Union's deputy General Secretary, wrote to American Jewish newspaper The Forward to express similar points.

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Roundup

TUC

Despite some speculation, there is no motion about boycotts at this year's Trades Union Congress.
The TUC actively opposes a boycott, and helped overturn the NUJ's policy.

Liberal Democrats

There will be a debate on the party's polcy on the academic boycott of Israel on the first day of the Liberal Democrat Party's annual Conference.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell and frontbencher Chris Huhne have condemned a boycott.

Remember, you can donate securely to Stop the Boycott by clicking here

Campaign Update 8

3rd of August 2007

Thank you for being part of the Stop the Boycott campaign.

Cambridge University Rejects Israeli Academic Boycott

The Council of the University of Cambridge has unanimously rejected calls for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
At its Council meeting on 23 July 2007 the Council of the University of Cambridge unanimously endorsed the statement issued by Universities UK. This statement read:
"UCU members are free to debate the pros and cons of an institutional boycott of Israeli universities. Universities UK, however, would oppose any such boycott as this would be inimical to academic freedom, including the freedom of academics to collaborate with other academics, regardless of nationality or location."
Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of BICOM speaking for Stop the Boycott said:
"The unanimous rejection of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the council of a world-class university sends a clear message. It clearly demonstrates how out of touch boycott supporters are with the wider academic community. We fully support the decision of the Council of the University of Cambridge as a boycott would not only severely damage the reputation of British academia but would be disastrous for peace in the Middle East."

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Ten Thousand Academics Declare Themselves 'Honorary Israelis'

10,000 academics internationally have declared themselves honorary Israeli academics in response to the proposed academic boycott of Israel.
Among them are 53 US University Presidents and 32 Nobel Laureates.
The statement they have signed says:
"We are academics, scholars, researchers and professionals of differing religious and political perspectives. We all agree that singling out Israelis for an academic boycott is wrong. To show our solidarity with our Israeli academics in this matter, we, the undersigned, hereby declare ourselves to be Israeli academics for purposes of any academic boycott. We will regard ourselves as Israeli academics and decline to participate in any activity from which Israeli academics are excluded."
The statement was the initiative of US based Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), and drafted by Alan Dershowitz, Steven Weinberg and Ed Beck. You can see all the signatories on the SPME website here: http://spme.net/cgi-bin/display_petitions.cgi?ID=9&Action=View
Responding in the Chronicle of Higher Education, UCU official Matt Waddup said the Scholars for Peace in the Middle East petition will have "no bearing" on how the union proceeds. "We are a trade union," he said. "We are used to international pressure".
Jeremy Newmark, the Chief Executive of The Jewish Leadership Council, on behalf of the Stop The Boycott Campaign, welcomed the statement, saying: "We welcome this statement. It is a significant and serious development which proves that there are consequences to an academic boycott of Israel. It is clear evidence of the damage that the UCU vote has done and continues to do to the reputation of British Academia. We have brought the petition to the attention of the British government."

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Israeli and Palestinian Transport Unions Sign New Deal

Trade Unions for Israeli and Palestinian transportation workers recently met in a special summit in Cyprus to sign a cooperation accord.
The two unions established a joint liaison committee to deal with practical problems faced by transport workers in the region and to help build trust between unions.
The deal was brokered by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
This deal comes despite the decision in early July by Britain's biggest transport Union, the TGWU, to boycott Israeli goods.
You can read the agreement here (PDF): http://www.itfglobal.org/files/seealsodocs/4960/JointStatementSignatures.pdf
Or watch a video of the signing here: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/signingvideo.cfm

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Past Events

Hendon United Synagogue held an event last week to encourage more political activism in the Jewish Community, with particular reference to the developing boycott movement.
The meeting was addressed by Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion and by Jeremy Newmark of the Jewish Leadership Council.
There was also a stall run by the Stop the Boycott campaign.
More than 100 people attended.

If you are having any local events, please let us know on support@stoptheboycott.org

Campaign Update 7

27th July 2007

Here's the latest news from the Stop the Boycott campaign.

BMJ Debate and Poll

The British Medical Journal conducted a poll and debate last week on the academic boycott of Israel
In response to this, the Guardian's Comment is Free blog carried an article by Ann Robinson
You can read it on their website, here

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Gordon Brown opposes boycott

At his first monthly press conference, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was asked his views on the proposed academic boycott of Israel.
He replied "Obviously I defend the right of free speech in the universities. I do think it is unfortunate that so many Universities have passed this resolution - University Student Associations - have passed this resolution banning people".
Gordon Brown has consistently opposed the academic boycott, stating in April at the Board of Deputies Dinner that he "recoil in revulsion at the prospect of boycotts of Israel and the Israeli academic community".
David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell have also opposed the academic boycott.

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Gert Weisskirchen

Gert Weisskirchen, the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE on Combating Antisemitism, visited England on Thursday.
He came specifically in reaction to the various boycott motions passed over the spring.
While here, he met with the leadership of UNISON, as well as the Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell, and Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Unfortunately, his requests to meet the UCU leadership - either in the UK or while they are in Berlin - were unsuccesful.

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Past events

An anti-boycott talk was held at Alyth Gardens Synagogue last week.
Lorna Fitzsimons of BICOM and Roger Lyons of Trade Union Friends of Israel spoke and answered questions.
Around 200 people attended.

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Forthcoming events

Hendon United Synagogue (Raleigh Close) in will host an anti-boycott this coming Monday 30th July at 8:30pm

Speaking will be:

Douglas Murray, author and commentator, who debated Ken Livingstone at the "Clash of Civilisations" conference.
Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council.

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Early Day Motion:

Early Day Motion 1603, "University and College Union and and Academic Boycott of Israel", has now closed because Parliament is in recess.
The motion was signed by 116 MPs when it closed.
EDMs can only be signed by backbench MPs so this is a good turnout.
See if your MP signed by clicking here.

Campaign Update 6

20th July 2007

Thank you to the many list participants who donated to the Stop the Boycott campaign. We appreciate your support in the boycott battle ahead.

If you haven't yet, please consider donating securely to Stop the Boycott by clicking here.

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New EU research deal for Israeli Universities

Israel has this week signed a new deal that lets its universities join a six-year European Union research programme.
As part of its pro-boycott policy, UCU's annual Congress voted to "campaign for ... a moratorium on research and cultural collaborations with Israel via EU and European Science Foundation".
However, by joining the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7), worth £34bn, Israel and the EU have disregarded this pressure.
For example, Israel is the only country outside the EU participating in a research partnership to on green air transport to be funded under the programme.
Jeremy Newmark, the Chief Executive of The Jewish Leadership Council, said:
"The signing of the FP7 agreement clearly demonstrates how out of touch those who support the boycott are with the majority of the academic community. The agreement illustrates the desire of scientists from all over the world to work together regardless of any political agenda."

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US Trade Unions Slam UCU and UK Trade Union Boycott Motions

US trade unions have come together to slam the UK trade union boycotts
Trade Unions as diverse as the Teamsters and the American Postal Workers have branded the boycotts as "inimical" and questioned the motives of singling out Israel.
On the academic boycott, the Union leaders' statement said:
"Rather than limiting interactions with Israeli educators, academics and educational institutions, we see the importance of maximizing, rather than proscribing, the free flow of ideas and academic interaction between peoples, cultures, religions and countries"
Commenting on the Union leaders' statement Jon Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:
"They have clearly stated what most people understand to be the case, that boycotts aimed at Israel are nothing more than partisan attempts to demonise Israel."
Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of BICOM said:
"I hope that this will be noted by Tony Woodley, the T & G, and UNITE who are trying to tighten up relations with the trade union movement across the pond."
You can read the full statement on the Jewish Labor Committee website, here.

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Boycotts condemned in Parliament

An Adjournment Debate on the Government's response to the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism was held in Westminster Hall on Thursday.
In the course of the debate, MPs from all three major parties attacked the academic boycott of Israel.
MPs also called on both the Government and University leadership to do more to fight the boycott threat.
Iain Wright MP, responding for the Government, also condemned the T&G's boycott.
You can read the debate in the Parliamentary Record here: http://tinyurl.com/2m5hwc
Or you can watch a video of the debate here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/?Meeting=7769

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Recent meetings

A successful and well-attended meeting on the Boycott was held at Woodside Park Synagogue on Wednesday.
The meeting was addressed by Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of BICOM, representing the Stop the Boycott campaign.

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Forthcoming meetings

Alyth Gardens 24th July

There will be a meeting on the boycott on Tuesday 24th July at Alyth Gardens Synagogue.
This will be an open meeting taking place from 20:00 - 21:30.
Speakers will include Lorna Fitzsimons (Chief Executive of BICOM) and Roger Lyons (Chair of Trade Union Friends of Israel).

Hendon 30th July

Raleigh Close Synagogue in Hendon is hosting an anti-boycott meeting on Monday 30th of July.
The event starts at 20:30.
Speakers include Jeremy Newmark (Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council) and Douglas Murray (author and commentator).

Manchester Engage Public Meeting "THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL CAMPAIGN AND CONTEMPORARY ANTISEMITISM".

Engage's first Manchester public meeting is to be held on Sunday 9th September.
The meeting is 19:00 - 22:00 at Manchester Maccabi, Bury Old Road , Prestwich.
Admission is £5 by ticket only (payable on the night), light refreshments will be provided
Email engagemanchester@gmail.com for a place with many tickets you require and in what names.

Speakers include:

Denis Macshane MP (Chair 2005 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Anti-Semitism)
David Hirsh (Editor Engage)
Jane Ashworth (Campaigns Director Engage)
Richard Gold (North West Organiser Engage)
Philip Spencer (Advisory Editor Engage)

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BMJ debate and poll

The British Medical Journal is conducting a poll and debate on the boycott of Israel
They carry two articles on the boycott - one in favour and one against
The anti-boycott piece is written by Professor Michael Baum
You can join the online debate and vote in the poll here

Campaign Update 5

12th July 2007

Poll of UCU members

A Populus poll of UCU members, commissioned by the Fair Play Campaign Group for this campaign, was published this week. 500 regular UCU members were polled at 200 institutions, both universities and Further Education colleges. It includes a number of key findings:

75% of UCU members of those who have an opinion on the issue oppose a boycott.
81% of members believe that a ballot of all UCU members is the best way to make a decision on a boycott.
87% of members would support such a membership ballot if Sally Hunt called one.

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Donate to Stop the Boycott

The Stop the Boycott campaign needs your support. We are supported by donations which we need to support the activities of the campaign. We still have much to do, and as we move towards the new academic term, we will be running and coordinating activity across the United Kingdom. The Stop the Boycott Campaign is not a charity, and without your support we will simply be unable to effectively fight boycotts of Israel in academia and trade unions.

You can safely donate right now over the Internet by clicking on this secure link: CLICK HERE

Alternatively, you can send a cheque payable to "JAC limited" to STB Campaign c/o Jewish Activities Committee Ltd, 6 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP

Thank you in advance for your help.

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Public meetings

Manchester meeting

An anti-boycott event was hosted in Manchester by the ZCC.
About 200 people attended.
Speakers included Lorna Fitzsimons from BICOM on behalf of the Stop the Boycott Campaign, Doreen Gerson of Trade Union Friends of Israel, Richard Gold of Engage, Ronnie Fraser from Academic Friends of Israel and NUJ member Joy Wolfe.
The meeting was a great success.

Engage public meeting

Engage, the Left-wing group that campaigns against boycotts of Israel and antisemitism, held a public meeting on the boycott on Wednesday evening.
The event was sold out, with attendees filling the room and the corridor outside.
John Mann MP, Louise Ellman MP, Jonathan Freedland, Howard Jacobson and Maureen Lipman gave speeches.
Members of NUJ, UCU and UNISON also explained how the boycott motions passed in their Unions, and how to stop boycotts in the future.
If you are running any local anti-boycott activity, please let us know.

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Yuli Tamir visit

Israel's Education Minister, Yuli Tamir, visited the UK earlier this week.
While here, she addressed a dinner of the New Israel Fund UK.
She also met with Schools Minister Ed Balls.

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UCU in Congress

The US House of Representatives passed a motion condemning the UCU for its pro-boycott policy.
This motion was proposed by Congressman Patrick Murphy, a Democrat.
It was passed unanimously by a voice-vote.
You can read the motion here: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/hr467_eh.xml

NUJ move away from boycott

The National Union of Journalists Executive committee distanced themselves from a boycott of Israel.
Responding to a pro-boycott motion passed at the NUJ Annual Meeting in April, the Executive passed a motion that "recognised the concerns expressed by some members, chapels and branches about the proposed boycott", and "resolved to take no further action over the boycott call".

Jeremy Newmark, the Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: "This is an honourable decision and a victory for common sense. It shows that the NUJ leadership are attuned to the wishes of their membership, and should serve as an example to the leaders of other trade unions.

Lorna Fitzsimons, the Chief Executive of BICOM said

"This is a vindication of the members of the NUJ who do not want their union to boycott Israel. This vote is instructive to all the trade unions whose conferences are voting to boycott Israel - the rank and file do not want it."

You can see the NUJ's release on their decision here:

Campaign Update 4

6th July 2007

Yuli Tamir event

We very much regret that we were forced to cancel the visit on 10th July of Yuli Tamer MK, Israel's Minister of Education, to address us at the National Union of Teachers. Unfortunately, due to governmental duties, she was obliged to return to Israel early and cut short her time in the UK.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused, and hope to reschedule the event in the near future.

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Other meetings

1. This Sunday 8th July, there will be a public meeting in Mamlock House, Manchester against the boycott. Speakers include:

Lorna Fitzsimmons
Ronnie Fraser
Richard Gold
Doreen Gerson
Joy Wolfe

2. Engage are having a public meeting on the boycott at Friends House, Euston on Wednesday the 11th of July. This event is now full, though there is a waiting list for tickets.

See http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1114 for more details.

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UCU Update

The UCU's Strategy and Finance Committee met on Friday to decide how to implement their conference policy on the boycott. Afterwards, Sally Hunt wrote to all members to explain what had been decided:

UCU will have a series of debates on the boycott in London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester and the South West.
These will include both Palestinian and Israeli academic Trade Unionists.
After these debates, the Executive will decide on the next moves in November.
The next steps will include debates in local branches.
Sally Hunt will report to UCU Congress 2008 on the debates.
You can read the full details on the UCU website here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu31.html

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Our Website

The Stop the Boycott website has been updated with press releases, past campaign updates, an expanded toolkit and more.

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Calling all academics

If an academic boycott goes ahead, how will this effect you and your department?

Will this mean that vital collaboration between your department and your Israeli counterparts would be compromised?
Will it mean that you will have to cut the hours of your staff?
How will this effect your students?

We want to hear WHAT YOU THINK. It

Campaign Update 3

29th June 2007

Please make sure that you check out the Campaign Toolkit (details below) and act on it.

We are also looking for volunteers to co-ordinate locally in preparation for September's new academic year. Please let us know if you are able to volunteer for this.

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Campaign Toolkit

We have prepared a toolkit of useful documents which will help every individual anti-boycott campaigner to help make the campaign a success. It includes posters, messages and ideas for letters.

The toolkit is in PDF format and will be added to as the campaign develops. Resources so far include:

Messaging sheet
This gives some of the key arguments and points to make when arguing against the boycott.
Suggested letter to your MEP and Suggested letter to your MP
These give some ideas for writing to your elected representatives.
Suggested letter to your local paper
Using local media is a great way to keep the pressure on. Local papers like it when you can find local angles for national stories.
Suggested letter to the principal of your local institution
This letter, designed for students, is suitable for sending to vice-chancellors and principals of FE colleges and universities.
Campaign flier, Campaign poster 1 and Campaign poster 2
For you to distribute or use in your local community.
Useful quotes opposing the boycott
These are quotes from political figures and academics in opposition to the boycott. You may find them useful.

Keep track of the toolkit on http://www.stoptheboycott.org/ToolKit.aspx

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JLC Advert

An advert from the Jewish Leadership Council about the Stop the Boycott Campaign will appear in Friday's Jewish Chronicle. A PDF version is available on http://www.stoptheboycott.org/jc

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Tony Blair's comments?

Outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair offered to support work to overturn the boycott. At a meeting in Downing Street with the Jewish Leadership Council, he said:

"I find it totally despicable. We need to come down on this very hard indeed. I feel personally affronted. This is a profound double-standard. You can't allow that kind of delegitimisation of Israel to happen. We need to find a way to challenge this head-on, not just to condemn it."

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Latest Polling

A new poll by Populus on whether an academic boycott of Israel would be supported by business, cultural and political leaders has found that:

86% of those polled opposed an academic boycott of Israel; only 14% supported one.
86% of those polled - and 84% of academia and NGOs - believe it flies in the face of academic freedom.
80% think that it is an unreasonable way to express disapproval with Israel's relationship with the Palestinians.
70% think its bad for Britain.

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General UCU news

51 nobel prize winners, including Eli Wiesel, signed a letter condemning the academic boycott.
8 Canadian Universities have condemned the UCU decision and opposed academic boycotts of Israel.

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Other boycott news

UNISON Conference last week passed a motion supporting the idea of a boycott of Israel.
UNISON had already passed pro-boycott policies over the last five years.
A representative of the UNISON leadership stated that the motion did not commit the Union to a boycott.
A significantly stronger boycott motion was submitted by one local branch, but was not discussed.
The Transport and General Workers Union has had a motion on boycotting Israeli goods submitted for discussion to its annual conference. Until the Conference begins, it will not be decided whether the motion will be debated at all, and in what form.

Campaign Update 2

19th June 2007

What's new?

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell reiterated the Government's opposition to the boycott at a meeting with the Jewish Labour Movement yesterday. Mr Rammell said that there was no justification for singling Israel out for boycotts and that such action was discriminatory and threatened social cohesion.
During further debate in the House of Lords, Professor Lord Robert Winston (Labour) asked the Government what steps it is taking to support academic cooperation between universities in the United Kingdom, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories in support of the Middle East peace process.
Stop the Boycott has distributed over 12,000 leaflets to 90 communities explaining what individuals can do to support the campaign.
Members of UNISON (see below), and the UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt, have written letters to the Guardian opposing any boycott.

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What's happening next?

A campaign toolkit to support individuals campaigning locally against the boycott will be available from Friday. This online resource will include templates for letters to MPs, MEPs, local papers and universities and FE colleges; downloadable fliers and posters; quotes from academics and others opposing the boycott; suggested speakers for campaign meetings; links to speeches, press cuttings and other useful resources.
Research is being commissioned on the consequences for innovation and discovery that a boycott of Israeli academics would entail. This report will look at current life-enhancing and life-saving projects between UK and Israeli academics, the successes of the last 20 years, and the future opportunity costs of a boycott. It will also highlight the correlation between anti-Israel activity on campus and attacks on Jewish students and lecturers.

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The UCU boycott: help us maintain the momentum

youtube is hosting a virtual hustings for the Labour Party Deputy Leadership. You can post your own questions - or even a video response.
...written to your MP yet?
...lobbied them to sign Early Day Motion 1603?
...asked your MP to meet local universities and colleges to enlist support and get joint statements condemning the boycott?
...got local UCU branch members to propose motions supporting a membership ballot and condemning the motion?
...written to the UCU NEC (if you're a UCU member) asking them for a ballot?
...got yourself and others signed up for regular updates at www.stoptheboycott.org ?

Please come back to us with any ideas for further action you may have and let us know what activity is out there.

Remember, the boycott is bad for academic freedom, bad for the Palestinians, and bad for Britain.

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Other news: UNISON's academic boy

On Wednesday 20 June, around 3,000 delegates at the 2007 UNISON national conference will have the chance to vote on two policy motions covering Palestine and Sanctions Against Israel.
Together, the motions call for boycotts, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel (including an academic boycott) as well as a system for monitoring their application and pre-conditioning cooperation with the Histadrut.
UNISON is the UK's largest trade union, representing over 1.3 million members working in the public sector, private contractors and the utilities.
Boycott, divestment and sanctions motions have been commonplace at UNISON conferences for at least the last five years.
The 2005 conference directed the union to support a boycott of Israeli goods and work "with other like-minded organisations to bring this about."
However, implementation of any boycott policy has been scarce to non-existent, suggesting that there is little appetite amongst the vast majority of members for such action.

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UNISON: what you can do

If you're a UNISON member at national conference:

While yet another threat to academic freedom and the peace process, the UNISON boycott proposals are also a great opportunity to debate the issues and expose the weaknesses in the pro-boycott arguments.
Motion 53 on Palestine, the more standard but no less damaging of the two motions, has been prioritised for debate and is expected to hit conference floor at around 2.00 pm on Wednesday 20 June.
The more extreme motion 54 on Sanctions Against Israel may miss out on being debated but could find itself reprioritised as a popular issue and would then come under discussion on the afternoon of Friday, 22 June. Boycott supporters are campaigning hard for this but the union's executive is supporting debate on only 53.
PLEASE CONTACT US FOR ANY BRIEFINGS.

Visit the Trade Union Friends of Israel stall in the solidarity stand section in the Hewison Hall on the first floor of the conference centre.

Trade Union Friends of Israel will host a fringe meeting today at 5.30 pm in the Albert Room of the Grand Hotel, Brighton, with Nawaf Massalha, the Histadrut's International Secretary and a former Knesset Member.

All UNISON members and other supporters can sign up to support Stop the Boycott at http://www.stoptheboycott.org/

Campaign Update 1

14th June 2007

Thank you for signing up to support the Stop The Boycott campaign.

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Who are we?

The "Stop the Boycott" campaign has been launched as the unified response of tens of organisations and hundreds of academics to the Universities College Union pro-boycott policy.
The campaign is led by the Chief Executives of BICOM and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) in partnership with the Fair Play Campaign Group, which was set up by the JLC and the Board of Deputies last year.
We aim to obtain and win a full UCU membership ballot to overturn the boycott policy.

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Who are our supporters?

We are delighted at the overwhelming support we have received. UK supporters include The Board of Deputies; Trade Union Friends of Israel, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, the ‘Friends Of' the various Israeli Universities, the Union of Jewish Students, and the Zionist Federation.
Beyond the Jewish Community some 300 senior academics have signed newspaper advertisements; 76 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion; and many members of the UCU are involved.
The influential Russell Group, as well as Senior Government Ministers and Opposition Spokespeople, have all echoed our campaign messages.
We have received huge support from Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks and Head of the Reform Movement Rabbi Tony Bayfield.
We also proud to have the support of the Israeli Government through the Ambassador in London as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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Who else is opposing the boycott?

The influential 1994 Group, Universities UK, The British Academy and The National Union of Students have all echoed our campaign messages.

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What are we doing?

Amongst other things:

An advert appeared in The Guardian and The Times on Wednesday 13th June.
A visit of Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell MP to Israel.
An Early Day Motion in Parliament (number 1603)
Question to the Prime Minister from Andrew Dismore MP on Wednesday 6th June.
Question in Education Questions from Andrew Dismore MP.
Letter from all Parliamentary Chairs of Friends of Israel groups in The Guardian.
Letter from some of the most eminent scientists in Britain and the world in The Guardian.
The leaders of all 3 main political parties have come out against this boycott
Statements from Education spokespeople of 3 main political parties.
Editorials have appeared in all the main UK broadsheet newspapers against the boycott.
We have collated quotes from hundreds of academics and prominent members of the Jewish community, which have been press released.
Meetings have taken place with Israel's Prime Minister's office and the Foreign Secretary herself.
Work was done around the Higher Education debate in the House of Lords.

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Messages

The overall campaign message is that boycotts are bad for academic freedom, bad for the Palestinians and bad for Britain.
For UCU members, the priority message is that of academic freedom.
Our message is simple. Do something today, to support this campaign.

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What do we need you to do?

There is no magic bullet. To succeed we must be prepared for a series of hard-fought tactical battles over many months. We need your help to:

Find out who your local MP is.
Lobby your MP to sign EDM 1603.
Ask your MP to meet with local universities/colleges to enlist support and get joint statements denouncing the boycott.
Get UCU branch members in local universities/colleges to propose motions supporting a membership ballot and condemning the motion, before the summer holidays.
If you are a UCU member write to the NEC asking them for a ballot
Sign up to, and get your friends and family to sign up to, regular updates at http://www.stoptheboycott.org/

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Website

Please visit http://www.stoptheboycott.org/ for more information about this important campaign.

Special update

SUCCESS!

UCU says boycott 'illegal', cannot be implemented.

On Friday, UCU announced that they had accepted legal advice that an academic boycott of Israel would be unlawful and could not be implemented.

As a consequence of this, the union has instructed its branches that they should not boycott Israeli academics or institutions. The planned regional ‘roadshow' debates on the boycott have also been cancelled.

You can read UCU's press release on their website, here.

Without the sustained pressure of the Stop the Boycott campaign supported by you and thousands of others, UCU wouldn't have been compelled to seek the advice they did.

The boycott was ultimately defeated by legal means, but Stop the Boycott had already won the the argument. It was clear that the majority of UCU members opposed a boycott, and this would have been proved in due course by a membership ballot. Even the Socialist Workers Party admitted that a membership ballot on the issue would smash the boycott. In the end, the boycott call has been defeated, protecting academic freedom, preventing discrimination and probably saving UCU itself.

Everyone who contributed - academics inside and outside the UCU, campaigners and anyone who donated money to Stop the Boycott - has a share in the victory and deserves our heartfelt thanks.

Commenting on the UCU decision Lorna Fitzsimons, CEO of BICOM said:

"We welcome the UCU's intervention and decision to abandon plans for a boycott. The boycott is like a cancer at the heart of labour movements and we will try and cut it out wherever we find it. We will continue to win the intellectual argument, showing why any boycott of Israel is unbalanced, unfair and ignores the difficult complexities of the Middle East.

A boycott was never the right answer for those looking to genuinely help Palestinians and Israelis. As Palestinian officials have said all along, punishing Israeli academics achieves nothing and does not help the Palestinians.

Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said.

"This is a victory against the boycotters on two fronts. Firstly, the legal opinion endorses our contention that the proposed UCU boycott was a form of discrimination that had no place in a UK trade union. Secondly, last week's explicit admission by the main pro-boycott faction that they would have lost a ballot proved our assertion that a boycott is not supported by the vast majority of UCU members."
Professor David Newman, Head of Geo-Politics at Ben Gurion University is the official academic representative of Israel for all matters relating to a potential academic boycott. He said:

"This is now the time for senior British academics to strengthen their ties with their Israeli colleagues and cement links and relationships to make sure a boycott of this nature can never be implemented. I reiterate the call to all academics to maintain an open dialogue and a free exchange of thoughts and ideas as this is the only way a lasting, sustainable peace can be achieved in the Middle East."

Jessica Truman, Chairperson of the Union of Jewish Students, said:

"I'm proud of the role Jewish students played in the campaign to overturn the boycott and am delighted at the decision."

Campaign Update 19

16th May 2008

Parliament and Government

As UCU Congress approaches, politicians have been condemning the proposed academic boycott of Israel.

In response to a question by Sharon Hodgson MP, Bill Rammell, the Minister for Higher Education, made the following statement in the House of Commons on Thursday:

"The Government are completely opposed to such a boycott, which will harm rather than help moves towards peace and reconciliation in the middle east. It is significant that the motion before this year's University and College Union falls well short of calls for an outright boycott. I think that that is because the proposers of the motion know that there is no widespread support for that among UCU members. Both Israel and the occupied territories contain both progressives and reactionaries, and the problem with boycotts is that they make the job of progressives much more difficult and entrench the position of the reactionaries."

This week, The Government published a year-on progress report on its response to the Parlamentary Inquiry into Antisemtism. The report had the following to say about an academic boycott:

We re-iterate our strong opposition to any academic boycott of Israel. Ministers have publicly stated this view whenever the issue has arisen. We don't believe the calls last year were motivated by antisemitism but such specific targeting of Israel can often have a worrying negative effect on all Jewish people. UUK, the Russell Group, the 1994 Group and the National Union of Students also expressed their opposition to any academic boycott, along with many individual academics. We don't believe that the boycott calls reflect the majority opinion in Higher Education.

Speaking in a Parliamentary debate on Thursday, John Mann MP said:

"Another important issue is the boycott of academia from Israel by an increasingly irrelevant University and College Union, which has rather clouded our reputation abroad and the respect accorded to British universities. If that union wants to regain proper status and standing in the universities, I strongly recommend that it concentrate on the real issues that university lecturers and others need addressing rather than on the frivolities brought in at the extremes of politics to fill a vacuum that has clearly occurred."

In an interview with Israeli media, Foreign Secretary David Milliband labelled as "madness" the initiatives of British college and university teachers union to boycott Israeli academic institutions and individual researchers.

Oxford Economics Report

A report by Oxford Economics has revealed the extent of links between British and Israeli academia.
The report, commissioned by BICOM, reveals that 200 Israeli academics work and research at UK academic institutions, and 720 Israeli postgraduate students study and teach at UK universities.
It also highlights other academic links between the two countries.
The full report, which includes data on economic and cultural links between the UK and Israel, can be read here.

Other News

Stop the Boycott has resdesigned its website. Check it out on www.stoptheboycott.org

Contact Stop the Boycott via our website or at support@stoptheboycott.org

Campaign Update 20

20th May 2008

Boycott Legal Advice Published

Stop the Boycott has today published an Opinion on the legality of UCU Motion 25, which is due to be discussed at the union's annual Congress in Manchester (28th to 30th May). A copy of this advice can be obtained by clicking here.

Additionally, Stop the Boycott has sent UCU's General Secretary Sally Hunt, UCU's President Linda Newman and the Union's Trustees a copy of the Opinion together with the letter below:

Sally Hunt

General Secretary

UCU

Egmont House

25-31 Tavistock Place

London

WC1H 9UT

May 20, 2008

Dear Ms Hunt,

UCU Motion 25 - Palestine and the Occupation

We are aware that the UCU National Executive Committee has submitted a motion to your forthcoming Congress that appears to encourage an academic boycott of Israel. It is very similar to the last year's motion, which was partly suspended after the Union accepted legal advice that "an academic boycott of Israel would be unlawful and cannot be implemented".

As the Union has not published that legal advice in full, we have sought an Opinion on the legality of UCU motion 25. We have today published this Opinion on our website and enclose a copy for your attention.

We trust that you will reflect upon and consider the contents of this Opinion with care.

Yours sincerely,

Henry Grunwald QC, President - Board of Deputies of British Jews and Chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council
Sir Trevor Chinn CVO - Member of Jewish Leadership Council Executive Committee
Mr Mick Davis, Chairman - United Jewish Israel Appeal and Member of Jewish Leadership Council Executive Committee
Mr Brian Kerner, Co-Chairman - Fair Play Campaign Group and Member of Jewish Leadership Council
Mr Poju Zabludowicz, Chairman - BICOM and member of Jewish Leadership Council

cc: UCU Trustees

cc: UCU President

cc: The Certification Officer

Addendum to legal advice

Stop the Boycott has published an addendum to the joint legal Opinion on UCU motion 25. This takes into account new text in the final UCU conference order paper that did not appear in the initial motions document.

Commenting on Motion 57 "Rule change: aims and objects", Messrs Beloff and Saini QC have written:

"Our view is that the proposed amendments make no difference. They do nothing to mandate or authorise the positive actions which the Motion contemplates."

UCU passes motion to reintroduce Israel academic boycott

The University and College Union (UCU) has today passed a motion that would allow for the reintroduction of a boycott of Israeli academia.

At its annual congress in Manchester, the motion was passed without debate and by a show of hands.

The motion follows last year's attempts by the union to implement a similar boycott motion, but was withdrawn by the Union following undisclosed legal advice.

This year's motion was debated despite the fact the Stop the Boycott campaign despite legal advice which clearly states that any boycott of Israeli academia would be in breach of the unions own anti-discrimination policies and British anti-discrimination laws.

Jeremy Newmark, Joint Head of the Stop the Boycott Campaign said:

"UCU has again demonstrated how out of touch the it is with the vast majority of its membership and with the wider academic community. This motion does nothing to help the Palestinians.

"Trade Unions exist to defend their members in the workplace. Our legal opinion, produced at the request of UCU members, shows that this motion promotes discrimination. It runs counter to all that a Trade Union should stand for, discriminating against some of its members instead of defending all of them. "

Lorna Fitzsimons, Joint Head of the Stop the Boycott campaign said:

"What was true last year remains true today.

"Boycotts of any kind do nothing to promote peace and moderation in the Middle East, as well as undermining the academic freedom and integrity of British academic institutions.

"A boycott has never been the right answer for those looking to genuinely help Palestinians and Israelis. The way forward must be to build bridges, encourage dialogue and allow ordinary Israelis and Palestinians the opportunity to engage with each other.

"This motion in effect gives license to harassment and discrimination within academic institutions - the very thing the UCU is supposed to protect its members from.

"As a trade unionist myself I find it astounding that the Union is prepared to contradict its founding principles of protection in the workplace. Ferocious and free debate is of course vital within all aspects of society - but only if there is no threat attached to individuals."

Campaign Update 22

UCU decision condemned

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell spoke in opposition to the academic boycott of Israel at UCU Congress in Manchester. Mr Rammell said:

"Let me be clear - you are entitled to decide your policy. But I have to tell you I profoundly disagree with cutting links with Israeli academics. That doesn't mean people can't, or shouldn't criticise Israeli government decisions and policies.

Academic boycotts are the complete antithesis of academic freedom. Boycotting academics because of their nationality I find deeply disturbing. And there is no evidence that such a strategy would further the cause of peace in the Middle East.", he said.

Commenting on the UCU decision David Lidington MP, Conservative Shadow Middle East Minister, said

"A boycott would be a negation of academic freedom. Anyone who has visited Israeli universities knows that they are the home of vigorous free speech and debate. Israeli academics include supporters and some of the most vehement critics of Israeli government policy. A boycott would shame British universities and do nothing to help the Palestinians."

The democratic candidate for the US Presidency, Senator Barack Obama, used his first major foreign policy speech this Wednesday to condemn "...the bigoted divestment that has sought to punish Israeli scientists and academics...".

The full speech is available here.

For many other statements of support, including from Universities UK and the Russell Group, see the Stop the Boycott website

Letter to UCU from Anthony Julius

Solicitor Anthony Julius of Mishcon de Reya has written to UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt on behalf of "groups of UCU members adversely affected in one or more ways" by the decision to pass a pro-boycott motion.

The letter (republished here), points to breaches and potential breaches of the law if UCU were to implement the boycott policy. It also references the legal advice on Motion 25 which Stop the Boycott sought and published a few weeks ago.

The letter also hopes that the "concerns will be addressed when the NEC next meets".The next NEC meeting is on Friday 13th June, where the committee is set to decide whether and how to implement the boycott motion.

Stop the Boycott in the media

There have been several articles on the UCU decision in the national and international media. See the media page on the Stop the Boycott website for a selection.

Additionally, two opinion pieces by Stop the Boycott were published this week:

An Op-ed on the UCU decision by Lorna Fitzsimons appeared in the Independent: "The UCU is Wasting Time and Money"

An Op-ed by Jeremy Newmark was in this Monday's Jerusalem Post: "Build Bridges not Boycotts"

Campaign Update 23

UCU fudges decision

UCU failed to make a decision on whether or not to implement the pro-boycott motion today.
The first meeting of the new National Executive Committee decided to refer the motion to a Union committee, which will examine new legal advice that UCU is seeking and decide which parts of the motion can be implemented.
UCU General-Secretary Sally Hunt had previously said "Implementation of the motion within the law will now fall to the National Executive Committee". However, the NEC has now deferred that responsibility.
Commenting on the lack of a decision Jeremy Newmark, joint-head of the Stop the Boycott Campaign, said

"UCU's NEC has failed to seize a key opportunity to take decisive action and show leadership on the boycott issue. Instead, it produced a bureaucratic fudge resulting in a discriminatory motion remaining on the Union's policy books for months.

This is now a question of leadership. How long does Sally Hunt expect people to wait for the UCU to decide whether or not it will break the law in order to punish Israeli academics? Organisations and with a commitment to anti-Racism may choose to review their own relationships to a Union with an official policy that promotes discrimination."

Lorna Fitzsimons, joint-head of the Stop the Boycott Campaign, commented:

"If this was legal, the Union would not have hesitated in implementing it. It is clearly playing for time. Its actions show that the Union knows what we have known for the past 4 years; that a boycott is illegal and will be challenged in the courts.

What is perplexing in the extreme is the UCU's decision to continue to pursue this when it knows that it will end the same sticky way as last year."

Brown opposes boycotts

At his monthly press conference yesterday, Gordon Brown answered a question on his views on the UCU boyott proposals:

"Well, we have very good relations ourselves, with Israel. I have worked very closely with Prime Minister Olmert on issues affecting both our joint relationship and the region. And none of us want to see boycotts of Israel. That is very unfortunate."

Professors attack UCU policy

Two eminent Oxford professors have written an article in the Oxford Magazine opposing the UCU policy.
Profs. Denis Noble and Michael Yudkin wrote:

"We have noted before how, in their obsessive campaign against Israeli academics, some members of UCU are prepared to disregard the views of the majority of the membership, jettison the universally accepted principles of non-discriminatory interchange among scholars, and divert the Union's resources away from its core functions of protecting members' salaries and conditions of employment ... We now see that the boycotters are even willing to act in defiance both of the law and of the Union's own rules."

The full article is reproduced on Engage's website, here.

Israeli ambassador comments

Writing in the Telegraph about anti-Israel sentiment in Britain, the Israeli Ambassador Ron Prossor said:

"The concept of an academic boycott is a ludicrous oxymoron, undermining the democratic principles of free speech and free debate. Academics, who are supposedly society's guardians of knowledge, objectivity and informed debate, have seen their union held hostage by radical factions, armed with political agendas and personal interests.

Responding to the article, Higher Education minister Bill Rammell said:

"I do not believe calls for academic boycotts of Israel have anything more than small minority support amongst academics [...]

The Government is completely opposed to any form of academic boycott of Israel, which will harm rather than help moves towards peace and reconciliation in the middle-east."

Campaign Update 24

13th July 2008

UCU stays silent on Boycott

UCU's Strategy and Finance committee met on Friday 27th June.
The academic boycott was due to be discussed at this meeting.
Unusually, UCU has not published what decision, if any, it made at this meeting.
It is highly likely that UCU has not abandoned its boycott policy and still plans to implement Motion 25 over the coming year.
The International Working Group, a UCU committee charged with implementing the boycott policy, is due to meet in early September.

Parliamentary Activity

Speaking in a recent debate in the House of Lords, Lord Janner called for

"an end to the disgraceful and divisive boycotts which have been targeted at Israeli academics by unions, including the University and College Union, that do absolutely nothing to help bring peace to the Middle East. They infringe and assault the vital principle of academic freedom."

Also commenting on the boycott, Baroness Deech said

"The UCU is an unprofessional union, and universities would do well to cease to recognise it and to deal With the alternatives."

Baroness Deech elaborated on her comments in a Times Higher Education magazine article, which also carried UCU's response. You can read the article here.

Resignations

UCU is failing to act to prevent a number of high-profile resignations.
Eve Garrard, a respected philosopher and anti-boycott campaigner, resigned from UCU on the 1st of July. Her letter is on Norman Geras's blog here
Two professors, Sarah Annes Brown and Eric Heinze have also resigned.
Stop the Boycott still believes that UCU members can contribute most effectively to the fight against the boycott by staying inside the union.
Commenting on these resignations Jeremy Newmark, joint co-ordinator of Stop the Boycott, said:

"It is appalling that Jewish academics and university staff no longer feel they can be members of their trade union because it is promoting a discriminatory boycott policy.

It is not evident that UCU is doing anything to prevent these resignations; people will ask - does the leadership care about the loss of Jewish members?

As we warned, the boycott of Israeli academics is also hounding Jews out of UCU, leaving them vulnerable and isolated in the workplace. UCU has a moral and legal responsibility to tackle this problem - so far their leadership have stuck their heads in the sand and sought to bury it in bureaucracy."

Stop the Boycott news

Campaign Update 18

UCU Boycott Motion

Next Steps

Other news - UCU Palestinian Lecturers Tour

Campaign Update 17

Campaign Update 17

26th March 2008

What happened?

The Motion

Impact of Silent boycott

Impact of explicit boycott actions

Next steps

Other News

Campaign Update 16

Campaign Update 16

2nd November 2007

University Vice Chancellors Visit Israel

Architects promote dialogue not boycott

Campaign Update 15

Campaign Update 15

21st September 2007

UCU members campaign for boycott ballot

ACTION:

The vast majority of UCU members - upwards of 80% - believe that a ballot of all members is the best way to settle the boycott debate. Help inform them how to make it happen.

Campaign Update 14

Campaign Update 14

21st September 2007

Lib Dem Conference condemns boycott

TUC General Secretary opposes economic boycott of Israel

Stop the Boycott at Labour Conference

Board of Deputies asks UK universities to oppose boycott

Campaign Update 13

Campaign Update 13

7th September 2007

Anti-boycott motion at Liberal Democrat Party Conference

Boris condemns boycott

German Trade Unions oppose Israel boycotts

Parliamentarians visit Hadassah Hospital

Campaign Update 12

Campaign Update 12

31st August 2007

New Envoy for Israeli Academia

Letter in New Statesman

War on Want

Upcoming meetings

Manchester Engage Public Meeting "THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL CAMPAIGN AND CONTEMPORARY ANTISEMITISM".

Campaign Update 11

Campaign Update 11

24th August 2007

82% of Imperial College UCU Members Reject Boycott Call

Stop the Boycott Campaign Fights Back Against ‘Handbook of Hate'

US STAFF CONDEMN ISRAEL BOYCOTT CALL

Campaign Update 10

Campaign Update 10

17th August 2007

Head of Field Ops Appointed

Stop the Boycott in Israel

New National Postgraduate Committee anti-boycott rep

Hadassah Director-General responds to boycott debate

Campaign Update 9

Campaign Update 9

10th August 2007

300 US University presidents say 'Boycott us too'

Stop the Boycott in Israel

UCU Update

UNISON Distances itself from Boycott

Roundup

TUC

Liberal Democrats

Campaign Update 8

Campaign Update 8

3rd of August 2007

Cambridge University Rejects Israeli Academic Boycott

Ten Thousand Academics Declare Themselves 'Honorary Israelis'

More on Gert Weisskirchen's Visit

Israeli and Palestinian Transport Unions Sign New Deal

Past Events

Campaign Update 7

Campaign Update 7