Less than a month after the British University and College Union (UCU) announced that the proposed boycott of Israeli Universities is illegal and therefore cannot be implemented, a delegation of BritishUniversityVice-Chancellors has arrived to Israel todiscuss ways to advancescientific cooperation between Israel, the UK and the Palestinian Authority.

The delegation arrived onSunday (21/10/07) for a visitorganized and hosted by the British Council and the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (IAB), and will leave on Wednesday (24/10/07) afternoon.

Thegroup consistsofMr. Amerjit Basi, Policy Advisor in DIUS (the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills); Professor Richard H Trainor, President of Universities UK (alongside his King’s Principalship), which represents the heads of the UK’s universities & Principal of King’s College London; Professor Antony J Chapman, Vice-Chancellor, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC); Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh; and Professor Paul O’Prey, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Roehampton University.

‘Following the visit to Israel in June by Bill Rammell, UK Minister for Higher Education, we felt it was important to take practical steps to bring academics together and explore ways of strengthening university links between the UK and Israel’, said British Council Director Jim Buttery.

The delegation will be visitingUniversities in Israel and the Palestinian Authorities, including meetings at Al-Quds, An-Najah & Birzeit Universities; the Israel Academy of Sciences; and Ben-Gurion, Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities. The group is also planned to meet Israel’s Education Minister – Prof. Yuli Tamir at a special reception hosted at the residence of the British Ambassador Tom Philips.

Minister Tamir congratulated the arrival of the delegation and said that “this visit symbolizes the desire to strengthen academic cooperation between the UK and Israel, a desire that we mostly welcome and definitely share”.

“The visit serves as a counterpoise to the defunct academic boycott. Instead of threatening academic freedom, it represents a practical effort to generate academic cooperation for the benefit of all”, said Prof. Yosef Yeshurun, IAB chair and Bar-Ilan University Pro-Rector.

Ofir Frankel, IAB executive director, added that ” the visit of the VC’s demonstrates the good relations between British Universities and their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts. They are interested in promoting and encouraging research, not in boycotting or silencing those whose work contributes to the alleviation of human poverty and the improvement of welfare”. Frankel added that “British and Israeli universities already demonstrate high level collaboration in the field of medicine, biotechnology and the social sciences, and now there is an opportunity to strengthen and deepen these links for the benefit of populations everywhere”.

“The visit of the VC’s to both Palestinian and Israeli universities reminds us that it is the academic community who are at the forefront of dialogue between the two peoples and that the universities have a role to play in promoting joint research projects between the two peoples for the benefit of all”, added Prof. David Newman, Professor of Geo-Politics from Ben Gurion University on Sabbatical in the UK, who was appointed as the IAB UK representative and arrived especially for the visit. Newman suggested that the British universities could become neutral spaces in bringing Israeli and Palestinian scholars together.

“We hope that this type of engagement will serve, not only to forward human knowledge, but also help to forge greater mutual understanding and peace between Israel, her neighbours and the rest of the world” concluded Prof. Zvi Hacohen, chair of the coordinating committee of the Israeli Faculty association, who has worked closely with the IAB in the struggle against the UCU boycott.

For further information contact:

Ofir Frankel, IAB Executive Director +972-545-424043fofir@netvision.net.il ;

British Council contact details:

Jim Buttery – Director, Israel
T: +972 (0)3 611 3620
M: +972 (0) 54 666 6171

Email: jim.buttery@britishcouncil.org.il

Ken Churchill – Director, Palestinian Territories
T: +972 (0)2 626 7112
M: +972 (0) 54 544 0645
Email: ken.churchill@ps.britishcouncil.org.il

Ravit Harari, British Council Press Officer
M:+972-3-6113620
Email: ravit.harari@britishcouncil.org.il

=