Minister Wants No Israeli Boycott

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http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYw_10AmXikO0Fy9h6EXz9Irvw9w

Government higher education minister Bill Rammell has called on lecturers not to boycott Israeli academics.

He told the University and College Union’s (UCU) annual congress in Manchester: “You should be entitled to decide your own policy but I have to tell you I profoundly disagree with cutting links with Israeli academics.”

Mr Rammell made his comments in light of a motion by lecturers earlier this week to “consider the moral and political implications of education links with institutions” in Israel.

The motion was brought by Tom Hickey, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Brighton. It was opposed by around 30 out of 250 delegates.

Mr Rammell said: “Boycotting academics is something I find deeply disturbing. I can find no evidence that such a strategy will further peace in the Middle East.”

The Harlow MP told them: “I would urge you to think again.”

The motion also called for members to reflect on the “apparent complicity” of most Israeli academics in the “humanitarian catastrophe imposed on Gaza by Israel”.

It noted the “continuation of illegal settlement, killing of civilians and the impossibility of civil life, including education” as a result of the Israeli occupation.

The matter has now been passed to the union’s national executive committee which will decide what steps next to take on addressing the issue.

Minister Wants No Israeli Boycott

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SPME

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is not-for-profit [501 (C) (3)], grass-roots community of scholars who have united to promote honest, fact-based, and civil discourse, especially in regard to Middle East issues. We believe that ethnic, national, and religious hatreds, including anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, have no place in our institutions, disciplines, and communities. We employ academic means to address these issues.

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