PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Revised September 25, 2007
Revised September 13, 2007
Revised September 8, 2007
Revised August 16, 2007
Revised August 11, 2007
Revised August 8, 2007
Revised August 3, 2007
Revised August 2, 2007
Media Contacts:
Dr. Edward S. Beck, President,
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Phone: 717.576.5038
Daniel Tarman, Media Advisor to SPME
Phone: 310.463.1902
Email: MediaSPME@yahoo.com
Global Backlash Grows in Scope and Strength as 33 Nobel Laureates, 59University and Foundation Presidents Declare in Statement: “We Will Regard Ourselves as Israeli Academics and Decline to Participate in any Activity from which Israeli Academics are Excluded”
July 30 2007 (New York City): The global backlash against the recent vote by the British University and Colleges Union (“UCU”) to promote a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions grew in scope and strength today as Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (“SPME”) announced that over 10,000 academics from nearly every level of academia, 33 Nobel Laureates, 59 university and foundation presidents have signed a public declaration demanding that the boycott effort be immediately overturned. SPME said it will deliver to the UCU the Statement as an expression of outrage against the boycott, and as an act of solidarity with their Israeli academic colleagues.
“Today more than 11,000 of the world’s leading scholars speak together with one voice to demand academic freedom for all scholars, and to declare that we are all 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,” said Professor Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Added Dr. Edward Beck, President of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and Professor of Psychology, Walden University: “The decision by the UCU to promote a boycott is a disgraceful anti-intellectual act that replaces factual discourse with a one-sided political agenda, and turns morality and the notion of freedom on their head. It says more about the boycott proponents than those to be boycotted. All of those who believe in academic freedom must speak forcefully to prevent a minority of extremists in the UCU to politicize, control and shut down the free exchange of ideas, where any group, whether based upon religion or national origin is singled out for exclusion. In moving this boycott proposal forward, members of the UCU are, in fact, separating themselves from the international academic community, and deeply undermining their credibility in the process.”
Added Judea Pearl, Professor of Computer Science at UCLA and President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation: “For those of us who are actively engaged in peace-building programs in the Middle East, the UCU vote came as a stab in the back to the efforts in which we have invested so much energy and hope.
I find it hard to understand how my academic colleagues in the UK could stand by and let a handful of anti-coexistence radicals hijack their Union and stain their professional reputation by trampling on academic freedom, one of the most sacred tenets of free societies.”
Stated Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, who drafted the SPME statement with Professor Weinberg and Dr. Beck: “Never before in modern history have so many academics from such diverse backgrounds been so united in condemning an attack an academic freedom. Beyond the sheer numbers of academics who have joined in solidarity with their Israeli colleagues, the signatories are a cross-section of many of the most respected scholars in the world. The message of the signatories is crystal clear: should the UCU go forward with a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions, the end result will be a self-inflicted wound on British academia.”
The leaders of SPME will continue to raise awareness and condemnation of the vote to promote a boycott by the UCU until it is overturned and the fundamental principles of freedom are restored to British academia. SPME will also monitor any instance where Israeli academics are excluded should any boycott take effect, and will implement the principles of the SPME Statement accordingly.
The full text of the SPME Statement reads: “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 complete list of signatories to the Statement can be found at:
https://spme.org/cgi-bin/display_petitions.cgi?ID=9&Action=View
The signatories of the SPME Statement include the following Nobel Prize winners, university and foundation presidents, and leading scholars:
Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Nobel Prize—Physics,
Distinguished Scientist
Argonne National Laboratory, USA
Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Prize—Economics
Stanford University
David Baltimore, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
Past President,
California Institute of Technology
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel Prize—Physics
Laboratoire de Physique de L’Ecole Normale Superiere
Paris, France
Robert F. Engle, Nobel Prize—Economics
New York University
Jerome Friedman, Nobel Prize—Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Donald A. Glaser, Nobel Prize—Physics
University of California at Berkeley
Sheldon Lee Glashow, Nobel Prize—Physics
Boston University
Clive W.J. Granger, Nobel Prize—Economics
University of California, San Diego
David Gross, Nobel Prize—Physics
Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Frederick W. Gluck Chair in Theoretical Physics
University of California at Santa Barbara
Herbert A. Hauptman, Nobel Prize—Chemistry
Medical Foundation of Buffalo
James J. Heckman, Nobel Prize—Economics
University of Chicago
Alan Heeger, Nobel Prize—Chemistry
University of California-Santa Barbara
Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize Chemistry
Harvard University
Avram Hershko, Nobel Prize—Chemistry
Distinguished Professor at the Unit of Biochemistry
Rappaport Faculty of Medicine
Technion
Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize—Chemistry
Frant H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters
Cornell University
Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize— Physiology/Medicine
Cell Cycle Control Laboratory
London Research Institute
Clare Hall Laboratories
Elfriede Jelinck, Nobel Prize—Literature
Austria
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize—Economics
Professor of Psychology
Princeton University
Eric R. Kandel, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
University Professor
Columbia University
Walter Kohn, Nobel Prize—Physics
University of California-Santa Barbara
Arthur Kornberg, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
Emeritus Pfeiffer Merner Professor of Biochemistry
Stanford University School of Medicine
Roger Kornberg, Nobel Prize—Chemistry
Professor of Structural Biology
Stanford University
Anthony Leggett, Nobel Prize-Physics
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair and
Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize—Physics
Fermi National Accelator Laboratory
University of Chicago
Marshall W. Nirenberg, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
Biochemical Genetics
National Institutes of Health
David Politzer, Nobel Prize—Physics
California Institute of Technology
Richard J. Roberts, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
New England Biolabs
Andrew V. Schally, Nobel Prize—Physiology/Medicine
Miller School of Medicine
University of Miami
Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize Physiology/Medicine
President
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize—Physics
Josey Regental Professor of Science
University of Texas, Austin
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize
Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities
Boston University
Frank Wilczek, Nobel Prize—Physics
Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lauren J. Anderson
President
Pacific Lutheran University
Lawrence S. Bacow
President
Tufts University
Esther Barazzone
President
Chatham University
Henry S. Bienen
President
Northwestern University
Leon Botstein
President
Bard College
William R. Brody
President
Johns Hopkins University
Hank Brown
President
University of Colorado
Robert Brown
President
Boston University
Tom Buchanan
President
University of Wyoming
Nancy Cantor
Chancellor and President
Syracuse University
Robert Carothers
President
University of Rhode Island
Gerhard Casper
President Emeritus
Stanford University
Jean-Lou Chameau
President
California Institute of Technology
David Clary
President
MagdalenCollege
Oxford University
Saul B. Cohen
Jared Cohon
President
Carnegie-Mellon University
Scott Cowen
President
Tulane University
Michael Crow
President
Arizona State University
Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte
President Emeritus and Professor
Florida State University
Gail Dinter-Gottlieb
President and Vice Chancellor
Arcadia University
Canada
James Doti
President
Chapman University
Robert C. Dynes
President
University of California
Allen K. Easley
President and Dean
William Mitchell College of Law
Alfred Ebenbauer (1945-2007)
Former Rector
University of Vienna
Mark Emmert
President
University of Washington
Daniel Mark Fogel
President
University of Vermont
Carol Garrison
President
University of Alabama
Alice P. Gast
President
Lehigh University
Amy Guttman
University of Pennsylvania
Ann Weaver Hart
President
Temple University
John L. Hennessy
President
Stanford University
Richard Herman
Chancellor
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Susan Hockfield
President
MIT
Richard M. Joel
President
Yeshiva University
Shirley Strum Kenny
President
Stony Brook University
State University of New York
Steven Knapp
President
George Washington University
Univ. Prof Dr. Helmut Konrad
Former Rector
University of Graz
Graz Austria
Ronald D. Liebowitz
President
Middlebury College
David McClain
President
University of Hawaii System
Joseph M. McShane, SJ
President
Fordham University
James Moeser
Chancellor
University of North Carolina
C.D. Mote Jr.
President
University of Maryland
Ross Paul
President
University of Windsor
G. David Pollick
President
Birmingham Southern College
Rajendra Prasad
Rector
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi, India
Stuart Rabinowitz
President
Hofstra University
Jehuda Reinharz
President
Brandeis University
Richard L. Rubenstein
President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Religion
University of Bridgeport
Cecil Samuelson
President
Brigham Young University
Wolfgang Schütz
Rector
Medical University of Vienna
Beheruz N. Sethna
Professor & President
University of West Georgia
Donna E. Shalala
President
University of Miami
Robert N. Shelton
President
University of Arizona
Lee Shulman
President
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Ralph Snyderman
Chancellor Emeritus
Duke University
Graham Spanier
President
Penn State University
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
President
George Washington University
Leslie Wagner
Chancellor
University of Derby, UK
Kevin Wildes, S.J.
President
Loyola University
New Orleans
Robert E. Witt
President
University of Alabama
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor
University of California-Santa Barbara
Mark G. Yudof
Chancellor
University of Texas
Daniel Zajfman
President and Professor of Physics
Weizmann Institute of Science
Alan Dershowitz
Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law
Harvard University
StanleyDeser
Dirac Medal
Ancell Professor of Physics
Brandeis University
Paul Appelbaum
Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine & Law
Columbia University
Edward S. Beck
President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Laureate Professor, School of Psychology
Walden University
John R. Cohn
Professor of Medicine
Thomas Jefferson University
Ruth Lichtenberg-Contreras
Vienna Natural History Museum
University of Vienna
Stanley Dubinsky
Associate Dean of the Graduate School
University of South Carolina
Awi Federgruen,
Charles E. Exley Professor of Management;
Chair of Decision, Risk and Operations Division,
Columbia University Business School
Lisbeth S. Fried
Visiting Scholar
Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and the
Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of Michigan
Judith S. Jacobson
Associate Professor
Mailman Schoolof Public Health
Columbia University
Richard L. Lubman
Associate Professor Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
University of Southern California School of Medicine
Edward H. Kaplan
William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences,
Professor of Public Health, and Professor of Engineering
Yale University
Ed Morgan
Law Professor
University of Toronto
Joel Pachter
Professor of Pharmacology
University of Connecticut Health Center
Judea Pearl
Professor Computer Science
University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA)
Daniel Pearl Foundation
Edgar Pick
Professor
Director, the Julius Friedrich Cohnheim – Minerva Center
for Phagocyte Research
Head, the Ela Kodesz Institute of Host Defense
against Infectious Diseases
Incumbent, the Roberts-Guthman Chair in
Immunopharmacology
Sackler School of Medicine
Tel Aviv University
Elihu D. Richter
Center for Genocide Studies
Hebrew University-Hadassah, School of Public Health and Community Medicine
Harvey A. Risch
Professor, Chronic Disease Epidemiology
Yale University School of Public Health
Bruce Rubenstein
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
New York University School of Medicine
Marius Usher
Professor of Cognitive Psychology |
Birkbeck, University of London
Jeffrey Wielgus
Research Associate, Department of Life Sciences
University of British Columbia
Vladimir Zakharov
Dirac Medal in Theoretical Physics
Regent Professor of Mathematics
University of Arizona
About SPME
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East is an independent, faculty-driven, not-for-profit [501 © (3)], “big-tent” grassroots community of scholars with over 19,000 academics and professional members receiving our SPME Faculty Forum on nearly 1000 campuses worldwide. Nearly 30 of these campuses now have their own chapters in North America and Europe.
The mission of SPME is to preserve academic freedom, and to promote peace in the Middle East consistent both with Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state within safe and secure borders, and able to recognize the legitimate rights and peaceful aspirations of her neighbors.
The official registration and financial information of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, with Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999 or calling (717) 783-1720 outside of Pennsylvania.