There has been some confusion about the situation of medical doctors in relationship to the notorious Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) resolution to promote an academic boycott of Israel. The Jewish Medical Association (UK) (JMedUK) has prepared the following fact sheet aimed to provide our international colleagues with some background information.

• UCU is a merger of two older unions, where the previous pro-boycott resolutions originated.

• Most medical academics in the UK – medical doctors who are on the staff of medical schools – are not members of UCU (and were not members of the older unions).

• UCU is not representative of the Universities themselves. In fact the UK universities that are best known in the rest of the world are those that belong to the so-called “Russell group” and they have condemned the boycott unequivocally.

• Medical doctors who work in the Health Service – even those who teach in the medical schools – are also not members of this union.

• Most (but not all) medical academics and doctors are members of the British Medical Association (BMA).

• The question that has been asked of medical doctors goes beyond the academic boycott: earlier in the year a small group of 135 UK doctors (out of 140,000) called on the BMA to promote a boycott of the Israel Medical Association.

• The BMA was asked to clarify it’s position last week. The following response, saying that they do not support the boycott, was received:

Thank you for your email to the Secretary, Mr Tony Bourne, who has asked the public information unit to respond.
You may wish to note that the BMA has categorically not supported a boycott of the IMA. As you will see from the attached letter published in 2003, we have argued to the contrary, and we have been criticised for this position:http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7414/561-a
Our position remains the same. We are in the business of working with other national medical associations and if we think they do less than they ought on human rights we work with them to resolve issues of concern. If individual members of the BMA choose to oppose the IMA’s inclusion in the World Medical Association then we have no control over the individual views of our members; but the BMA, as a trade union and professional association for doctors, has not supported a boycott.

Yours sincerely,
M Darvell
Public Information Manager

Therefore:

• Hopefully all medical doctors will feel able to participate in the campaign to stop the boycott and to promote the most effective counter measure – increased links with Israel. Useful links for this are via <http://www.stoptheboycott.org/ >. We seem not to have to convince the BMA any further! No major medical organization in the UK supports this boycott proposal.

• In addition to supporting the general campaign, however, there is also another group that one hopes will take up a strong stand against the boycott. This is the Medical Schools Council, which is the forum for all the medical schools in the UK. The acting head of this Council is Prof A P Weetman, of Sheffield University Medical School.