Please write a thoughtful letter to the addresses below, and appeal to them to REJECT the boycott of Israeli academic. (see the links below for the background information)
If you are a member of a faculty union or any other union, it is important to identify which unions to which you belong. This may resonate with the British union. What follows are names, addresses and talking points from several sources in the UK.
Please begin by reading these important articles by Jon Pike and David Hirsh to familiarize yourselves with the issues: http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=410 http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?
Points to keep in mind:
Please be friendly to the leaderships, but make them understand that the consequences of playing with Israel boycotts would be very bad for their unions.
Academic Boycotts do not serve the cause of peace.
They may, in fact, slow it down. The leaderships are not the bad guys here – and people shouldn’t write to them as though they are.
The boycotters are a small unrepresentative minority – the leaderships should be encouraged to make sure that this minority is not allowed to write union policy.
The leaderships should understand that their own lives (and their own summers) will be much more pleasant, easy and peaceful if there is no decision to boycott Israel.
Please be civil. Abusive emails and emails shouting “antisemite!” are worse than useless.
Below is a copy of a letter sent by Professor Stanley Dubinsky of the University of South Carolina to the Unions which may serve as a model.
Write to the following addresses:
Greetings,
This message is in response to the NATFHE Motion to Boycott Israeli Scholars. As a member (of 16 years) of the American Association of University Professors, I urge you to withdraw this motion from consideration. This is an act which, if passed, would place your union squarely at odds with the most basic principles of academic freedom. By the promotion of academic boycotts and political censure, your union would be actively undermining the open and free exchange of ideas and standing in opposition to the advancement of human knowledge.
In response to a previous British boycott effort by the AUT, I requested and received affiliation from Bar Ilan University and Haifa University. I would therefore request at this time that you add my name to the list of faculty to which your union’s boycott would pertain, if passed. For the purposes of making it clear that I fit into the boycotted category of faculty, you should attribute to me any and all opinions which would place me in the class of individuals who are to be boycotted.
I, for my part, will not boycott anyone for their beliefs in my various editorial and academic roles (as connected with my membership in the Linguistic Society of America or as an employee of the University of South Carolina), but I will be certain to advise my British correspondents and colleagues of the dilemma that a NATFHE boycott would place them in, when appropriate.
Sincerely,
Stanley DubinskyStanley Dubinsky
Linguistics Program
U of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208phone: 803-777-2063
phax: 803-777-9064
e-mail: dubinsky@sc.edu
homephage: www.cas.sc.edu/ling/index.htmlInternational Advisory Board for Academic Freedom,
Bar-Ilan UniversityAssociate Scholar, Sign Language Research Lab
Affiliated Professor, University of Haifa
