Fighting for Civil Discourse and Academic Freedom

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=401482&c=1 The University and College Union has been criticised for donating £2,000 to a Palestinian charity whose trustees include the head of the union’s international department. The union made the contribution to the Friends of Birzeit University (FoBZU), a UK-registered charity of which Paul Bennett is a trustee. Birzeit is a Palestinian institution that is…

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2273939,00.html A closed meeting called by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) about Islamic studies will take place today amid fears that Saudi and Muslim organisations exert too much influence over UK universities as a result of donations that dwarf government funding. Private donations, mostly to Islamic study centres, are much greater than…

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/108138.html Britain’s University and College Union will reconsider supporting an academic boycott of Israel. Organizations opposing a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and individual researchers in the United Kingdom said they will consult their legal advisers following Wednesday’s decision to reconsider the boycott resolution. The motion, which will be discussed and voted on at the…