AUGUST 2007 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL NEW BUSINESS FORM




On May 30, The British University and College Union representing 120,000 academics in Great Britain, passed a motion calling for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions and for a moratorium on research and cultural collaboration with Israel via European Union and European Science Foundation funding. The aim of those who called for the boycott is to sever relations with Israeli Institutions and academics and to prevent Israeli academics from obtaining grants, as well as trying to prevent Israeli scholars and academics from being published.

Those opposed to this boycott believe it to be antithetical to academic freedom and counter-productive to peace and conciliation.

AAAS has condemned this boycott, as have the American Psychiatric Association and the presidents of a number of universities, including Columbia, Stanford, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Northwestern, Boston University, University of Miami, University of Maryland, Arizona State, Penn State, University of Alabama, Tulane, Florida State, Fordham, Yeshiva, and Carnegie-Mellon, as well as Al-Quds, the Palestinian university in Jerusalem. The AAUP reaffirmed its long principled opposition to academic boycotts. Many petitions have circulated condemning this boycott and have been signed by scholars from all over the world, including a number of Nobel prize laureates.

Relation to APA Priorities: Priority # 4, Priority # 6

Estimated Costs/Staff Resources: None

Main Motion:

1-Council declares that:
The American Psychological Association, the largest association of psychologists in the world, composed of academics, scientists and practitioners, condemns academic boycotts as a violation of academic freedom and a disruption of the exchange of scientific and scholarly ideas. Scholarship is intended to be based on the search for truth, and to discriminate between academics or academic institutions based on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity, race, sex or religion is antithetical to that search.

2-Council directs staff to disseminate this statement through posting on the website and wide distribution of press releases.


Expected Outcomes/Products: To add APA’s voice to the international calls for an end to this boycott, in line with APA’s policy on anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish Prejudice (2005) and APA’s prior calls for repeal of similar boycotts.