This was decided following a threat of legal action by some members of the Union of University and College Lecturers led by Prof. Michael Yudkin and Prof. Dennis Noble from the University of Oxford
The Union of University and College Lecturers in Great Britain (UCU) has withdrawn its intention to impose an "academic boycott" on Israel.
This was decided following a threat of legal action by some members of the union led by Prof. Michael Yudkin and Prof. Dennis Noble from the University of Oxford. "I hope that this will remove the idea of a boycott from the agenda - and that the disputes and debates will be conducted in the public and academic spheres without threats of this kind," wrote Haifa University Rector Prof. Yossi Ben Artzi to Prof. Yudkin, who informed him of the decision.
As a reminder, on December 19 we also reported on the initiative of the Friends of the Weizmann Institute to act toStrengthening ties between academic institutions in Britain and Israel.
Last May, the Union of Lecturers in Universities and Colleges in Great Britain, considered the most senior union in the kingdom, called on its members to consider politically and morally the continuation of ties with academic institutions from Israel - a call that was seen as a preliminary step to imposing an academic boycott on Israel. According to Prof. Yudkin and Prof. Noble, who have been members of the union for more than 40 years, the decision was contrary to the union's official position that has stood for more than a century, according to which one should not discriminate against fellow academics on the basis of sex, race, religion, nationality or any other personal characteristic.
The two formed a group of 12 members who threatened to sue the union's institutions if the call against the Israeli academy was not removed. Following this, the UCU withdrew from the call and replaced it with a decision to appoint an independent committee to examine academic freedom in Israel and publish a report on the matter to be published by the union.
"It is not natural for a member of an organization to threaten a lawsuit against his organization, but when the organization violates its laws in this way, we have no choice. We are happy with the decision, but we made it clear that if the union decides on discriminatory measures in the future, we will sue him without delay", Prof. Yudkin and Prof. Noble wrote in a letter to Prof. Ben Artzi, who thanked everyone who worked in this fight openly, personally and publicly, in Israel and abroad.
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Michael - a really useful hobby
Well done !
I really hope more people will adopt your hobby 🙂
I personally actually work in this field and also manage to influence here and there.
From time to time I search on Google for anti-Israel phrases like Boycott Israel and try to find the person responsible for them by all kinds of methods (among other things by showing the source of the page and searching for an email address in it).
When I find such an address I start bombarding it with "re-education" emails.
It has never happened to me that someone who received such an email from me said that they did not want me to write to them anymore.
Usually they try to argue but some end up being convinced that they were wrong.
One of them - a Danish guy named Duncan actually became my friend at the end of the process.
Another one - Luisa Morgantini from the European Parliament - started sending me counter-emails but since most of the counter-propaganda is based on lies and since I always exposed her lies she stopped replying.
She still receives occasional explanatory emails from me.
Richard Dawkins, with whom I usually correspond on the subject of evolution, once signed a petition of this type.
When I found out, I wrote and asked him why he did it, and he replied that in the meantime he changed his mind and decided to remove his signature from that petition. He later directed me to an article he wrote together with Yudkin condemning any boycott of this kind.
In 40 years, when Europe speaks Arabic, we can stop and try to convince them that we are fine.
They will still miss the Jews, these "liberal" Christians.
Is it possible to refine the consequences of such a boycott?
Maybe everyone should do their part..
Go once a week to the forum of your choice and say a few kind words.
Harm is certainly not
It's a bit difficult to express an opposing position in Europe when you are surrounded by many Muslims
To express a contrary position in Europe when you are surrounded by many Muslims
Despite this, Palestinian advocacy is successful and very intense in Europe.
When I visited there recently, I heard someone say without any response from the audience that the Jews are committing "genocide" to the Palestinians in Palestine, and I responded, but just so you know, there is no explanation from us at all