Berry said these things at the ceremony of receiving the title "Honorary Doctor of Science" from the Technion
The renowned British physicist, Professor Sir Michael Berry, yesterday harshly attacked his colleagues in the UK, who initiated an academic boycott of Israeli scientists and called them "stupid". He spoke at the ceremony where he received an "Honorary Doctor of Science" degree from the Technion.
"They are stupid for two reasons", he clarified. "First, their emphasis is one-sided and biased. The only accusation they make against Israel is a grotesque distortion. Secondly, their boycott encourages disconnection between countries, which is exactly the opposite of the true academic vision - the creation of Rikma from a non-political society." He added that the State of Israel is a "conflicted country in a conflicted region", and lamented that some of his colleagues in Britain "do not see the overall context and blame only Israel for the violence occurring in this region".
Professor Sir Berry, the owner of the discovery of the "Berry phase" which greatly influenced physics and spurred research on a huge scale, announced that he is planning joint activities with Bir Zeid University and the University of Beirut, as he has been doing at the Technion since 1981, and at Najah University in Nablus.
06.06.2006
The Technion awarded an "Honorary Doctor" degree to Shlomo Nechama and his father Ben-Nun
The chairman of Bank Hapoalim, Shlomo Nechama, and the chairman of UMI, Avihu Ben-Nun, were yesterday among the eight recipients of the Technion's "Honorary Doctorate" degree. The heads of the business community in Israel, including Shari Arison, Yitzhak Tshuva and the heads of Bank Hapoalim, were among the large crowd.
"The Technion is very important in my life. He gave me the key to the business world and taught me values, including morality and the pursuit of excellence," Shlomo Nechama said excitedly. "This is also where I met my wife Nira. I served as chairman of the student union, a position that exposed me for the first time to management and contribution to the community, and I must point out that it was not a simpler position than my current position as chairman of Bank Hapoalim."
Shlomo Nechama added that Shari Arison and Bank Hapoalim consider themselves obligated to help the younger generation acquire an education. "The role of our generation is to build the Land of Israel for our children and the Jewish people," he said. "We must make every effort to attract young Jews to Israel and this task is only possible if we become an open, educated society with global leadership in science and technology."
The Technion also awarded the prestigious title yesterday to Professor Amnon Fazi from Israel, Professor Sir Michael Berry from Great Britain, Professor Graham Goodwin from Australia, Lewis Peltz from Great Britain, Evelyn Berger and Stanley Shervan from the USA.
