TUFI Special Update
Key points:
• Stop the Boycott Campaign Launched
• Inaugural UCU conference instigates academic boycott
• UCU Leader pledges referendum
• UK and Israeli Government express criticism
Stop the Boycott Campaign launched:
• A host of organisations under the umbrella of the Fair Play Campaign Group, both Jewish and non-Jewish Trade Union academics and Israel advocacy organisations have launched a ‘Stop the Boycott’ campaign.
• Full page adverts have been planned to run in The Times and the Guardian next week and a new website designed
• The campaign aims to encourage union members to condemn the boycott and call for a general ballot, as well as using parliamentary and media pressure to overturn the decision.
You can sign up on www.stoptheboycott.org
Latest Developments:
• Delegates at the first conference of the new University and College Union (UCU) in Bournemouth voted by 158 to 99 in support of “a comprehensive and consistent boycott” of all Israeli academic institutions
• The motion, drawn up jointly by the University of Brighton and the University of East London, condemned “the complicity of Israeli academia in the occupation”. A series of amendments called for a moratorium on EU funding for Israeli research. The union is also mandated, as a result of the motion, to finance a UK campus tour to encourage support for Israeli exclusion
• The exact interpretation of the motion remains unclear although it seems that it did not establish a blanket boycott, but recommended giving support and legitimacy to individual university boycotts of Israeli academics and institutions. The motion states support for “call from Palestinian trade unions for comprehensive and consistent international boycott of all Israeli academic institutions”.
• It also claimed that "criticism of Israel cannot be construed as anti-Semitic."
• Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU, claimed that the majority of the union’s 120,000 members were not supportive of a boycott and pledged to put the decision to a general ballot.
• Adding to confusion however, during the national conference, the union passed a motion which accepted the recommendations of a report from a body set up in the fallout of the 2005 decision by AUT to impose an academic boycott of Israel. This policy does not allow a boycott of Israeli academic institutions unless it is called for by Israeli campus trade unions. As Sally Hunt explained:
“the motion on boycott means all branches now have a responsibility to consult all of their members on the issue and I believe that every member should have the opportunity to have their say. The earlier motion means that any future calls for a boycott must pass key tests before a boycott can implemented.” (30/05/07)
Government Reaction:
• Higher Education minister Bill Rammell spoke out against UCU’s decision saying:
“The UK government fully supports academic freedom and is firmly against any academic boycotts of Israel or Israeli academics. Whilst I appreciate the independence of the UCU, I am very disappointed that the union has decided to pass a motion which encourages its members to consider boycotting Israeli academics and education institutions. I profoundly believe this does nothing to promote the Middle East peace process.” (31/05/07)
• British Ambassador to Israel Tom Phillips:
“Of course my government is opposed to boycotts… Israel is a country with high moral values and has to deal with the dilemma of occupation. This is not an easy situation. There are things that we in Britain do not agree with, but we discuss this with Israel and that is the proper way to do things - through dialogue and not through boycott.” (31/05/07)
• Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP tabled an EDM on 5 June calling for a referendum amongst UCU members before the boycott becomes policy.
Background:
• The UCU was established in June 2006 following the merger of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and The University and College’s Lectures Union (Nafthe)
• This boycott is one of a number of anti-Israel motions brought before a range of British trade unions
• In April 2005, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) voted to boycott two Israeli universities, Haifa and Bar-Ilan. That decision was overturned a month later. The following year, another teaching union, Nafthe, supported a policy to boycott those that do not publicly dissociate themselves from Israeli Government policies. However, this policy never took effect since Nafthe and AUT merged a couple of days later to form the UCU.
• In April 2007, the National Union of Journalists voted to boycott Israeli goods. This prompted various leading newspapers to run leading articles damning the decision. The Guardian wrote that it was “misguided” and called upon union members to overturn the decision.
• Later in the same month, a group of 130 British doctors called for a boycott of the Israel Medical Association and its expulsion from the World Medical Association. In a letter to The Guardian the physicians claimed “persistent violations of medical ethics have accompanied Israel’s occupation.”