Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Developing: Boycott motion passes at UCU conference
The motions passed are as follows:
30. Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions
Congress notes that Israel's 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and restriction of movement...[etc]
Congress believes that in these circumstances passivity or neutrality is unacceptable and criticism of Israel cannot be construed as anti-semitic [Glad that's settled -S].
Congress instructs the NEC to
* circulate the full text of the Palestinian boycott call to all branches/Las for information and discussion;
* encourage members to consider the moral implications of existing and proposed links with Israeli academic institutions;
* organise a UK wide campus tour for Palestinian academic/educational trade unionists;
* issue guidance to members on appropriate forms of action
* actively encourage and support branches to create direct links with Palestinian educational institutions and to help set up nationally sponsored programmes for teacher exchanges, sabbatical placements, and research
31. European Union and Israel
1. That since the Palestinian elections in January 2006 the Israeli government has suspended revenue payments to the Palestinian Authority, and the EU and US have suspended aid, leaving public sector salaries unpaid and earning the condemnation of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions
2. That Israel is seeking to upgrade its relations with the EU to the same level as Norway and Switzerland, permitting free passage of goods, people and capital, while denying these freedoms to Palestinians.
3. a moratorium on research and cultural collaborations with Israel via EU and European Science Foundation funding until Israel abides by UN resolutions
Congress resolves to campaign for:
* the restoration of all international aid to the PA and al revenues rightfully belonging to it;
* No upgrade of Israel's EU status until it ends the occupation of Palestinian land and fully complies with EU Human Rights law.
Congress instructs the NEC to encourage Branches/associations to
1. raise these campaigns in their Institutions
2. investigate the possibilities of twinning their Institution with a Palestinian University or College.
Engage also notes that what's passed is less a demand to boycott than a demand to...go out on the stump for a boycott. A final boycott apparently requires a vote of the full union, not just the Congress.
This is all quite confusing, but as near as I can figure what they've done is create the hostile environment de facto, while avoiding legal issues by not demanding a boycott de jure.
Judy at Adloyada was writing the "program" to the thing (can't tell the players without a program) here: Another UK academic boycott is a near certainty, and here: UCU union movers for and against the Israeli academic boycott.
More confusinger, Engage notes this motion, also passed and says it makes actually boycotting impossible: UCU passed the old AUT policy on greylisting and boycotts which makes a boycott of Israel impossible. Well, it's the thought that counts, ain't it?
UCU itself seems to be trying to mitigate:
'Today's motion on boycott means all branches now have a responsibility to consulate 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.'
You passed it, you own it. There are sufficient busybodies actually running things giving the rest a bad name. Imagine, a tiny monitory of extremists just happen to have all the power. I don't believe the minority is that tiny, however.
Update: Judy has a post of analysis that pretty well confirms my negative take on it (Though it's all still confusing. These fools have got themselves so tied up in political knots it's a wonder they ever do any educating or research): UK academic boycott of Israel: UCU GenSec & Engage anti-boycott group seriously misleading about chances of stopping it
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Major British College Union Endorses Boycott Motion (Update).
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.solomonia.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-renamedtb.cgi/7721
I've been debating whether or not to attend a conference in the UK this summer; there are a number of reasons arguing against, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. You've got your boycott now, scumbags. This helps the Palestinians how, exactly?
I'll wait a few days to see the fallout from this. If its not resolved, I will email my UK collaborators explaining that I consider myself an Israeli academic for the purposes of this boycott. If their lab policy is to comply with the boycott, then they should boycott me too.
A shameful day in English history. I don't know what else I can say other than that.
Shame indeed.
Fie upon this.
hab ... I like this idea. Maybe we could make a banner to put on our web sites saying "Boycott Me Too"?
The American Jewish Committee site has the following letter that people can copy and then either email, airmail or fax to Sally Hunt, the University and College Union's General Secretary. (Scroll down to the end of the letter, where I've pasted the the relevant addresses. Another option is to email via the AJC's site, www.ajc.org, but I think a printed letter is likely to be more effective.)
Dear Ms. Hunt,
I am writing to express my outrage at the May 30 votes of the University and College Union. These votes supported the principle of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and called for an educational campaign among UCU members in support of such a boycott.
One-hundred and fifty-eight of your members voted to demonize Israel and to hold it to standards not required of any other country. They were willing to forgo the improvement of human knowledge which would invariably result from collaboration with their Israeli colleagues, and instead chose to indulge in scapegoating, dogma and hatred.
I very much appreciate that you spoke out against the boycott motions. But you also promised to hold a referendum of the UCU membership before any such resolutions can take effect.
I respectfully urge you to hold such a referendum now, so that the UCU membership can demonstrate their rejection of the action by a small number of their delegates. I trust your judgment that your membership will reject any and all boycotts of Israeli academics, either because they recognize the bigotry inherent therein, because they do not think such actions are befitting an academic union, or because they recognize that British academics are rapidly acquiring an international reputation as anti-Israel activists first and scholars second.
The membership needs to be given the chance to undo the harmful action of the inaugural UCU Congress, and I urge you to provide them with that opportunity immediately.
Sincerely,
--
The address to send a printed letter to is:
Ms. Sally Hunt, General Secretary
University and College Union
27 Britannia Street
London
WC1X 9JP
United Kingdom
To send an email message, write to:
Fax:
+44 (0)20 7837 4403
..for some reason only the snail mail and fax no., but not the email address, appear above. Here's another try w/the email, though again: a) you can email via ajc's site, and b) snail mail or fax are likely to be more effective.
UCU's email is:
britannia@ucu.org.uk
It all starts with the British press.
They do it in a VERY subtlle way but make no mistake about it - a British journalist once told me that to get ahead in UK press your best way is to be 3 years in Jerusalem (where you can cover war in the morning and still be back for Sushi for lunch and evening on the town with your wife) and that you must write against israel - this is how you get ahead.
Colleagues thinking of going to UK conferences-- don't let this bunch of hard line leftists in a failing union deter you. They really don't represent the real members of any UK universities-- they just dominate the unions. Why not go and talk to your UK colleagues? Encourage them to take note of what the world is saying about their union, and get involved in changing it.
They may mouth what they read in the Guardian or hear on the BBC, but most are interested in what you have to say, especially if you're a lot better informed.
You can make a difference. Don't decide to hand the UK's hard left groupuscules a victory by ceding the floor to them.
Read my most recent blog entries to see comments from members from UK universities that make it quite clear that this vote doesn't represent them. There are none in support of this piece of gross theatre.
Sadly I am a member of the Union whose Congress voted for this boycott. It won't go anywhere. The whole thing would have to go a referendum of all the members who will turn it down. But is it possible in conscience to stay in an organisation that contains such people (I had to work hard not to type scum). I don't think so.
Please send me the names of all 158 members of the British University and College Union who voted to boycott Israeli academics and Israeli academic institutions. It is obvious that when such a large Union of supposedly intelligent members singles out Israel, a democratic society, to boycott, while ignoring the evils commited by the governments of Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea, China, Cuba, Iran, etc...one has to wonder why.
The self-righteous 158 will surely want to explain themselves. And to allow those who have been attacked to view their attackers' records. Nothing less would be honest.
Please send me the names, institutions, and contact addresses for the 158. I do believe a general movement is underway for just that information.
Carol Mizrahi, Champaign, IL USA