AUT/NATFHE/UCU and the Academic boycott of Israel

UCU CONGRESS 2008

• The actual text of all the international motions carried is here
  (You will need a UCU membership number to access this page)
• Four International Academic Organizations Slam British Boycott Israel National News, 6th April 2008.
  Makes reference to UCU's legal advice.
• UK group proposes boycott of Israeli academiaJerusalem Post, 29th March, 2008
• Union committee to reconsider Israeli academics boycott Slightly garbled piece in the Guardian, 27th March 2008
• Here we go againTotally Jewish.com, 27th March 2008.

General articles/reactions about the UCU 2008 Congress decisions

• Academic trade union wavers on implementing decision to boycott Israeli academia Garbled account in the Jerusalem Post, 15th June 2008.
• Ambassador's own goal: Israel's ambassador in London is trying to delegitimise genuine debate about his country's futureBrian Klug on Comment is Free responding to Prosor's nonsense (see below), 13th June 2008.
• Israeli envoy to London: U.K. has become hotbed of radical anti-Israeli views Ha'aretz, 10th June 2008. But see the EI article below for a different perspective!
• Israeli ambassador to the UK's PR problem David Thomson, The Electronic Intifada, 4th June 2008
• Lorna Fitzsimons: The UCU is wasting time and money Independent Education, 5th June 2008

NUT CONFERENCE 2008

• Teachers to discuss backing PalestiniansGuardian, 13th March 2008.

UNISON CONFERENCE 2007

• "Citizens of Israel in support of the proposal for a UNISON Economic and Cultural Boycott of Israel" On the Alternative Information Center site, 5th June 2007.
• U.K. public services union to consider boycott of Israel Ha'aretz, 1st June 2007

UCU CONGRESS 2007

• The actual text of all the international motions carried is here
  (You may need a UCU membership number to access this page)
• UCU Left Statement on the shenanigans in UCU since Congress. There is a link to a separate statement by the 6 left members of the Strategy and Finance Committee.
• Academics act against British boycottYNet News, 31st July 2007
• Academics oppose Israel boycott BBC News, 30th July 2007.
• Vote to debate Israel boycott 'will be honoured'Guardian, 13th June 2007.
  Statement on UCU website, approx. 9th June 2007.
• Israeli, U.K. academics meet to discuss proposed academic boycott Ha'aretz, 18th May 2007.
• Israeli academics off to U.K. to battle boycott bid Ha'aretz, 10th May 2007.

General articles/reactions about the UCU 2007 Congress decisions

• Proposed Boycott of Israeli Institutions by British Academics: Response to President Toope In Faculty Focus, Newsletter of the Faculty Association of the University of British Columbia, September 2007 (scroll to page 7). Note this in particular: "Some of the undersigned participated in a boycott of Soviet universities, one aim of which was to coerce the Soviet government into allowing Jewish academics to emigrate to Israel, and we are proud of having done this."
• British lecturers’ union calls off Israel boycott debate Alex Miller, on the Green Left (Australia) website, 5th Oct 2007
• Boycott ‘defeated’ as union forced into U-turnJewish Chronicle, 2nd October 2007.
• A shameful silencePriyamvada Gopal in the Guardian, 5th October, on the UCU leadership's decision to call off the speaking tour.
• U.S. university heads slam U.K. boycott of Israeli academe Ha'aretz, 9th August 2007
• Truth and hypocrisy A remarkably honest and soul-searching piece by David Forman in the Jerusalem Post, 21st June 2007.
• Hickey versus Dershowitz! Debate on Channel 4 News, 11th June 2007.
• U.K.'s boycotters of Israel support a single-state solution Ha'aretz, 15th June 2007. Yours Truly gets a mention. This article is for entertainment more than accurate reporting!
  Fighting 'the apartheid state' - same article with an altered headline, 16th June!
• The Time is NowSuperb article by Colin Green of BRICUP in the Education Guardian, 11th June.
• Like oil on flames Michael White in the Guardian, 1st June 2007.
• Israeli boycotts show Britain's academic elite has taken leave of its senses Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail, 4th June 2007
• Motions pave way for boycott debateLetter to the FT from Kamel Hawwash, 4th June 2007
• Science is a language of peace - so why are British academics seeking to ban any dialogue? Letters to the FT from Michael Beenstock and Aaron Ciechanover, 4th June 2007.
• A bad boycottLeader in the Sunday Times, 3rd June 2007
• This academic boycott is an empty gestureLeader in The Observer, 3rd June 2007
• UCU was on a boycott debateLetter from Tom Hickey in The Independent, 2nd June 2007. (You need to scroll down the page).
• More perspectives on threats to academic freedom Letters on the boycott to The Guardian, 2nd June 2007
• Boycott of Israel goes against the academic ethosLetters to The Times, 2nd June 2007
• UCU Supports Boycott of Israel
  Excellent post on the "Lenin's Tomb" blog, 31st May 2007.
• U.K. minister slams British boycott of Israeli academic institutions Ha'aretz, 31st May 2005.
• Academic Union Approves Israel Boycott On The London Project site, 30th May 2007. Sue and Kamel get quoted.
• UCU response to boycott vote The official mealy-mouthed comment from Sally Hunt. 30th May 2007
• In solidarity with PalestiniansJohn Chalcraft on Comment is Free, 30th May 2007.
• "Boycotting Israeli Apartheid back on the Agenda" "PACBI Press Release, 30th May 2007
• Should we vote for a boycott?
  Debate between John Chalcraft and Michael Yudkin in the Guardian, 30th May 2007
• On the Academic Boycott of Israel Virginia Tilley on The Electronic Intifada site, 27th May 2007
• The only weapon availableHilary Rose on Comment is Free, 26th May 2007.

Israeli Reactions and Zionist counter-initiatives against the boycott
(including those by the British government)

• Financial woes silence anti-boycott bodyJerusalem Post, 31st March 2008
• "This is not Britain's finest hour"/a>
  Benjamin Netanyahu on the academic boycott, on YouTube, 31st May 2007.
  Nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Hitler, Hamas and Hezbollah ...
• ADL Calls On World Labor Leaders To Reject British Union's Anti-Israel Boycott ADL Press Release, 20th June 2007.
• Coalition launches campaign against U.K. academic boycott Ha'aretz, 17th June 2007.
• "The fight against the UK Boycott"alert on the GIYUS.org site featuring an article in the Times of 14th June by Anthony Julius and Alan Dershowitz.
• Tory leader calls himself 'Zionist'; U.K. Jews campaign against boycott Ha'aretz reports on David Cameron, 13th June 2007
• Statement on Israeli boycott from Howard Davies, Director of the LSEOn the LSE website, 27th June 2007.
• Stop the Boycott
  Well what do you know, a new website, complete with "toolkit". Launched, apparently, by BICOM and the Fair Play Campaign Group.
• Ignored by the Brits Druze PhD student Amir Hanifes on his visit to the UCU Congress fringe, in YNet News, 6th June 007.
• Double Standard Watch: Bigoted British BoycottAlan Dershowitz (who else?) on the Jerusalem Post blog, 8th June 2007.
• Government to form joint task force to counter U.K. boycotts Ha'aretz, 8th June 2007. Note the reference to the Histadrut.
• House of Commons: Written answers, 7th June 2007Enlightening thoughts by Bill Rammell. No surprises here.
• Israeli ministers discuss British boycott threats amid plans for retaliatory action The Guardian, 4th June 2007
• Israel threatens British boycott
  Times Online, 4th June 2007
• 'If you boycott us, we'll boycott you'Jerusalem Post, 3rd June 2007.
• Israel concerned over British boycott bids Middle East Times, 3rd June 2007
• Harvard legal expert vows to sue lecturers boycotting Israel Jon Boone in the FT, 2nd June 2007, reporting of Dershowitz's threats.
• Boycott Britain!A letter from US Zionists to "Friends of Israel", on the Jews sans Frontieres site. 1st June 2007.
• 'Boycotts are like burning books'- Conal Urquhart reports from Tel Aviv on the impact an academic boycott from the UK might have on Israeli universities. In the Guardian, 1st June 2007.
• "Head of UK academic union against boycott of Israel - support her on this issue"
  Predictable mobilisation of supporters of Israel by GIYUS.ORG, 31st May 2007.
• Statement from The Russell Group on UCU motion on Israeli boycott30th May 2007.
• http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2007/FM%20Livni%20meets%20with%20British%20Ambassador%20Phillips%2028-May-2007> FM Livni meets with British Ambassador Phillips
  On the website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affiars, 28th May 2007
• JEWISH AND ARAB ISRAELI STUDENTS HOST STALL AT BRITISH PROFESSORS' UCU CONGRESS TO SHOW EXAMPLES OF ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE PROJECTS
  On the site of "Scholars for Peace in the Middle EAst", 26th May 2007

NATFHE COUNCIL 2006

• Israeli university boycott: how a campaign backfired (Tamara Traubmann and Benjamin Joffe-Walt in the Guardian, 20th June 2006)
  Revealing analysis of the groups attacking the boycott - nothing to do with "academic freedom" and everything to do with defending Israel come what may.
• End of UK union's boycott is academic Jerusalem Post, 28th May.
  This article was "updated" when factual inaccuracies were pointed out! Originally it claimed that the boycott had been cancelled.
• UK ban of Israeli academics lifted (Y-Net News, 11th June 2006) - another Israeli newspaper that swallowed Bar-Ilan's press release whole and undigested ....
• Spinning the British Academic Boycott Against Israel ... here is PCBI's Press Release setting the record straight ...
• British academic boycott expires after teaching unions merge - and a more accurate version in Ha'aretz, 12th June 2006.
• Another Brick in the (Apartheid) Wall by Gabriel Ash in Dissident Voice, 8th June 2006.
• Cameron Warning Over Boycotts On the "Totally Jewish" website, 7th June 2006
• With a little help from the outside Gideon Levy in Ha'aretz, 4th June 2006.
• US lobby group enters Israeli academic boycott row (Guardian, 31st May 2006)
• Lecturers back boycott of Israeli academicsGuardian, 30th May 2006.
• Address by Paul Mackney, General Secretary, Saturday 27 May 2006
  (Scroll down to "Palestine" about two-thirds of the way through).
• Time to boycott the boycotters Yaakov Lappin (who else?) in Y-Net News, 19th May 2006.
• 'Anti-Semitic' boycott planned in UK Y-Net News, 10th May 2006.
• New U.K. bid to boycott Israeli universities, profs Ha'aretz, 9th May 2006
• The need to boycott Israel Bradley Burston's attempt at psychoanalysis in Ha'aretz, 10th May 2006.
• U.K. ambassador: Academic boycott of Israel 'not productive' (Ha'aretz, 10th May 2006)
• New call by lecturers for Israeli academic boycott (Guardian, 12th May 2006)
• A British Teachers' Union Weighs a Boycott of Israeli Teachers
  New York Times, 14th May 2006.
• If not boycott, what? Steven Rose in his Guardian blog, 24th May 2006.
• Knesset committee holds urgent debate on U.K. academic boycott Ha'aretz, 25th May 2006
• British Teachers Favor Call to Boycott Israelis New York Times, 30th May 2006
• Lecturers back boycott of Israeli academics The Guardian, 30th May 2006
• 'Law to be used' to stop Israeli university boycotts The Guardian, 30th May 2006
• Israel boycott and academic freedom > Letters to The Guardian, 30th May 2006
• # Lecturers' union supports boycott of 'apartheid' Israel The Independent, 30th May 2006
• Major U.K. teachers union votes for academic boycott of Israel Ha'aretz, 30th May 2006.

Keeping dialogue open (Guardian, 18th Nov 2005)

• The glossy leaflets distributed at Council and Special Council arguing against the boycott.
• The scores of T-shirts worn by UJS members outside the meeting of Special Council stating "I'm proud of Israeli academics ... I'm ashamed of the AUT". Some of them even found their way to a Birmingham Guild of Students meeting recently, and I'm glad to say I am now the proud owner of one after a generous donor hung one on my office door handle.
• The many and various anti-boycott websites which sprang up remarkably quickly in a matter of days, including:
  1. Engage
  2. Campaign Group for Academic Freedom What a surprise - it's set up by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
  3. "BOYCOTT THE BOYCOTTERS" petition, which can't even spell the AUT's name right. It's on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre website - another surprise then.
  4. Links not Boycott
  5. Inter-Senate Committee for the Protection of Academic Independence - at the Weizmann Institute, Israel.
  6. Academics for Israel
• The anti-boycott telephone hotline.
• The air fares of Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University and his counterpart at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who signed an agreement at the Royal Academy in London just a week before the boycott. (Why couldn't they sign it in Jerusalem - was the Wall in their way?)
• The air fares of Jonathan Rynhold (Bar-Ilan), Wendy Sandler (Haifa) and Daphna Erdinast-Vulcan (Haifa), and their travelling expenses around Britain, as they jetted in to do their anti-boycott road-show.

So all these efforts were un-co-ordinated contributions by unconnected groups and individuals? Not according to the Jewish News of 5th May 2005:

"At an anti-boycott meeting addressed this week by Dame Ruth Deech, the former principal of St. Anne's College, Oxford, the Zionist Federation decided on a four-point plan to combat the ban. Among the measures to be taken will be a telephone hotline, funded by an anonymous donor, which will allow interested parties to be kept updated on the ban's wider implications.

"A spokesman for the Board of Deputies said: 'If you are a student, academic or concerned parent please keep in touch with the Campaign Group for Academic Freedom, which is working very closely with the Academic Friends of Israel and the Academic Study Group.'"

I rest my case m'lud. And if any "anonymous donors" out there would care to redress the balance a little, you know where to send the dosh.

Call upon Israeli academics by European Jews for a Just Peace

Call upon Israeli academics

and here is PACBI's response to the above.

DÉJA VU?

"The occasion was the annual membership meeting of the American Library Association and answering the call to the colors were hundreds of Jewish librarians who descended on New Orleans for a dual purpose: to overturn a resolution criticizing Israeli censorship that had been approved at last year's convention and to demonstrate to their fellow librarians that judging Israel was not only not the business of the ALA, but also was not without career-threatening risks."

Now read the whole sorry story and spot the resemblances to AUT Special Council, 26th May 2005:

"An Act of a Censorship: American Library Association Becomes Another Israeli Occupied Territory"By Jeffrey Blankfort.

Birmingham Meeting

Uproar as Israel fuels pub row - originally in the Birmingham Post, 24th May 2005, reproduced on the Muslim News website.

LEGAL THREAT FROM HAIFA UNIVERSITY

... and here's something that makes interesting reading in comparison:

"Severe Inaccuracies in the (Haifa) University's Response to the AUT Decision"

Letter to Rector and Staff of Haifa University, April 2005, by Dr. Yuval Yonai, lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Material dating from before the vote at AUT Council, 20th-22nd April 2005

• Lecturers to vote on boycott of three Israeli universities (Independent, 22nd April 2005)
• Lecturer defends Israeli boycott plan on eve of vote Guardian, 22nd April 2005.
• "Politicide, no less" Jonathan Spyer's none-too-sympathetic report in Ha'aretz on 22nd April 2005.
• British teachers set to boycott Israel Al-Jazeera, 20 April 2005.
• "Why we ask for a boycott"Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki of PACBI, in the Guardian, April 20th, 2005.
• "Boycotting Israeli academics" Letters to the Guardian 19th April, both pro-and anti-boycott, including a supportive one from Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
• Israeli college boycott debated Matthew Taylor, the Guardian, 19th April, 2005)
•  An Open Letter to the AUT from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of Universities' Professors and Employees and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
• Don't boycott us, plead Israeli academics (Polly Curtis in the Guardian, 18th April 2005)

• Boycott threat to Israeli collegesObserver, 17th April 2005.
• Academic boycott proposal (Jewish Chronicle, 8th April 2005)
• British lecturers renew call to boycott Israeli academics(Ha'aretz, 6th April 2005)
• Boycott call resurfaces (The Guardian, Education section, 5th April 2005)
• Lecturers may boycott Israeli academics (The Guardian, 5th April 2005)

Reports dating from during or after AUT Council, 20th-22nd April 2005

• Second opinionPolly Curtis and Matthew Taylor in the Guardian, 24th May 2005. A huge and pretty accurate account of the AUT proceedings so far.
• Palestinian university president denounces U.K. boycott of Israeli academiaHa'aretz, 22nd May 2005
• UK welcomes Israel boycott review Guardian, 18th May: UK Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells has "welcomed" Special Council. So much for trade union independence then ....
• A boycott all the way By Baruch Kimmerling (Ha'aretz 17 May 2005)
• Education minister slams Haifa historian for supporting academic boycottHa'aretz, 13th May 2005.
• Israel universities - statement by AUT general secretary Sally Hunt Official statement on AUT website.
• Academics back Israeli boycottsHow the BBC broke the news on Friday 22nd April 2005.
•  European and International Affairs sub-committeeOfficial AUT website report of what happened to the various motions.

Material relating to or following Special Council, 26th May 2005

• Academic Boycott - letter to the Guardian, 16th Feb 2006, by members of BRICUP, referring to this article in Ha'aretz quoting the British ambassador Simon McDonald.

  ... and here is the predictable reply to the above letter from David Hirsh in the Guardian of the following day.

• AUT boycott debate that has put Palestine back on the map Malcolm Povey in Socialist Worker, 4th June 2005.
• Netanyahu to lead campaign against academic boycottHa'aretz, 1st June 2005
• In Britain, U.S, sides rearming in struggle over Israel boycott by Danielle Peled in JTA News, May 30, 2005
• The Lessons of the AUT Boycott Reversalby Toufic Haddad on ZNet, May 28, 2005
  A very thoughtful article which discusses the connection between the Palestinian struggle and trade union struggles.
  Lessons to be Learned: The Reversal of the AUT Boycott Similar article by Toufic Haddad, May 28th, on the Counterpunch site.
• AUT boycott supporters: Efforts to ostracize Israel will continue (Haaretz, 27th May 2005)
  Contains the immortal quote from the Rector of Bar-Ilan: "The damage has been done."
• Press Conference: Federation of University Unions Calls on All Parties to Uphold Palestinian Call for Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions25th May 2005, on the Birzeit site. Leaves no doubt whatsoever as to the position of Palestinian academic trade unions on the boycott and includes calls for Nusseibeh to be dismissed.
• Palestinian teachers union calls for Sari Nusseibeh's dismissal Khalid Amayreh in Al-Jazeera, 24 May 2005
  Reproduced here on the Electronic Intifada website.
• Open letter from Palestinian Civil Society in Support of AUT Academic Boycott
  Press Release from the Stop the Wall campaign just before Special Council, listing an absolutely phenomenal number of Palestinian civil organisations supporting the AUT boycott policy!

General articles/reactions about the AUT 2005 Council decisions

• "Academic Boycott - a legitimate form of peaceful protest" Sue Blackwell in Muslim News, 24th June 2005 ( .PDF format)
• Academic freedom in context Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki in Al-Ahram Weekly, 16 - 22 June 2005
• "We must try harder"
  Shamai Leibowitz and Yehudith Harel on the Kibush site, 17th June 2005: this is the full version of the article below.
• A British Union Reverses a Boycott: response by Yehudith Harel and "an anonymous Israeli lawyer", in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 17th June 2005.
• Plain Talk By Mursi Saad El-Din in Al-Ahram Weekly, 9- 5 June 2005
  Mentions Sue and also David Seddon and Martha Mundy of the Bricup committee. Critical of Arab and Muslim organisations for not supporting the boycott!
• Seeking alternatives to a third Palestinian intifadaBy Rami G. Khouri in the Daily Star (Lebanon), 30th May 2005.
• Statement on the Academic Boycott by the Palestinian General Delegation London, May 25, 2005
• The British Academic Boycott of Israel: The Logic of Sanctions Dawns By Gabi Baramki, former Acting President of Birzeit University, in Al-Ahram Weekly,2-8 June 2005
• Freedom vs. "Academic" Freedom: The AUT BoycottBy Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki in Counterpunch, 1st June 2005.

  Here's the same article on the Electronic Intifada sitedated 31st May.

• One Hand Clapping: Applauding Tolerance and Pluralism in Israeli Academia
  Sharif Hamadeh in The Electronic Intifada, 31 May 2005. An important article on boycott from within the Palestinian community in Israel. Hamadeh's organisation, Adalah, is one of the most prominent human rights organizations in Israel defending the rights of the Arab-Palestinian minority.
• Rejoinder to David Newman and Benjamin Pogrund, Education GUARDIAN, 25.5.05
  By Uri Davis on the ALEF list, 30th May 2005.
• Both Palestinians and Israelis will benefit from a boycott Ronnie Kasrils and Victoria Brittain in The Guardian, 25th May 2005
• Why did I sign the Guardian Letter in support of the AUT boycott?Yehudith Harel on the Kibbush site, 24th May 2005.
• Back the boycottby Ilan Pappe in the Guardian, 24th May 2005.
• The Power of Logic vs. the Logic of PowerCarmela Armanios on the Palestine Chronicle site, 22nd May 2005.
• Academic Freedom in Israel is Central to Resolving the Conflict ... To Create It, an Academic Boycott is NeededOren Ben-Dor in Counterpunch, 21/22 May 2005.
• Why we support the Israeli university boycott>David Seddon & Martha Mundy in the Independent, 12th May 2005.
• Why us? On the British boycott of Israeli universities By Tanya Reinhart, on the Redress website, 5th May 2005.
• Haifa University academic "remains steadfast in support of boycott" (Ha'aretz, 3rd May 2005)
• Q&A with Mina Teicher on the U.K. academic boycott, in Ha'aretz, 3rd May 2005. (Mina Teicher is chair of the Education Committee of the European Mathematical Society and Bar-Ilan University's Vice President for Research and Development).
• "It's not a boycott of academics but pressure on Israel"Interview with Nabil Kassis in Palestine Report, 4th May 2005. Excellent.
• The AUT boycott and the rights of Israelis and PalestiniansAn article posted on the (new!) Indymedia Birmingham site.
• The Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel Article by Milan Rai on the Justice Not Vengeance site, 3rd May 2005.
• The Handstand from 3rd May 2005. A rather miscellaneous collection of reactions to the boycott.
• British AUT getting 'down wiv the kidz' By the dreadful Julie Burchill in Ha'aretz, 3rd May. There follows a discussion board with some interesting responses - see in particular the one by Leibowitz. Sue contributed as well.
• It's Not the Boycott, Stupid, It's the OccupationUri Ram on the Kibush website, April 26, 2005
• "The meaning of academic boycott"
  Baruch Kimmerling, and others, on the Jewish Voice for Peace site
• "You brought the boycott upon yourselves": Gush Shalom letter to Bar Ilan University26th April 2005. Powerful stuff from the Israeli Peace Bloc.
• To boldly GoIlan Pappe in the Guardian, 20th April 2005.
• Israel: A Call for Divestment by Shamai Leibowitz in The Nation, March 15, 2005
• "Academic Boycott and the Israeli left" by Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki (on Z-Net, 14th April 2005)
  ... and here's the same article on the Kibush website
  ... and again on the Electronic Intifada site.
• "Boycotting the Israeli Academy" (by Lisa Taraki on Znet, August 19 2004 - NB this one dates from before the AUT decision)

Reports about Anti-semitism on campus

• Historian: Anti-semitism is on the rise among leftist U.K. academics (Ha'aretz, 11th March 2006)
• Soas faces action over alleged anti-semitismGuardian, 12th May 2005
• Why I had to resign by Luciana Berger in the Guardian, 15th April 2005.

Scurrilous attacks on Sue in the Press

• Inept Anti-Israel Activists: Self Defeat by Efraim Karsh & Rory Miller, in The New Republic Online, 1st March 2006.
• No flies on controversial Blackwell (Guardian, 11th May 2005)
  Actually not so scurrilous though bizarre in places. It probably gives my research more credit than it deserves! LOL.
• The academic ban - Nazi connection Yaakov Lappin in the Jerusalem Post, 1st May.
• > Why Israel will always be vilified David Aaronovitch in the Observer, Sunday April 24, 2005
  Describes Sue as "a former Christian fundamentalist turned revolutionary socialist". Ah well, I'm proud to be in the same company as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is also slagged off by Aaronovitch.
• Good luck, Ms. Blackwell Angela Bertz in Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, on 10th April 2005
  "The campaign is lucky to have at its disposal terrorist apologist Sue Blackwell, a lecturer at Birmingham University." etc. etc.

Scurrilous attacks on the boycott in general in the Press

• The Lamentable Case of Joan Scott
  An attack on the Vice-Chair (I think) of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), in the notoriously Zionist US magazine Frontpage.
• The boycott of decency Melanie Phillips's Diary (who else?), 11th Feb 2006.
• Dershowitz: Boycotts abet terrorism In Ha'aretz, 27th Jan 2006.
• Freedom of thought at stakeby Ada Spitzer, vice-president of the University of Haifa, in the Guardian, 24th May 2005.
• Calls for Israel's destruction in LondonYaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post, 22nd May. This is in fact a report of the PSC annual rally, at which Sue spoke this year. The boycott is prominently featured and Sue gets quoted extensively.
• War by other meansGerald M. Steinberg (director of the Program on Conflict Management at Bar Ilan University) in the Jerusalem Post, 22nd May 2005.
• Blinkered and ill-timed Leader in the Times Online, 25th April 2005.
• Academic boycott: Bashing IsraelBy Abraham Foxman (head of the Anti-Defamation League) in the International Herald Tribune, 22nd April 2005.
  NB This article was reproduced in the Hebrew edition of Ha'aretz.
• AUT boycott: Jewish lecturers resignJerusalem Post, 24th April
• Europe blinded by anti-Semitic bigotryJoseph Farah in WorldNet Daily, 20th April 2005.

The Fire Last Time: AUT Council 2003

• Text of the four motions on Palestine and Israel from Birmingham AUT to AUT national Council 2003
• Text of Sue's speech to AUT Council 2003 proposing the motion for academic boycott of Israel.
• "Lecturers reject call to boycott Israel" (Guardian, 10th May 2003)
• "Boycott Plan of Israel Academics Rejected" (Associated Press, 10th May 2003)
• "Lecturers' union to debate boycott of Israel"(Guardian, 5th May 2003)
• "Lecturers under fire after call for boycott of Israel" (Sunday Telegraph, 4th May 2003)
• Current AUT policy on Israel
• Current NATFHE policy on Israel
• NATFHE webpages on Israel and Palestine - from the T.U. Friends of Palestine site.
  Contains questions and answers on NATFHE policy, but probably way out of date by now.
• Statement by Mike Cohen and Colwyn Williamson
  - about the misleading portrayal of AUT and NATFHE policy in a Board of Deputies Press Release.

• Motions on Palestine and Israel from Birmingham AUT to AUT national Council

This site is owned and maintained by Sue Blackwell.
It was last updated on 20th June 2008.