[eccr] Re: University Professors Call for European Boycott of Links withIsrael

Dear Colleagues,

Yes, I still refer to you as colleagues and hope that we shall remain
so.  I wish, however, to make a few brief comments regarding the letter
that was circulated calling for a moratorium, or boycott, of Israeli
scholars because of the policy of the Israeli government.

1.  It is ironic that this call was circulated on the eve of Holocaust
Memorial Day, although you are probably not aware of this.  I mention
this in the context of the quote from the letter that "Odd though it may
appear, many national European cultural and research institutions ...
regard Israel as a European state for the purpose of awarding grants and
contracts. (No other Middle Eastern state is so regarded).  Let me
remind you of the long history of Jewish cultural and scientific ties
with European countries.  Some of the greatest European scientists,
philosophers, musicians, etc. were Jewish citizens of European
countries.  The fact that certain Europeans didn't want them in their
midst and "boycotted" them in severe ways should not be forgotten.  To
the best of my knowledge, there were few if any such European figures
from middle eastern countries.

2.  The current strong scientific and cultural cooperation between
Europe and Israel is beneficial to both sides.  Europeans surely gain
much by their contacts and joint ventures with Israelis and vice versa. 
This is due to the very high standards of Israeli scientists, musicians,
artists, and so forth today.  Just look at what the state of Israel has
accomplished in this regard in just over 50 years.  Show me another
country that has done so much in so short a time.

3.  I have not heard any call for a moratorium or boycott of
Palestinians or the Palestinian Authority -- which also has certain ties
with the European scientific and cultural establishment -- this, despite
the horrific acts of terror that they have been perpetrating against
innocent Israeli and the total lack of desire of their leadership to
stop such actions.

A final thought: I just wonder if these "scholars" who have affixed
their signatures to the call for sanctions against Israel will also
reflect these sentiments when, for example, they serve on editorial
boards of journals reviewing papers submitted by Israeli colleagues? 
And will they also stop assigning books and articles to their students
if they happen to be written by Israelis?

This is not the way to go, my friends.  Let us all pressure the Israeli
government, the Palestinian Authority as well as the leading world
governments to help bring a solution to this severe conflict, but
boycotts and moratoriums and not the way to go.

Peace! Shalom! Salaam!

Akiba Cohen
Professor of Communication, Tel Aviv University
currently Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia
University

Jan Servaes wrote:
> 
>  University Professors Call for European Boycott of Links with Israel
>  Press Release - dateline Saturday 6th April
> 
> University Professors call for European boycott of research and cultural
> links with Israel
> 
> As of noon on Friday, more than 120 university academics and researchers
> from across Europe had signed during the course of three days, an open
> letter, presented for publication in The Guardian, calling for a moratorium
> on all future cultural and research links with Israel at European or
> national level until such time as the Israeli government abide by UN
> resolutions and open serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians along
> the lines of the recent Saudi peace plan.
> The signatories include more than 90 from the UK, amongst them 43 university
> professors including some of the country's leading natural and social
> scientists. The list includes one signatory from within Israel itself. Other
> signatories are from Eire, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland,
> Italy, Norway, Portugal,Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
> 
> For further information contact either:
> Professor Hilary Rose ((h.rose /at/ open.ac.uk))
> or Professor Steven Rose ((s.p.r.rose /at/ open.ac.uk))
> telephone 0207 713 1709
> 
> The full text of the letter and list of signatories follows:
> 
> Letter:
> 
> Despite widespread international condemnation for its policy of violent
> repression against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories,
> the Israeli government appears impervious to moral appeals from world
> leaders. The major potential source of effective criticism, the United
> States, seemsreluctant to act. However there are ways of exerting
> pressure from within Europe. Odd though it may appear, many national and
> European cultural and research institutions, including especially those
> funded from the EU and the European Science Foundation, regard Israel as a
> European state for the purposes of awarding grants and contracts.
> (No other Middle Eastern state is so regarded). Would it not therefore
> be timely if at both national and European level a moratorium was called
> upon any further such support unless and until Israel abide by UN
> resolutions and open serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians,
> along the lines proposed in many peace plans including most recently
> that sponsored by the Saudis and the Arab League.
> 
> Signatories (alphabetically by country as of 16.00 5th April)
> 
> Note all signatories are signing in a personal capacity; institutional
> affiliations are given only for identification purposes
> 
> Britain:
> 
> 1- Ainley, Dr Patrick, ,University of Greenwich
> 2- Aleksander, Professor Igor, Imperial College London
> 3- Banks, Dr Sarah, University of Durham
> 4- Bateson, Professor Patrick FRS, Provost Kings College, Cambridge
> 5-  Beckford, Dr Jim, University of Warwick
> 6- Bendelow, Dr Gill, University of Warwick
> 7- Bennett, Professor Tony, Open University
> 8- Birke, Dr Lynda, University of Lancaster
> 9-Blakemore, Professor Colin FRS, Oxford University
> 10-Blankenburg, Dr Stephanie, SOAS, London
>  11-Breugel, Professor Irene, Middlesex University
>  12-Brunner, Dr Eric, University College London
> 13- Burton, Professor Emerita Leone, Birmingham University
> 14-  Caddel, Dr Richard, Durham University
> 15- Cockburn, Cynthia, City University
>  16- Cohen, Professor Robin, Warwick, currently University of Cape Town
> 17-Crompton, Professor Rosemary, City University, London
> 18- David, Professor Miriam, Keele University
> 19- Dawkins, Professor Richard FRS, Oxford University
> 20- Dore, Dr Elizabeth, University of Southampton
> 21- Duckett, Professor Jeff, Queen Mary University of London
> 22- Ellison, Dr Nick, University of Durham
> 23- Edmondson, Linda, Birmingham University
> 24- Edmondson,  William, Birmingham University
> 25- Ettore, Professor Elizabeth,  Plymouth University
> 26- Fine, Dr Robert Warwick university
> 27-Fletcher, Dr John, Warwick University
> 28-Fonagy, Professor Peter, University College London
> 29-Fox, Edward London (writer)
> 30-Ginn, Dr Jay Surrey University
> 31- Glendinning, Victoria London (writer) >
> 32-Gregory, Professor Richard FRS, BristolUniversity
> 33- Hakimian, Dr Hassan, SOAS, London
> 34-Healey, Dr Peter SPSGLondon
> 35- Himmelweit, Dr Sue, Open University
> 36-Hobson, Professor Marian,London University
> 37-Honderich, Emeritus Professor Ted, University College, London
> 38-Humphrey, Professor Nicholas, London School ofEconomics
> 39- Hunter, Professor Lynette, Leeds University
> 40-Kamminga, Dr Harmke,Cambridge University
> 41-Karmiloff-Smith, Professor Annette, Institute of ChildHealth, London
> 42- Kuper, Richard, Hatfield University
> 43- Laven, Dr David,University of Reading
> 44-Lawler, Dr Stephanie, University of Durham
> 45- Law, Professor John, Lancaster University
> 46-Lister, Professor Ruth,Loughborough University
> 47-Macpherson, Rev. Duncan, St Mary's UniversityCollege,University of Surrey
> 48-McRobbie, Professor Angela, Goldsmith's College London
> 49-Merck, Professor Mandy, Royal Holloway and BedfordCollege
> 50-Messkoub, Dr Mahmood, University of Leeds
> 51-Midgley, Dr. Mary,retired Newcastle University (philosopher)
> 52-Mileusnic, Dr Radmila,OpenUniversity
> 53- Moon, Dr Claire, University of Kent
> 54-Moore, Professor Robert, Liverpool University
> 55-Murcott, > Professor Anne, Nottingham University
> 56-Murphy, > Professor Sean, Nottingham University
> 57-Orun, Dr Ahmed, BirminghamUniversity
> 58- Osborne, Professor Peter, Middlesex University
> 59-Phillips, Dr. Sarah, University of Durham Press,
> 60- Dr Ron (engineer, retired)
> 61-Preston,  Dr Rosemary, University of Warwick
> 62-Rangwala, Dr Glen, Trinity College,Cambridge
> 63-Rivera, Consuela, University of Lancaster
> 64-Rose,  Professor Hilary, City University London >
> 65-Rose, Professor Nikolas, Goldsmith's College London
> 66- Rose, Professor Steven, Open University
> 67- Rosen,Michael, London (writer and broadcaster)
> 68-Rowley, Professor Gwyn (retired)
>  69-Russell, Professor Willie, FRSE, University of St Adrews
>  70-Ryan, Dr Mark, Birmingham University
> 71-Salter, Professor Brian, University of East Anglia
> 72- Samuels, Professor Andrew, Essex University
> 73- Sassoon, Professor Anne Showstack, Kingston University
> 74- Savage, Dr Wendy, London Hospital (retired)
> 75-Scott, Professor Sue, Durham University
> 76- Segal, Professor Graeme, All Souls, Oxford
> 77-Segal, Professor Lynne, Birkbeck College,London
> 78-Shakespeare, Dr Tom, Life Centre, Newcastle
> 79Shackle,  Dr Emma, Plater College Oxford
> 80-Shire, Dr George, Open University
> 81-Shuker,  Professor David, Open University
> 82-Sinha, Professor Martin, Southampton University
> 83- Sloman, Professor Aaron,Birmingham
> 84- Smith, Dr Paul, University of Keele
> 85- Solomon, Professor Joan, Open University
> 86- Taylor, Dr Paul, Warburg Institute, London
> 87-Tozer, David, Peterborough, Cambridge University
> 88-Treacher, Dr Amal, Birkbeck College, London
> 89- Tudge, Dr Colin, London (writer and broadcaster)
> 90-Ward, Dr Helen, Imperial College London
> 91-Yao, Professor Xin, Birmingham University
> 92- Yuval-Davis, Professor Nira, University of Greenwich
> 
>  Eire:
> 
> - Lynch, Dr Marina, Trinity College Dublin
>  - Regan, Professor Ciaran, University College Dublin
> 
> Denmark:
> 
> -Sinha, Dr Chris,Technical University, Copenhagen
> 
> Finland:
> - Hearn. Professor Jeff, School of Economics, Helsinki
> 
> France:
> 
> - Levy-Leblond, Professor Jean-Marc, Nice University
> - Cobb, Dr Matthew, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Paris
>  -Ohlsson-Malek, Dr Fairouz, CNRS, Paris
> 
> Germany:
> 
> - Reymann, Professor Klaus, Magdeburg
> - Frey, Professor Julietta, Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg
> 
> Iceland
> 
> - Vilhjalmsson, Professor Thorsteinn, University of Iceland
> - Sigurdsson, Dr Skuli, University of Iceland
> 
> Italy:
> - Frontali, Professor Nora, ISS, Rome
> - Mengheri, Elena, INRAN, Rome
> - Minicozzi, Dr Velia, University of Tor Vergata, Rome
> - Murgia, Dr Chiara, INRAN, Rome
> - Ranaldi, Dr Giulia, INRAN, Rome
> - Turrini, Dr Aida, INRAN, Rome
> - Vladikas, Dr Anastassios, INFN, Rome
> 
> Israel:
> 
> - Jablonka, Professor Eva, Tel-Aviv University
> 
> Norway:
> - Andersen Professor Per, Oslo University
> - Fjelland, Professor Ragnar, Bergen University
> - Waerness, Professor Kari, Bergen University
> 
> Portugal:
> 
> - Matos, Dr Augusta, Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Lisbon
> - Queiroz, Professor Clara, ( retired)University of Lisbon
> 
> Spain:
> 
> - Ferrus, Professor Alberto, Cajal Institute, Madrid
> 
> Sweden:
> 
> - Elzinger, Professor Aant, University of Goteborg
> - Esseveld, Professor Johanna, University of Lund
> - Holmquist, Associate Professor, Ingrid, University of Goteborg
> - Karfve, Professor Eva, University of Malmo
> -  Nilsson, Professor Arne, University of Goteborg
> - Therborn, Professor Goran, Swedish Collegium for Advanced  Study in the
> Social Sciences, Uppsala
> - Wellin, Professor Stellan,  University of  Goteborg
> 
> Switzerland:
> 
> - Lipp, Professor Hans-Peter, Zurich University Maranta, Dr Alessandro, ETH,
> Zurich

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