Salvatore, Walter, Nick,
>
> Thanks for your contributions to this discussion on the issue that is the
> "elephant in the room" at UCU right now.
>
> Aziza-Pappano's article is excellent for the most part, putting the
> boycott issue in a North American context -- thanks Nick!
>
> What the article does not do however is discuss the the uniquely British
> concatenation of circumstances that led to the call for a wider debate on
> a proespective academic boycott at the UCU conference earlier this year.
> This resolution was taken at the first AGM of the UCU, which is itself the
> product of the merger of the two academic unions that co-existed until
> last year. Internal union politics aside, it is heartening that the new
> union's structures do allow for what are essentially "floor motions" at
> congress and it is not necessary to have executive approval to bring them
> forward (unlike in the Labour Party). In fact UCU President Sally Hunt is
> on record as opposing any eventual academic boycott and opinion seems to
> be very divided judging from the various blogsites and the Times Higher.
>
> The UCU motion now requires all union local branches to discuss the
> resolution and take a formal view which will be passed back to HQ and be
> raised again at the next Congress. In the meantime the issue has a much
> higher profile at the national level and, more importantly, at the local
> level and I think that this is all quite productive -- it has certainly
> led to lively debates amongst my union colleagues! I look forward to the
> next Congress.
>
> Otherwise I agree with Salvatore that there are more proactive things to
> do, such as forging direct links with Palestinian colleagues inside and
> outside occupied Palestine. Similarly I think that it is important to
> forge links with Israeli colleagues, many of whom are, in my experience,
> unhappy with many aspects of their institutions' and government's
> policies. But they are often rather like us British academics who are
> unhappy with our government's murderous policies around the world, but
> otherwise immobile and inactive -- would it be productive to boycott
> British academics and their institutions because the British government
> promotes war abroad and many universities are indirectly complicit?
>
> as always, the struggle continues,
> Chad Staddon
> UWE, Bristol
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Salvatore Engel-DiMauro" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:09 PM
> Subject: Re: UCU motion to discuss Israel academic boycott
>
>
>> seems like this sort of boycott diverts attention from more pressing
>> issues, to me. one more pressing issue is about effective freedom of
>> movement and speech for Palestinians generally and Palestinian academics
>> in particular within Israel, in the occupied lands, and in the US, as
>> well as the end of closures and financial boycotts and throttling by the
>> Israeli state of Palestinian education institutions. how does such
>> discussion of a possible boycott on Israeli academic institutions make
>> any headway toward those issues? is there no movement on the part of UK
>> universities to pressure the UK government into boycotting companies that
>> aid and abet the military operations of the Israeli government against
>> Palestinians?
>>
>> in the US, i have participated in trying to get universities to boycott
>> companies that furnish weapons and equipment (which is also used to
>> demolish Palestinian homes) to the Israeli government. this is a more
>> worthwhile boycott strategy to me. but not much has been accomplished so
>> far. the boycott struggle, as usual, has been conveniently attacked as
>> antisemitic by the sort of wankers Nicholls describes, who will use the
>> anti-zionism = antisemitism line as much as they can to evade any
>> discussion or debate, or, in other words, to stifle any political
>> alternatives to the status quo. is something similar happening in the UK?
>> it is a pity otherwise to see efforts in the UK foundering in terms of
>> strategy, boycotting the ideological messengers instead of those with
>> real powers to cease and desist seems odd to me. This is especially the
>> case because there are not a few Israeli academics and public
>> intellectuals that have been much more critical of the Israeli state than
>> most academics in the US or UK. perhaps a better strategy would be to
>> invite, give prestigious awards, otherwise reward those Palestinian and
>> Israeli academics that are struggling for an end to Israeli oppression
>> and colonialism, equal rights for all in a truly democratic single state,
>> the right of return for Palestinians, etc. a more proactive engagement, i
>> think, would be more worthwhile and effective than a boycott (which is
>> hard to imagine in actual application, given how well networked military
>> R&D in Israel is with US and UK, including universities).
>>
>> cheers,
>>
>> saed
>>
>> Walter Nicholls wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks for this article Nick. The article focuses on the hypocrisy of
>>> university presidents concerning the boycott. While the hypocrisy is
>>> certainly there, we have to separate that out from the question of
>>> whether academic boycott’s are strategic techniques for addressing the
>>> injustices in the occupied territories. The article makes clear that it
>>> is not a strategic technique. Rather than motivating Israeli
>>> universities and academics to put pressure on the state to change its
>>> policies (which is the intended goal of a boycott), the mere mention of
>>> the boycott has provided reactionaries like Alan Dershowitz an
>>> opportunity to organize a pro-Israeli block among American and Israeli
>>> academics. This ‘debate’ has seemed to benefit the forces of reaction
>>> much more than those seeking to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
>>> So, while I certainly sympathize with the goals of those pushing this
>>> debate, an academic boycott is not a strategic means for achieving those
>>> goals. It seems more counterproductive than anything else.
>>>
>>> walter
>>>
>>> *From:* Nick Blomley [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 26, 2007 8:43 AM
>>> *To:* Walter Nicholls
>>> *Cc:* [log in to unmask]
>>> *Subject:* Re: UCU motion to discuss Israel academic boycott
>>>
>>> As I understand it, the motion does not call for a boycott. Rather it
>>> calls on local branches to *discuss* the issue.
>>>
>>> There's an interesting article on this from a North American perspective
>>> at http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7124.shtml
>>>
>>> I don't think I favour a boycott. However, cutting off a debate (as many
>>> university presidents have essentially said, in response to the motion,
>>> or a misreading thereof) seems to compromise some important academic
>>> freedoms.
>>>
>>> Nick
>>>
>>> On 26-Sep-07, at 8:07 AM, Walter Nicholls wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Pardon me for my political ignorance, but I don’t get the motive behind
>>> a boycott of Israeli academics. Cutting people off from active
>>> intellectual exchanges would seem politically counterproductive (by
>>> reinforcing a sense of ‘us’ versus the ‘rest’ sentiment) and against the
>>> academic tradition of free speech. Also, it punishes a particular
>>> segment of the population that really has little power to change state
>>> policy while alienating natural allies in that country. If we boycott
>>> Israeli academics for the bad polices of their state, in all fairness we
>>> should also boycott American academics whose government has created a
>>> fair degree of mayhem and injustice in the world. Iraq is just the most
>>> recent example of how US foreign policy has devastating effects on whole
>>> regions. Oh yeah, we can’t boycott American academics because many of us
>>> are employed by American universities and/or depend on journals and
>>> events that operate out of this country.
>>>
>>> Walter
>>>
>>> *From:* A forum for critical and radical geographers
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *D F J Wood
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:36 AM
>>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>> *Subject:* Re: UCU motion to discuss Israel academic boycott
>>>
>>> There seems to have been nothing here (at Newcastle or indeed in
>>> North-east UK universities more broadly). Why, I am not sure - I sense a
>>> distinct apathy and ennui rather than anything particularly motivated in
>>> either direction!
>>>
>>> David.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> *From:* A forum for critical and radical geographers
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Nick Blomley
>>> *Sent:* 26 September 2007 15:29
>>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>> *Subject:* UCU motion to discuss Israel academic boycott
>>>
>>> Has there been any discussion within UK universities concerning
>>> the pros and cons of a boycott, as suggested by the UCU motion?
>>>
>>> Nick
>>>
>>> *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
>>>
>>> Nicholas Blomley,
>>>
>>> Professor,
>>>
>>> Department of Geography,
>>>
>>> Simon Fraser University,
>>>
>>> Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, CANADA
>>>
>>> 778-782-3713
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.sfu.ca/geography/people/faculty/Faculty_sites/NickBlomley/index.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
>>>
>>> Nicholas Blomley,
>>>
>>> Professor,
>>>
>>> Department of Geography,
>>>
>>> Simon Fraser University,
>>>
>>> Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, CANADA
>>>
>>> 778-782-3713
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>> http://www.sfu.ca/geography/people/faculty/Faculty_sites/NickBlomley/index.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro
>> Department of Geography, SUNY New Paltz
>> 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, NY 12561
>> tel: 1/845/2572991, fax: 1/845/2572992
>> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Senior Editor
>> Capitalism Nature Socialism: A Journal of Ecosocialism
>>
>> Editor
>> ACME: An international e-journal for critical geographies
>> http://www.acme-journal.org/
>>
>>
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>>
>
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