At the end of May, and to the surprise of many, the University and College Union (UCU), which looks after academics and lecturers, voted to recommend that its members boycott Israeli universities, at its conference in Bournemouth on the English South Coast. This was in protest against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and, in particular, the continued and illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
This was a highly controversial decision and one much criticized in parts of the British press. There were those in the UCU who considered it should not concentrate on international issues, at the expense of bread and butter subjects such as pay and conditions. (Both are not what they should be.)
The devastation of Palestinian society has become a matter of growing attention in the United Kingdom, perhaps more so than in other Western countries. The churches have been giving a good lead. In 2006 the Church of England’s General Synod ran into hot water when it discussed removing church investments from the American company, Caterpillar. Its members had seen on television, evening after evening, Caterpillar’s huge and ugly armored bulldozers knocking down Palestinian homes and wondered if this was the sort of company the church should be supporting financially.
In July the Methodists, whose numbers are falling fast, will discuss at their conference if their funds, of around one billion pounds, should still be invested in companies working in the occupied territories.
The Tablet, the weekly of the Catholic Church, showed last year that 70 percent of those consulted for a survey backed disinvestments in such companies.
This spring a group of Britain’s leading and influential architects, including Jack Pringle, the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, signed a petition condemning Israel’s construction of settlements and its infamous wall partly built on Palestinian farming land.
In May the National Union of Journalists voted for a boycott of everything Israeli. There was some doubt if it would still be possible for its members to continue to report from Israel if this boycott went ahead. There have been movements of a similar nature in such countries as South Africa, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. In South Africa the four-million-strong Trades Union Congress has called for an academic and cultural boycott.
My hunch is that an element of despair, driven by the endless images of violence, destruction and straightforward anarchy in Palestinian society, has watered such roots in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Recent figures show that last year 27 Israelis were killed and over 650 Palestinians, including 120 children.
In the United Kingdom many of those calling loudly for such a boycott cut their political teeth on sanctions against South Africa. I doubt if sanctions against South Africa were very effective, but I have no doubt that the lack of investment from abroad played a crucial role in the abandonment of the hated and despised apartheid system.
A vigorous debate will now take place in British universities over the proposal to boycott academic institutions in Israel. Those against will claim it will shut up those academics within Israel who hate their government’s policies; and hurt Palestinians who seek to study in Israeli’s universities. It will do nothing to help the flow of ideas at that level. Academic freedom is a reality within Israel, unlike in some other countries in the region, and should be encouraged.
However, Omar Barghouti is a leader of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and he claims:
“The Palestinian call for institutional boycott of Israel, which is principally inspired by the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, is the most morally and politically sound resistance strategy to counter Israeli apartheid and colonial policies.” In July he will be touring British universities and colleges arguing for the boycott.
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, has been in touch with Margaret Beckett, her British counterpart, to complain that UCU’s recent vote could damage relations between Israel and Britain. There is talk now of a consumers’ boycott of British imports which are worth 1.2 billion pounds.
I have yet to be convinced that a boycott of Israeli universities is the best way forward. Boycotting Israeli products is a very different matter, and I know many who do just that. I am encouraged by the growing interest in Israel’s distain for the United Nations resolutions.
