Updates from the palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
We strongly urge you to extrapolate your Call to
reach the logical next step:
Calling upon Israeli academics to conscientiously
object to service in the occupation army. As you know, most Israeli academics do
serve in the reserve forces, thereby witnessing in silence or directly participating in
Israel's crimes against the civilian Palestinian population.
The collusion of
Israel's academic institutions in the violation of international law and basic human rights
of Palestinians is
multi-faceted and entrenched.
Durante años, académicos israelíes han servido en el ejército de ocupación,
participando o al menos siendo testigo de los cotidianos crímenes cometidos sobre la
población civil palestina. Apenas han denunciado públicamente la ocupación de Israel,
ni su sistema de discriminación contra sus propios ciudadanos palestinos, ni su
imperturbable rechazo al derecho internacionalmente reconocido de los palestinos
para volver a sus hogares y propiedades.
Boycotting Israeli institutions due to their complicity in
Israel’s racist and colonial policies against the Palestinians remains formidably on the
agenda. We may not get tangible results this year, but the prospects for success next
year or the following one are much greater now. Many more years separated the ANC’s
call for boycott of apartheid -- issued in 1956 -- and the actual implementation of
meaningful sanctions. What matters most is that the taboo has indeed been shattered.
PACBI has called for a comprehensive boycott of Israeli academic
and cultural institutions due to their complicity in Israel’s racist and colonial policies.
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in Britain heeded that call in its Council
meeting on 22 April 2005, when it voted to boycott Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities as
well as to consider boycotting the Hebrew University.
In October 2004, a similar
call for comprehensive boycott of Israel was endorsed by major South African
Durante años, académicos israelíes han servido en el ejército de ocupación, participando o al menos siendo testigo de los cotidianos crímenes cometidos sobre la población civil palestina. Apenas han denunciado públicamente la ocupación de Israel, ni su sistema de discriminación contra sus propios ciudadanos palestinos, ni su imperturbable rechazo al derecho internacionalmente reconocido de los palestinos para volver a sus hogares y propiedades.
Such projects, largely conceived and funded by international and/or Israeli institutions, include ventures involving Israeli institutions such as the Peres Peace Center and Galilee College with the cooperation or active involvement of Palestinian health professionals, whether such involvement is in the area of training, referral to Israeli health services, capacity building, or other joint ventures; initiatives aiming at ‘promoting dialogue and collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli health professionals, NGOs and health institutions’; projects that entail joint scientific/research coope
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in the UK voted in its Council meeting today to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities and to disseminate to all its chapters our Call for Boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This historic decision, which sets a landmark precedent, stands as a major achievement in the struggle to attain a just peace in our region. Finally, boycotting Israeli institutions, as a morally and politically sound response to Israel’s crimes, is on the mainstream agenda in the west; and no one can ignore it now.