Re: [xmca] Boycott Information

Yes, but, have you asked directly any UK university to dissociate
from the issue? What I am implying is that you don´t ask universities
to stop a war: you ask governments to do so.

On May 31, 2007, at 2:24 PM, Shirley Franklin wrote:

> UCU, our union, is affiliated to the Stop the War movement and
> regularly supports their activities. I myself often volunteer in
> the National office and help to organise demonstrations.
> We are in no way complacent about the UK/Blair role in the illegal
> and murderous war an occupation of Iraq
>
> Shirley
> On 31 May 2007, at 18:25, David Preiss wrote:
>
>> "No Israeli university has explicitly dissociated itself from the
>> Occupation, nor even debated publicly the question of whether or
>> not it would be appropriate so to do. All Israeli universities
>> are, therefore, directly or indirectly complicit in virtue of the
>> training of, and support for, the occupying forces, or a failure
>> to condemn the outrages carried out in the name of every Israeli
>> citizen."
>>
>> Shirley,
>> And what UK university has explicitly dissociated itself from the
>> occupation of Iraq? Please, Shirley, the boycott is addressing the
>> wrong target. Why don´t UK academics instead spend their time
>> fighting against the military actions of their own government, its
>> complicity and support of the dirty war against terrorism? It is
>> too way easy to condemn universities, as abstract entities. I am
>> sure that most israeli academics are among those supporting a
>> settled solution of the conflict. Worst of all, this kind of
>> initiatives instead strengthening the peace camp in Israel
>> contribute to its alienation. A more positive initiative sponsored
>> by UK academics would try to make israeli and palestinian
>> academics meet and collaborate and would not raise irresponsibly
>> the level of isolation of those involved in the conflict,
>> David
>>
>> On May 31, 2007, at 5:44 AM, Shirley Franklin wrote:
>>
>>> As a Jewish member of UCU I support the boycott, which is a
>>> boycott against Israeli UNIVERSITES as Zionist institutions not a
>>> boycott against individual Israeli academics. It will be
>>> possible for us to engage with Israeli academics but not with
>>> their institutions - examining, university delegations,etc.
>>>
>>> It is really important that anti-semitism is not confused with
>>> anti-zionism. The boycott basically supports the rights of
>>> Palestinians to live equally as Israelis do in their own homes,
>>> in their own lands. UCU members are not singling Israel out. Both
>>> the behaviour of the occupying forces in the Occupied
>>> Territories, and Israeli state policy, is not simply barbaric;
>>> they are clearly designed to make these areas ungovernable and
>>> non-viable, and eventually to eradicate altogether any
>>> distinctive Palestinian culture and history. The illegal
>>> settlements, the strategic use of the road network between the
>>> settlements, and the separation wall constitute an intentional
>>> policy of disaggregation of Palestinian territory.
>>> The discriminatory practices in respect of water supply, land
>>> ownership, military checkpoints, incursions and the use of
>>> airpower regardless of civilian casualties, house demolitions and
>>> other collective punishments, and the dramatic differences in the
>>> financing of educational, health and other resources between
>>> Israelis and Palestinians render Israeli state policy both
>>> discriminatory and destructive. These policies are not
>>> consistent, the UCU members insist, with peace, security or
>>> indeed any form of academic freedom for the Palestinian population.
>>>
>>> Universities play a particularly important role in Israeli
>>> society, one that is distinct from the role of academic
>>> institutions in other oppressive states. No Israeli university
>>> has explicitly dissociated itself from the Occupation, nor even
>>> debated publicly the question of whether or not it would be
>>> appropriate so to do. All Israeli universities are, therefore,
>>> directly or indirectly complicit in virtue of the training of,
>>> and support for, the occupying forces, or a failure to condemn
>>> the outrages carried out in the name of every Israeli citizen.
>>>
>>> Shirley Franklin
>>> On 31 May 2007, at 03:03, David Preiss wrote:
>>>
>>>> This is indeed a quite complicated issue, David, and that has
>>>> made many people think there is an anti-Semitic push behind this
>>>> boycott. I understand criticism towards Israel very well, but if
>>>> we start boycotting academics because of the military options of
>>>> their countries there are many that should stop working with our
>>>> American or even UK friends as well because of the Iraq policy
>>>> of their governments, not to speak of our colleagues which are
>>>> living under the many oppressive regimes that abound around the
>>>> world these days. I think this whole thing is a very bad idea
>>>> that does not serve its moral purposes.
>>>> David Preiss
>>>>
>>>> On May 30, 2007, at 8:21 PM, David H Kirshner wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Earlier today (May 30, 2007), the United Kingdom's University and
>>>>> College Union endorsed the principle of a boycott of Israeli
>>>>> academic
>>>>> institutions, and called for an educational campaign among UCU
>>>>> members
>>>>> in support of such a boycott. Those who are interested in this
>>>>> issue
>>>>> might want to communicate their opinions to UCU General
>>>>> Secretary Sally
>>>>> Hunt: sallyhuntucu@googlemail.com
>>>>>
>>>>> David Kirshner
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> David Preiss, Ph.D.
>>>> Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
>>>> Escuela de Psicología
>>>> Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
>>>> Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
>>>> Macul, Santiago
>>>> Chile
>>>>
>>>> Fono: 3544605
>>>> Fax: 3544844
>>>> e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
>>>> web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
>>>> web institucional: http://www.uc.cl/psicologia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> David Preiss, Ph.D.
>> Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
>> Escuela de Psicología
>> Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
>> Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
>> Macul, Santiago
>> Chile
>>
>> Fono: 3544605
>> Fax: 3544844
>> e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
>> web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
>> web institucional: http://www.uc.cl/psicologia
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
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>

David Preiss, Ph.D.
Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
Escuela de Psicología
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
Macul, Santiago
Chile

Fono: 3544605
Fax: 3544844
e-mail: davidpreiss@uc.cl
web personal: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
web institucional: http://www.uc.cl/psicologia

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Received on Thu May 31 12:46 PDT 2007