Bring Back the Word Boycott!

Bring back the word boycott!  As far as I recall the legal advice was based on the opinion of one rather dubious individual…

This is the time of year when Jews in Britain have learnt to anticipate an anti-Israel boycott at the annual conference of the University and College Union, Britain’s largest trade union and professional association for lecturers, researchers and academic-related staff.

This year follows the pattern, with the UCU suggesting that its individual members “consider the moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli institutions and to discuss the occupation with individuals and institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they are collaborating.”

The word “boycott” is not mentioned in the draft motions for the UCU conference, which also ask for “personal testimonies” from members who visited the Palestinian territories in January as part of a trade union delegation. That is likely to be because last year the union received advice from its lawyers that its attempts to impose a boycott were unlawful.

The union’s propositions are part of an ongoing effort to isolate and condemn Israeli universities, organizations and academics. Not all members of the union, which represents more than 120,000 academics, support these attempts. There are credible grounds for believing that the union is being manipulated by a group of left-wing activists.

Jeremy Newmark of the Stop the Boycott Campaign said that “the president and general secretary have allowed a situation to emerge in which UCU’s policy is decided by the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. In the face of its own legal advice, it is shameful that UCU would press ahead with a discredited and discriminatory policy.”