President, Council:
From its very inception the state of Israel has attracted international condemnation for violating the human rights of the Palestinian people and making war on its neighbours. Since 1948 over 100 motions have been passed against Israel by the United Nations Security Council. You have a list of them, which is not exhaustive and would be even longer if the United States had not repeatedly used its veto.
In recent years, things have got even worse. The Israeli Defence Force, which never had any qualms about killing Palestinians, has started attacking foreign nationals who were attempting in some way to help the Palestinian people or simply report what was happening to them.
Last year three United Nations workers were killed by the IDF, including the Briton Iain Hook. A UN resolution condemning Israel for this was vetoed by the United States.
On 16 March this year 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was murdered by an Israeli bulldozer driver as she tried to protect a Palestinian home.
British peace activist Tom Hurndall was shot in the head on 11th April as he tried to help a Palestinian woman and her children flee Israeli gunfire.
A British cameraman was shot dead by Israeli tankfire on 2nd May as he filmed in Rafah.
The list goes on. The question for us is what WE can do to show our disgust at this abhorrent regime which has total disrespect for human life and dignity.
Veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa such as Nelson Mandela, Ronnie Kasrils and Desmond Tutu, have drawn parallels between the situation faced by black South Africans then and Palestinians today. Just as boycotts of South African goods and institutions formed part of the campaign to bring down apartheid, there is a growing movement to boycott the fruit, wine and tourism of today's apartheid state, Israel.
By refusing to attend conferences in Israel or liaise with Israeli institutions, we can add to the pressure on the country's economy and dent its international prestige.
When Steven and Hilary Rose launched the academic boycott last year in the wake of the massacre at Jenin, they received an e-mail from the Rector of Bir Zeit University saying "Thank you: I thought Europeans had forgotten us." That, for me, is a good enough reason for supporting this motion. But let me try to go through some of the arguments which have been raised against the boycott and try to counter them.
Firstly, there are those who would argue that academia and politics should be kept apart. But Palestinian students and staff do not have that luxury. They suffer constant harassment, roadblocks, curfews and closures which make academic life all but impossible. Last year at an Amnesty meeting I heard Yasser Darwish explain that it had taken him 8 years to graduate from Bir Zeit because of the constant closures. He then showed us his photographs of the campus. The Israelis have dug a trench around it so that there is only one entrance left. Then they set up a military roadblock at that entrance. This is nothing to do with security: it is pure harrassment.
Israeli academics, too, are unable to keep out of politics. As an example let us consider the College of Judea and Samaria, which is based in the settlement of Ariel, illegally established in the occupied territories. This college runs courses which are accredited by Bar-Ilan University, and employs scientific researchers who are part of the Israeli research community. Israeli Higher Education directly supports, and directly benefits from, activities in the settlements and hence the occupation.
Secondly, it is claimed that no other country is being "picked on" like Israel. This is patent nonsense. There was recently a campaign to boycott the Miss World contest in Nigeria because of the death sentence passed on Amina Lawal under Sharia law. There was a row over the England cricket team playing in Zimbabwe because of the atrocious human rights record of that country's government. Incidentally, if it is anti-semitic to criticise Israel's government then by the same logic it must be racist to criticise Zimbabwe's, yet that is not an argument I have ever heard advanced.
Thirdly, some may worry about preventing our members from cultivating links with Israeli colleagues who are critical of their government. Please read the motion carefully. It applies only to institutions, not to individuals; and to academic activity, not trade union or political activity. It in no way discourages the excellent initiatives taken by unions like the NUT, who have just sent a delegation to visit both Israeli and Palestinian schools.
Fourthly, it will no doubt be claimed that passing a motion like this will divide our members. But AUT already supports the call for a moratorium on European funding to Israel: this would simply extend our existing policy. NATFHE's NEC unanimously passed a very similar motion over a year ago. I understand that NATFHE are this year moving on, for tactical reasons, to other ways of showing their support for the Palestinian people: that is entirely a matter for NATFHE. But advising all their members to review their links with Israeli institutions did not cause that union to implode: they have lost a few members but they have also gained some.
Finally, someone may ask how we would feel if there were an international call to boycott British academic institutions because of OUR government's conduct in Iraq. Well, it's a good point. Like Israel our government is in illegal occupation of another country and has - in the view of CND - committed war crimes. If in a few years' time Britain is still in occupation of Iraq, and if Tony Blair has been re-elected despite this, then it may well be time for international pressure to be brought to bear, since the British electorate will have failed in their moral duty. However, judging by last week's local ballot results I have every confidence that Tony and his cronies will pay for their war crimes by losing the next general election. The difference with the Israeli electorate is that they have, sadly, just re-elected their own war criminal Ariel Sharon. This places a moral responsibility on the rest of the world to take whatever legal and peaceful action they can.
As Hilary and Stephen Rose put it, "The choice is to do nothing or to try to bring about change". I hope that today we will try to bring about change.
[ debate from floor of Council ]
Nobody has tried to justify the actions of Ariel Sharon. Council is in complete agreement about condemning Israeli atrocities; the question then is a tactical one of how best to support the Palestinian people.
Ask yourself how many Israeli colleagues you have met at international academic conferences; then ask yourself how many Palestinian colleagues you have seen at them. Then ask yourself why that is
This motion does not seek to impose anything on anyone: it is purely advice to members. It asks them to review their academic links with Israeli institutions, with a view to severing them.
It does NOT call on our members to refuse to referee papers by Israeli academics; it does NOT call on them to remove people from editorial boards; it does NOT ask them to boycott individual Israelis in any way. Political and trade union links with Israelis who challenge the policies of their government are entirely to be supported. It is the ACADEMIC links which this motion seeks to put under the microscope. Meanwhile our own Executive brought a motion to last year's Summer Council supporting the call for a moratorium on European funding to Israel. The motion I am proposing would simply extend our existing policy, incorporating the other half of the Roses' boycott petition.
We have already passed the first half of the wording of the original boycott petition, in motion at last year's Summer Council. Birmingham are asking Council to go one step further now and pass the other half. Whether we pass this motion or not, there are already individual AUT members who are participating in the boycott on a personal basis, and they will no doubt continue to do so.
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