Academic Boycott as part of the Call for BDS
The strategy of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is emerging as one of the key ways for Palestinians to resist Israeli Apartheid and Occupation and mobilize international solidarity.
BDS, and specifically academic boycott and campus divestment, are particularly appropriate strategies for Palestinian and international students because they are in a strong position to communicate the damage wrecked upon the Palestinian education system by the Occupation.
The Academic Boycott call was first made in April 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), while over 170 Palestinian organizations issued a comprehensive call for BDS on 9 July 2005, on the first anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s decision on the illegality of the Wall.
The Academic Boycott of Israel has as its aims:· Ending local normalization programs· Halting and preventing future joint and cooperative work with Israeli institutions· Ending Israeli study abroad programs, appointment of Israeli professors and reciprocal arrangements for students and academics to Israel· Stopping guest lecturers from Israel speaking abroad· Ending participation of students and academics in conferences, programmes and activities, from and to Israeli institutions
Israeli academia is not merely complicit in the crimes of the Occupation, it plays a central role in justifying and maintaining it. Academic institutions produce the research, arguments and new leaders for the Occupation, in addition to serving as the scientific centers where weapons and technology are developed for use against Palestinians.
Israeli academia was silent when in June 2007 the Knesset cut 24% from the educational allowances for children whose parents have not served in the army, actively discriminating against Palestinians within the Green Line. They were silent when Israeli forces bulldozed the educational studies campus of al-Aqsa University in Gaza on 16 March 2004. They say nothing when the Occupation rides roughshod over the 4th Geneva Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child by preventing Palestinian children from accessing schools.
Israeli academics have a responsibility to promote awareness of human rights abuses perpetrated by their government, but are failing to do so. Israeli academics cannot exempt themselves from boycott on the grounds of ‘academic freedom’ while they fail to speak up for the academic freedoms of Palestinians. Between 2003 and 2004, only eight of the 133 sociologists (6%) in the five largest universities in Israel took a moral stand against the Occupation, with just 4% part of any protest movement, and 5% signing petitions. Only 5% of historians and 9% percent of philosophers spoke out against Israel ’s human rights abuses.
It is time for a global academic boycott of Israeli Apartheid and Occupation in support of Palestinian students and their struggle for liberation.
The strategy of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is emerging as one of the key ways for Palestinians to resist Israeli Apartheid and Occupation and mobilize international solidarity.
BDS, and specifically academic boycott and campus divestment, are particularly appropriate strategies for Palestinian and international students because they are in a strong position to communicate the damage wrecked upon the Palestinian education system by the Occupation.
The Academic Boycott call was first made in April 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), while over 170 Palestinian organizations issued a comprehensive call for BDS on 9 July 2005, on the first anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s decision on the illegality of the Wall.
The Academic Boycott of Israel has as its aims:· Ending local normalization programs· Halting and preventing future joint and cooperative work with Israeli institutions· Ending Israeli study abroad programs, appointment of Israeli professors and reciprocal arrangements for students and academics to Israel· Stopping guest lecturers from Israel speaking abroad· Ending participation of students and academics in conferences, programmes and activities, from and to Israeli institutions
Israeli academia is not merely complicit in the crimes of the Occupation, it plays a central role in justifying and maintaining it. Academic institutions produce the research, arguments and new leaders for the Occupation, in addition to serving as the scientific centers where weapons and technology are developed for use against Palestinians.
Israeli academia was silent when in June 2007 the Knesset cut 24% from the educational allowances for children whose parents have not served in the army, actively discriminating against Palestinians within the Green Line. They were silent when Israeli forces bulldozed the educational studies campus of al-Aqsa University in Gaza on 16 March 2004. They say nothing when the Occupation rides roughshod over the 4th Geneva Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child by preventing Palestinian children from accessing schools.
Israeli academics have a responsibility to promote awareness of human rights abuses perpetrated by their government, but are failing to do so. Israeli academics cannot exempt themselves from boycott on the grounds of ‘academic freedom’ while they fail to speak up for the academic freedoms of Palestinians. Between 2003 and 2004, only eight of the 133 sociologists (6%) in the five largest universities in Israel took a moral stand against the Occupation, with just 4% part of any protest movement, and 5% signing petitions. Only 5% of historians and 9% percent of philosophers spoke out against Israel ’s human rights abuses.
It is time for a global academic boycott of Israeli Apartheid and Occupation in support of Palestinian students and their struggle for liberation.
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