NEW YORK, NY - October 1, 2007 — In response to the news that a key British faculty union would be abandoning its proposed boycott of Israeli universities after being informed by lawyers that such a move would breach antidiscrimination laws, Peter T. Willner, the executive director of the American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU), issued the following statement:
"The American Friends of the Hebrew University welcomes the decision by the University and College Union (UCU) not to pursue a boycott of Israeli universities on the basis that it would be unlawful and discriminatory. While we applaud the recent decision, we are saddened that a legal opinion was required for the Union to put a stop to its proposed boycott of Israeli academics. The UCU should have known from a moral and ethical basis that a boycott was simply wrong and indeed anti-Semitic in its goals and intent. When professors, students, and researchers from around the world are able to come together to present ideas, engage in scholarly debate, and learn from one another unfettered by bigotry or political roadblocks as they do at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other Israeli universities the dream of a more peaceful world becomes that much closer to a reality."
About The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, located on three campuses in Jerusalem and a fourth in Rehovot, is one of the world’s most respected academic and research institutions. More than 24,000 students from over 70 countries choose Hebrew University for the unique opportunity to learn from Nobel and Israel Prize laureates; to participate in groundbreaking scientific and technological research; and to take advantage of world renowned resources in many fields. Faculty and alumni of The Hebrew University have won six Nobel Prizes in the past five years. The university’s longstanding reputation as a top academic facility was affirmed in 2005 by Israel’s Council for Higher Education, which ranked the university first in "academic excellence" among Israel’s leading institutes of higher learning. In addition, Newsweek magazine recently included Hebrew University on its list of the top 100 universities in the world.
About the American Friends of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national, not-for-profit organization, which provides programs, events and fundraising activities in support of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel’s foremost center of higher education and research. Forging a meaningful partnership between American Jewry and the people of Israel, AFHU helps to ensure the nation’s well being by nurturing Israel’s greatest asset: the intellectual strength of its people.
|
