[Boycott - Academic]

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel

The Alternative Information Center (AIC)
23 August 2007

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel is an initial compilation of facts documenting the discriminatory practices implemented by the Israeli academic system, as well as this system’s active and ongoing involvement in the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Through this document, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) aims to support the Palestinian and international academic boycott campaigns with concrete facts and details proving that not only have Israeli academic institutions not publicly condemned Israel’s occupation, but that these very institutions are themselves part and parcel of Israel’s colonial system of oppression against the Palestinians.

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel provides specific and documented examples of how Israel’s academic institutions discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel by restricting their enrollment; persecuting them for political involvement; gagging their freedom of expression and actively working to keep international students away from their towns and villages, amongst others. It further highlights how several of the institutions are themselves part of Israel’s settlement project, being located in the West Bank, founded on the ruins of a demolished Palestinian village or expanding onto Palestinian-owned land illegally occupied in 1967

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel is a working document that the AIC will continuously update, and is such a work in progress to which activists, organizations and academics are invited to refer and contribute. Currently (August 2007) the AIC is seeking documentation to substantiate the recognized connection between Israeli universities and the Israeli military system in such areas as military intelligence, officer training and weaponry development, and we anticipate this will be a next addition to this report in the upcoming months. Additionally, the borderline hysterical responses of Israeli university administrations, senior academics and Israeli government officials to international proposals for academic boycott will be outlined and translated to provide Palestinian and international groups insight into the potential powerful impacts of such a boycott.

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel was compiled under the guidance of Shir Hever, an economist and Coordinator of the AIC’s Socioeconomic Research and Advocacy Project. Holly Kilroy was responsible for much of the research, assisted by Laura Vail.

The AIC hopes that this document will prove a valuable resource for boycott campaigns throughout the world, and we welcome your feedback and comments.

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel:
Quick Reference Sheet of Facts

I. General (pages 5-6)

• Increase in University Entrance Age Discriminates against Arab-Palestinian Students
  
  
• Israeli Ministry of Education Excludes Arab-Palestinian Schools from Enrichment Program for Weakened Pupils
  
  
• Reinstatement of Psychometric Exam Discriminates against Arab-Palestinian Students in University Admissions
  
  

• Ariel University Centre Located in Occupied Palestinian Territories
  
  
• Ariel University Centre Accepts Only International Students who are Jewish
  
  

• Bar Ilan University Established College in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
  
  
• All Students at University Required to Complete Jewish Studies
  
  

• Arab-Palestinian Students Disproportionately Brought before University Disciplinary Committee
  
  
• Haifa University Charges Students for Protesting against Racist Conference, Comments by University Lecturer
  
  
• Leader of National Arab-Palestinian Student Union Banned from Entering Campus of Haifa University
  
  

The Case for Academic Boycott against Israel(PDF format) (200Kb)

Source: http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/ the-case-for-academic-boycott-against-israel-20070823.html

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