Canadian Union Proposes Academic Boycott of Israel

Once again Israeli academics are being targeted in a misguided attempt to impact the politics of the Middle East. Please contact your colleagues in Canada and ask them to oppose this boycott. According to the Israel Consul General Asaf Shariv (on a conference call yesterday) the university targeted by Israel was a Hamas training camp for terrorists - not an educational institution.

Canadian union proposes academic boycott of Israel

On January 6th, a Canadian union (CUPE - Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Ontario-based University Workers Coordinating Committee) proposed an academic boycott of Israel. This is not the first time CUPE has proposed boycotting Israel. In 2006, the 20,000-member Ontario branch of CUPE passed a motion to boycott Israeli goods. Now, in reaction to the Dec 27th Israeli missile that hit students leaving Gaza Training College and the Dec 29th Israeli missile that hit an Islamic University in Gaza, CUPE is eager to expand its anti-Israeli agenda.

- Leaders of a union of teaching and research assistants, and other employees, in Ontario's universities are proposing that Israeli academics be barred from speaking, teaching or conducting research at the province's universities unless they condemn Israel's actions in Gaza.

- Canada's primary faculty union, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) issued a statement condemning Israel's actions in Gaza, but the statement did not endorse a boycott of Israeli academics. James L. Turk, executive director of the association, said in an interview that "we don't see that the way to express our opposition to what a government is doing is by penalizing academics in that country."

For the article that appeared in The Globe and Mail, go to