THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC FRIENDS OF ISRAEL CONDEMNS UK TRADE UNION’S MOTION CONDONING BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES AND ACADEMICS

New York, NY – May 12, 2006 – Statement

On May 27-29, NATFHE, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, a 67,000-member UK trade union comprised of university professors and staff, will hold its annual conference.  On the table is a motion that asks NATFHE members to "consider their own responsibility for ensuring equity and non-discrimination in contacts with Israeli educational institutions or individuals and the appropriateness of a boycott of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves from such policies."

Dr. Andrew R. Marks, the founder and president of The International Academic Friends of Israel (“IAFI”), and chair of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, stated:

The NATFHE motion calling for boycotts of Israeli institutions and academics imperils the basic tenet of academic freedom. That whole concept relies on cooperation and communication among academic communities to spur achievement and advancement. Isolating a scientist, or a historian, or a linguist simply based on his or her politics only serves to impede progress. 

The International Academic Friends of Israel (IAFI), formed in 2003 by a global consortium of leading academics and scientists, is a not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting and supporting the free and open exchange of ideas and information within the international academic community.  In particular, IAFI seeks to ensure that Israeli academics and scientists are included and accepted in global academic and scientific circles. For more information, please visit www.iafi-israel.org. 

For more information, please contact Jill Blaustein at 212-595-5110.