SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE
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Wiesenthal Centre Lauds UNESCO Chief's Statement of Concern Over British University Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions

Paris, 6 July 2007

In a letter to UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, lauded the UNESCO Chief's statement of concern over threats to boycott Israeli universities, academics and research programmes. The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Mr Director-General,

On behalf of the 440,000 worldwide membership of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, permit me to commend your expression of concern over a threatened boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the British University and College Union (UCU).

You have stated that "academics are responsible for gathering, processing and distributing information, which are tasks necessary for building stable, prosperous and democratic societies." You stress the need "to preserve the universality of research, exchange and learning, and support all joint academic activities that foster the sharing of experiences and expertise..." You also emphasize that "cooperation among the world's university is a necessity, not a luxury."

Mr Director-General, your statement befits UNESCO as the intellectual arm of the United Nations. It is your leadership that underscores your declared mission that "academic work and institutions be centred on the free flow of ideas and knowledge, which is the core of all intellectual activity."

The State of Israel has increasingly been targeted by hatemongers, in the main British-based, bent upon the ghettoization and exclusion of the Jewish State from the international community. Boycott initiatives by rejectionists of Middle East peace aim to silence the voices of moderation and dialogue.

Such boycotts violate the anti-discrimination provisions of the World Trade Organization and the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia's (EUMC) 2004 Working Definition of Antisemitism which states:
"Applying double standards by requiring of it [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation." By this instrument, the UCU boycott is clearly a form of antisemitism.

Our Centre's appeal for condemnation, by the UNESCO-related International Association of Universities (IAU) and its sister organization, the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), of the British universities boycott campaign has led to positive expressions of support against any such discrimination or exclusion.

I can best conclude this letter of appreciation in the words with which you end your anti-boycott statements: "If we are serious about the need to promote sustained peace, democracy and development, I believe that we have the moral responsibility to share knowledge and promote understanding..."

Thank you, Mr Director-General,

Dr Shimon Samuels
Director for International Relations

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33.609.77.01.58