NEW YORK, April 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Committee on Human Rights of Scientists of the New York Academy of Sciences has released the text of a letter to the Association of University Teachers (AUT) of the United Kingdom calling upon the organization to "rescind and withdraw its call for a boycott of Israeli universities, passed by AUT delegates on April 20, 2005."
The letter, from Joseph Birman, the chair of the Academy's committee, notes that the call for boycott "contradicts the most basic tenets of academic life which have been repeatedly reaffirmed by international bodies, including those to which the United Kingdom adheres." The letter is addressed to Angela Roger, president of AUT, and Sally Hunt, the association's general secretary.
The full text of the Academy letter follows.
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April 26, 2005
Dear President Roger:
The Committee on Human Rights of Scientists of the New York Academy of Sciences urgently calls upon the Association of University Teachers (AUT) of the United Kingdom to rescind and withdraw its call for a boycott of Israeli universities, passed by the delegates on 20 April 2005. This call for boycott contradicts the most basic tenets of academic life which have been repeatedly reaffirmed by international bodies including those to which the United Kingdom adheres.
The International Council for Science (ICSU) of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) has promulgated protocols on the Free Circulation of scientists and other academics, and cooperation amongst academics, which have been ratified by all UN members (including the UK), and go back to the 1930s and the League of Nations. The very integrity of academic life and the possibility of progress depend on free, open, and voluntary cooperation between academics in different nations.
We call attention to the "Commentary" in Nature (vol. 421, 23 January 2003) by four prominent UK academics: Colin Blakemore, Richard Dawkins, Denis Noble and Michael Yudkin entitled "Is a scientific boycott ever justified?" This commentary reaffirmed the importance of the UNESCO-ICSU protocols in the most emphatic manner. It points out, that short of preventing (sic) a nuclear war, even extreme circumstances do not support boycotts. Also relevant is a statement by ICSU Chairman James C. I. Dooge and Executive Director Peter Schindler writing in 2002 on "Israeli Scholars." They "urge all scholarly communities and not least those in science and technology" to heed the words of the London Evening Standard of 10 July 2002: "Intellectual communities world-wide are in the business of fostering international understanding and co-operation, not of penalizing each other for the shortcomings of their governments." And on August 27, 2002, in response to earlier boycott proposals, the Council of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), among other learned bodies, issued a "Statement on the Critical Importance of Continuing International Cooperation in Science," a title which speaks for itself.
Cooperation between nations in the Middle East already exists in the functioning SESAME project (opened in Amman Jordan in the last year) which brings scientists from the region together, including Jordanian, Palestinian, Israeli, Egyptian and others from Arab countries. Another example of international cooperation in the Middle East has been the conference on "Frontiers of Chemical Sciences: Research and Education in the Middle East" held in Malta in December 2003. It brought together scientists from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Arab countries representing all areas of the Middle East. Six Nobel Laureates served as leaders on a subject of common interest. Scholarships for any interested Arab students were offered by the President of Technion and a joint Israeli-Palestinian proposal on water purification was written and submitted to USAID-MERC. Other common projects on desalination, health care, and many other regional issues involving Israeli-Palestinian cooperation are ongoing at universities, hospitals and institutes in Israel and elsewhere.
The ill-advised AUT boycott resolution would damage or destroy all these activities. The AUT resolution, by selecting individuals and universities for boycott, is a very clear reminder of "McCarthy-like" tactics of accusation which were the shame of the United States some 40-50 years ago. We remind those members of the AUT who voted for boycott that this year--2005-- has been declared by the United Nations the year to celebrate the centennial of the extraordinary contributions that Albert Einstein made to physics, science and international cooperation. We call upon the AUT to take immediate steps to rescind their regressive vote and join forward-looking academics the world over in voting for cooperation and not boycott.
The New York Academy of Sciences is an organization of more than 23,000 members worldwide, building communities and advancing science since 1817.
Sincerely,
Joseph L. Birman
Chairman, Committee on Human Rights of Scientists
New York Academy of Sciences
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Contact: Fred Moreno, NYAS Communications, 212.838.0230 x230, fmoreno@nyas.org
The Academy's Committee on Human Rights was created in 1978 to support and promote the human rights of scientists, health professionals, engineers, and educators around the world.
The New York Academy of Sciences, founded in 1817, is a worldwide, nonprofit membership organization committed to building communities and advancing science.
Media Contact: Fred Moreno, 212.838.0230 x230, fmoreno@nyas.org
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