Friday 29 June 2007

Oxford academics condemn UCU boycott

Oxford University academics have voted overwhelmingly to call a ballot on whether to boycott Israeli universities and expressed opposition to the general value of boycotts.

The University and College Union sparked international controversy last month when members voted to debate the possibility of boycotting Israeli academics at their annual conference.

The majority of Oxford's union members - 96% - wanted to call a ballot on the contentious issue, piling more pressure on the union to have one. A similar number - 94.8% - supported the view that Oxford is opposed to academic boycotts per se.

Nice to see academics at the UK's best university (discuss) showing commendable common sense in this matter.

Also, it seems to me that the more distinguished the academic, the less likely they are to support the boycott. For example, while academics at Oxford are overwhelmingly anti-boycott, the motion supporting the boycott was put forward by academics from the universities of Brighton and East London, which presently languish in 66th and 99th place (out of 100) respectively in the Times Good University Guide. Coincidence?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tried and trusted phrase.....

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Anonymous said...

"Also, it seems to me that the more distinguished the academic, the less likely they are to support the boycott. "

The Nazi party was full of failed artists and stuffy romantics.