The BIRAX programme, which was set up to fund joint Israeli-British research, has recently announced its first round of grants.

£365,000 has been allocated to some really interesting projects, including:

• Research into Aramaic magical texts, a joint project of Southampton and Tel Aviv universities
• A project by Tel Aviv University and Imperial College looking at how the nose helps fight germs
• UCL and the Weizmann Institute’s work on understanding motor neuron diseases
• Research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease by Ben Gurion and Leeds universities

…and many more – full list here.

In response, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:

“I very much welcome the announcement of the grants for fifteen collaborative research projects involving Israeli and UK universities. The variety and diversity of these successful bids reflect the strong nature of the UK-Israel bilateral relationship. It was an honour for me launch the scheme in July 2008, together with the Israeli Prime Minister, and my government continues to support and actively encourage academic links between the UK and Israel.”

Benjamin Pogrund was a South African journalist and anti-Apartheid campaigner, and is now an Israeli peace campaigner. His piece on the Guardian’s Comment is Free,  “Boycotts only harden Israeli opinion“, rebuts Neve Gordan’s pro-boycott piece from last week.

The piece opens with a criticism of the ‘apartheid’ analogy as applied to Israel:

For some, the apartheid accusation is the way to destroy Israel. If Israel can be linked with apartheid then it can be denounced as illegitimate as was white-ruled South Africa and hence be wide open to international sanctions.

Those who pursue this couldn’t care less about facts. They have an agenda and are unscrupulous about distortion, lying and exaggeration. Their ultimate purpose is exposed by how they answer a basic question: whether or not they accept the fact of Israel’s existence.

Continue reading ‘“Boycotts, sanctions and divestment are not the way to persuade individual Israelis”’ »

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME)’s UK chapter is now up and running, and is working with other organisations through the framework of the Fair Play Campaign Group.

In an article on the SPME website, Dr Howard Kahn and Prof. Ashley Grossman ask:

The fact that SPME-UK will now be working closely with FPCG will mean that we will be able to react quickly to any expressions of anti-Israeli, antisemitic and anti-Zionist behaviour. We will also be able to operate against calls for boycotts, including academic boycotts. SPME will be able to use its resources in the UK and internationally to help the activities of FPCG, while FPCG will be able to assist SPME in many of its endeavours.

But we need YOU to provide SPME-UK with as much involvement and support as possible if we are to meet the aims we have set ourselves – to inform, motivate, and encourage academics to use their skills and disciplines on campus, in classrooms and lecture theatres, and in academic publications, to develop effective responses to ideological distortions, including antisemitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-Muslim slanders, that poison debate and work against peace.

If you are an academic you can join their network.  To find out how, read the full article here.

Speaking at the Conservative Friends of Israel lunch, David Cameron said:

I think there’s something else we need to do which is to say to our academics in this country that boycotts of Israel are completely unacceptable and I think we also need to … say that to the trade unions. I have probably slightly less influence with the trade unions than you do but I’m working on it.

Mr Cameron went on to suggest that his party will help deliver this message to Trade Unions.

Last night, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg delivered the second annual lecture of the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. In a good speech, he specifically condemned moves to boycott Israeli academics. He said:

“..we need to be much more active, more vocal, in our condemnation of antisemitism.

One issue where that is especially true is academic boycotts of Israeli academics. Totally unacceptable. Whether boycotters realise it or not these modern-day exclusions, based on nationality and tied to religion, carry enormous historical baggage. My party has made it clear we find them morally objectionable, and also counterproductive: the only route to peace will only ever be through dialogue.”