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1,000 signatures reached
To: University of Cape Town
UCT Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions
We demand that UCT commits itself to reject and boycott:
1.) Academic events (such as conferences, symposia, workshops, book and museum exhibits) convened or co-sponsored by Israel, complicit Israeli institutions or their support and lobby groups in various countries.
2.) Research and development activities that fall into these broad categories:
- Among academic institutions – Institutional cooperation agreements with Israeli universities or research institutes.
- Among the Israeli government and other governments or foundations/institutions.
- Among corporations and academic institutions
3.) Funding from Israel or its lobby groups to academic activities/projects.
4.) Addresses and talks at international venues by, as well as debates with, Israeli state officials or official representatives of Israeli academic institutions.
5.) Study abroad schemes in Israel for international students.
6.) Special academic honors or recognition granted to Israeli officials, representatives of Israeli academic institutions (such as the bestowal of honorary degrees and other awards) or to Israeli academic or research institutions.
7.) Normalization Projects.
8.) Institutional membership of Israeli associations in world bodies.
9.) Publishing in or refereeing articles for academic journals based at Israeli universities or published in collaboration with Israeli institutions, or granting permission to reprint material published elsewhere in such Israel-based journals.
10.) Serving as external reviewers for dissertations, writing recommendations or other forms of refereeing such as advising on hiring, promotion, tenure, and grant-making decisions at Israeli universities.
11.) International students enrolling in, or international faculty teaching, or conducting research at degree or non-degree programs at an Israeli institution.
12.) All academic visits or fact-finding missions that receive funding from Israel, its complicit institutions or its international lobby groups.
Why is this important?
The state of Israel is a settler apartheid state. It was founded through the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This still continues today through the active abuse of human rights perpetrated against Palestinians living in Israel or the occupied territories, while millions of other Palestinians live in exile, many in refugee camps.
Israeli universities are complicit in the oppression of the Palestinians. As universities they promote and entrench a national ideology which justifies the oppression of Palestinians. These institutions are the bastions of Zionist ideology, a racist ideology which discriminates against Palestinians.
Israeli universities, also, actively support the Israeli army in its repression of Palestinians. Technical and academic support in areas such as the development of weapons, military training, and funding is provided by the universities to the Israeli army.
Furthermore, Israeli universities are microcosms of racist Israeli society. There are numerous cases where Palestinians have been refused entry to Israeli universities; where Israeli academics have been forced to resign for expressing dissenting views against the Israeli state; and where Israeli university campuses have expanded into Palestinian occupied territory, evicting thousands of Palestinians from their homes.
UCT PSF's full argument for why UCT must adopt an academic boycott of Israeli institutions can be found here: https://goo.gl/wTE3vq