Academic boycott: Russell Group Director General to meet Israeli Ambassador

26 June 2007

A mounting campaign against a planned academic boycott of Israel will take a further step forward this week when the Director General of The Russell Group of leading UK research-intensive universities meets the Israeli Ambassador in London to express the Group's opposition to any boycott.

At the end of May, the University and College Union (UCU) agreed for its branches to debate an academic boycott of Israeli universities – a decision which was immediately condemned by the Russell Group.

The Russell Group's Director General, Dr Wendy Piatt, will meet Ambassador Zvi Heifetz on Wednesday, 27 June.

She said: "I plan to take the opportunity to assure the Ambassador of the Russell Group's determination to stand firm against any so-called academic boycott.

"There appears to be an accelerating backlash against the UCU's move, with a growing determination amongst UK academics to protect and strengthen freedom of inquiry and freedom of speech."

Dr Piatt was amongst around 250 leading academics whose names appeared in a full-page broadsheet advertisement on 13 June condemning the planned boycott as "bad for Britain, bad for academic freedom, bad for Palestinians and bad for peace". The advertisement was placed by the Stop The Boycott campaign.

"The Russell Group universities will uphold academic freedom by standing firm against any boycott that threatens it."