| Petition posted: October 2003 |
Total number of signatures: 0 |
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PALESTINIAN ACADEMICS CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
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CALL FOR BOYCOTT
This statement outlines the position of Palestinian academics and intellectuals on the international boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Our position is a consequence of decades of debilitating occupation, the dispossession of most Palestinians, Israel's continuing atrocities, its campaigns to disrupt Palestinian educational and other civil institutions, its breaches of international law and of humanitarian standards, as well as the general discriminatory nature of its system. These practices are all well documented in UN resolutions, in reports of human rights agencies, and are starkly visible in the form of facts on the ground.
Because the facts speak for themselves, but a solution is nowhere in sight, it is time for people of conscience to take a stand and influence both public opinion and government policies. It now must be so since the world's powers have failed to take measures that hold Israel, like any other state, accountable for its abuses and force it to adhere to international standards. In the absence of any such accountability, it becomes the duty of citizens to act independently to expose and resist injustice. The boycott of Israeli academic institutions is a pacifist form of resistance already available the world over and has demonstrated growing potential. It sends a strong message of concern over the on-going destruction of Palestinian educational institutions and, in particular, helps expose to the world's public the culpability of Israeli academic institutions in perpetuating illegal occupation. This boycott entails a pledge not to support or participate in any conference, cooperative research, grant writing or grant evaluation, or other supportive activities, such as academic exchanges or visits, held at or involving Israeli universities and other state institutions. We believe this international boycott should be sustained until Israel withdraws from all lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, removes all its colonies in those lands, agrees to United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian rights, and dismantles its system of apartheid. Meanwhile, we encourage dialogue with people (internationally and in Israel) who demonstrate readiness to participate in realizing these objectives.
We challenge other academics and intellectuals not to remain unmoved, or by their silence become complicit, but rather to take a stand and act in solidarity with the Palestinians, with Israeli dissenters, and with the growing international movement against the Israeli government's colonial war in occupied Palestine. We urge fellow academics and intellectuals worldwide to adhere to and publicize this call to boycott, and to affirm it as an act of conscience.
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Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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