Penn signs petition for Israel

A number of American universities are lashing out against a British proposal to boycott Israeli academics.

The British University and College Union, which represents over 120,000 British professors, issued its proposal in protest of perceived Israeli civil rights violations. It has not been officially approved and will be debated by the union this fall.

In response, Penn President Amy Gutmann joined colleagues from nearly 300 American universities earlier this month by signing a petition against the idea.

"This I take to be a direct attack on academic freedoms," Gutmann said in an interview.

"This is a matter of a sheer violation of everyng we stand for as academics," she said.

UCU officials have noted that the proposal, made by only a few members, is not reflective of the Union as a whole.

In a letter to union members, UCU Secretary General Sally Hunt wrote that "the majority of members - whatever their personal views - [do not] see this issue as the major priority for our union."

The text of the petition was written by Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, and the final signed version ran as an American Jewish Committee-sponsored ad in the New York Times with the headline "Boycott Israeli Universities? Boycott ours too!"

"This vote threatens every university committed to fostering scholarly and cultural exchanges that lead to enlightenment, empathy, and a much-needed international marketplace of ideas," Bollinger wrote in the petition.

Though the presidents of Harvard and Yale universities did not sign onto the ad, each one similarly spoke out against the boycott.

At Penn, the Israeli community is glad to see Gutmann publicly stand up for academic freedoms.

"I appreciate this as a statement of position," said Israel-born Sigal Ben-Porath, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education.

Folklore department Chairman Dan Ben-Amos, who is also Israeli-born, agreed.

"You cannot boycott academics for acts of politicians," Ben-Amos said. "To boycott universities is a display of ignorance on the part of my British colleagues."

The same sentiments are resonating among various Jewish groups on campus.

"I was thrilled that Gutmann released a statement opposing the boycott," Penn Israel Coalition President and College sophomore Alex Leavy said. "This boycott isn't driven by some sort of academic failure."

Jeremy Brochin, director of Penn Hillel, urged the British academics to "reconsider the boycott and . refrain from . using Israel as a whipping boy."

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