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What does CUPE Ontario mean by Academic Boycott?
It is important to understand that this is not a call to boycott individual Israeli academics. Rather, the boycott call is aimed at academic institutions and the institutional connections that exist between universities here and those in Israel.
This could include calling on Ontario universities and university workers to:
- Refuse to participate in academic cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli universities, such as participating in conferences in Israel, refereeing or editing articles for Israeli journals, or evaluating research proposals for Israeli institutions.
- Advocate a boycott of Israeli universities, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies.
- Promote divestment from Israel by Ontario academic institutions.
- Work toward the condemnation of Israeli policies and actions in the occupied territories by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic and professional organizations and associations.
CUPE Ontario is taking this action in response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees.
Why Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions?
The recent assault on Gaza has seen the total destruction of the Palestinian educational system. The Israeli military has bombed numerous universities and schools. On January 7th, Israeli forces killed over 40 Palestinian civilians who had taken shelter in a United Nations school.
The aim of the academic boycott is to put pressure on Israel to fully comply with international law, by cutting off financial support and our connections to those institutions involved in the oppression of the Palestinian people.
The call for a boycott of academic institutions is part of a broader campaign of Israeli boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) that CUPE Ontario had already approved in 2006.
What is the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS)?
In 2005, over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), urged the world to adopt a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli institutions. This campaign was modeled on the BDS movement that helped end South African apartheid.
The aim of this campaign is to block the political, military and economic support that allows Israel to continue violating international law.
Is CUPE Ontario the only one calling for this? Who else supports these actions?
This campaign has wide support. Just a few weeks ago, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockman, stated:
“More than twenty years ago we in the United Nations took the lead from civil society when we agreed that sanctions were required to provide a nonviolent means of pressuring South Africa to end its violations. Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society, who are calling for a similar non-violent campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end its violations.”
In the first week of January some 300 academics signed a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on the Canadian Government to institute sanctions against Israel.
Why is CUPE Ontario involved in this as a union?
CUPE members have identified the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a priority. The current assault on Gaza, the deaths of nearly 900 Palestinians including many children and desperate humanitarian need call for urgent, non-violent action such as a boycott. More background information is available on the CUPE Ontario web site.
This action is a concrete measure that will help to create conditions for peace by forcing Israel to comply with international law.
The national constitution of CUPE mandates us to do international solidarity work, and CUPE has a proud history of supporting workers around the globe. Our International Solidarity Committee campaigns on international struggles for justice and workers’ rights in places like Venezuela, Columbia, Egypt and Afghanistan. Here in Canada, CUPE members defend education, health and social, community and municipal services as well as human rights.
What is CUPE Ontario’s plan?
The CUPE Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee (OUWCC) will further this work by supporting a motion to boycott Israeli academic institutions, as part of the protest against the bombing assault on Gaza and, in particular, the bombing of the Islamic University on December 29, 2008.
