[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 467 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 467

  Condemning the decision by the University and College Union of the 
        United Kingdom to support a boycott of Israeli academia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2007

   Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Burton of 
   Indiana, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Higgins, Mr. 
Wexler, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Hall of New York, Mr. Weiner, 
   Mr. Kirk, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Hastings of 
  Florida, Mr. Engel, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
Wasserman Schultz, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Berman, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Crowley, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. 
Emanuel, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Sires, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of 
 Florida, and Mr. Baca) submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the decision by the University and College Union of the 
        United Kingdom to support a boycott of Israeli academia.

Whereas on May 30, 2007, the University and College Union of the United Kingdom 
        voted in favor of a motion to boycott Israeli faculty and academic 
        institutions;
Whereas the UCU was created in 2006 out of a merger of the Association of 
        University Teachers (AUT) and the National Association of Teachers in 
        Further and Higher Education (NATFHE). Both AUT (in 2005) and NATFHE (in 
        2006) have passed resolutions supporting a boycott of Israeli academics 
        and academic institutions;
Whereas Britain's National Union of Journalists called for a boycott of Israeli 
        goods in April 2007;
Whereas these unions have a hypocritical double standard in condemning Israel, a 
        free and democratic state, while completely ignoring gross human rights 
        abuses occurring around the world in nations such as Sudan, Zimbabwe, 
        Iran, and Venezuela;
Whereas a totally unjustified campaign is underway by elements of the 
        international academic community to limit cultural and scientific 
        collaboration between foreign universities and academics and their 
        counterparts in Israel;
Whereas Article 19, section 2, of the United Nations Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights states that, ``Everyone shall have the right to . . . 
        receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of 
        frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or 
        through any other media of his choice'';
Whereas these and any other attempts to stifle intellectual freedom through the 
        imposition of an academic boycott are counterproductive since research 
        and academic exchange provide an essential bridge between otherwise 
        disconnected cultures and countries;
Whereas such boycotts represent a dangerous assault on the principles of 
        academic freedom and open exchange;
Whereas the UCU boycott motion appears to have spawned similar movements in 
        Britain to boycott Israel economically and culturally, as the country's 
        largest labor union, UNISON, said it would follow the union of 
        university instructors in weighing punitive measures against Israel;
Whereas Nobel laureate Prof. Steven Weinberg, who refused to participate in a 
        British academic conference due to the National Union of Journalist's 
        boycott, stated that he perceived ``a widespread anti-Israel and anti-
        Semitic current in British opinion''; and
Whereas the senseless boycotting of Israeli academics contributes to the 
        delegitimization and demonization of the State of Israel: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the vote by the University and College Union 
        of May 30, 2007, to boycott Israeli academics and academic 
        institutions;
            (2) urges the international scholarly community, the 
        European Union, and individual governments, to reject, or 
        continue to reject, calls for an academic boycott of Israel and 
        reaffirm their commitment to academic freedom and cultural and 
        scientific international exchange;
            (3) urges governments and educators throughout the world to 
        reaffirm the importance of academic freedom and open dialogue 
        and to condemn measures that would prevent the production, 
        sharing, and exchange of knowledge;
            (4) urges other unions and organizations to reject the 
        troubling and disturbing actions of the UCU; and
            (5) urges the general members of the UCU to reject the call 
        of the union's leadership to boycott Israel.
                                 <all>