Academics for Palestine (AfP)
AfP exists to raise awareness of the situation facing higher education in Palestine and to build support for the academic boycott of Israel.
We invite Irish academics and academics working in Ireland to pledge their support for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions until Palestinian rights are respected.
We organise and publicise meetings, discussions, and events on campuses across the island of Ireland. We keep signatories informed about developments in Palestine/Israel, and we encourage unions and academic bodies in Ireland to take a leading role in the academic boycott of Israel — just as they did in the boycott of apartheid South Africa.
If you are interested in signing the boycott pledge, organising an event, becoming a member, or would simply like to discuss the issues more with us, you can contact us at: academicsforpalestine@gmail.com
Anti-Racism Principles: The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement aims to dismantle Israel’s racist system of control and oppression, a system that denies the most fundamental rights to the Palestinian people.
In supporting BDS, Academics for Palestine is committed to opposing racism in all its forms including Islamophobia and antisemitism.
The Case for an Academic Boycott: Responding to the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, a group of concerned academics in Ireland has begun a campaign to urge Irish-based academics to support the boycott, which is intended to last until Israeli academia ends its complicity in – and in many cases its active support for – the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, its role in the unequal treatment of Israeli citizens whose ethnicity is Palestinian, and its support for illegal settlements that usurp lands in the occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem.
Published in 2014, our booklet, Academia Against Apartheid, explains the origin of the academic boycott campaign and explores its rationale by addressing frequently asked questions about the campaign. It explains what the boycott entails and the kinds of actions it excludes. For example, the boycott is directed at institutions but not at individual academics. The booklet also includes a section on the framework of European Union funding which aids Israel’s military-industrial complex, and information on a number of weapons-related projects that Irish universities are implicated in through their collaboration with Israeli companies.
Although a full list of such egregious collaborations is not available, we hope that by launching this campaign, the lid will be lifted on the extent of Irish academic support for Israel’s occupation and its system of apartheid. Lastly, we provide a list of suggested actions that academics can take to advance the boycott.
Read the Academic Against Apartheid (2014) booklet: AcademiaAgainstApartheid-AFP_Feb2014
academicsforpalestine.org 