JMCC - Call for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

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last updated Oct. 18, 2018
published July 6, 2004

Call for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Summary: The original call for a cultural and academic boycott of Israeli institutions was issued on July 6, 2004. In it, Palestinian civil society organizations called on international colleagues to boycott "all Israeli academic and cultural institutions" in order to end Israeli's "occupation, colonization, and system of apartheid."

Document Text
On July 6, a number of Palestinian organizations called for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel, after which the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was formed to oversee the call, and the BDS National Committee was created, with PACBI membership, as a shared leadership body. Another, more comprehensive call was issued on July 9, 2005. Whereas Israel's colonial oppression of the Palestinian people, which is based on Zionist ideology, comprises the following: Denial of its responsibility for the Nakba -- in particular the waves of ethnic cleansing and dispossession that created the Palestinian refugee problem -- and therefore refusal to accept the inalienable rights of the refugees and displaced stipulated in and protected by international law; Military occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza since 1967, in violation of international law and UN resolutions; The entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, which resembles the defunct apartheid system in South Africa; Since Israeli academic institutions (mostly state controlled) and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the above forms of oppression, or have been complicit in them through their silence, Given that all forms of international intervention have until now failed to force Israel to comply with international law or to end its repression of the Palestinians, which has manifested itself in many forms, including siege, indiscriminate killing, wanton destruction and the racist colonial wall, In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community of scholars and intellectuals have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, Recognizing that the growing international boycott movement against Israel has expressed the need for a Palestinian frame of reference outlining guiding principles, In the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression, We, Palestinian academics and intellectuals, call upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel's occupation, colonization and system of apartheid, by applying the following: Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions; Advocate a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions; Promote divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions; Work toward the condemnation of Israeli policies by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations; Support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support. Endorsed by: Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions Palestinian NGO Network, West Bank Teachers' Federation Palestinian Writers' Federation Palestinian League of Artists Palestinian Journalists' Federation General Union of Palestinian Women Palestinian Lawyers' Association and tens of other Palestinian federations, associations, and civil society organizations.
Document Text
On July 6, a number of Palestinian organizations called for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel, after which the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was formed to oversee the call, and the BDS National Committee was created, with PACBI membership, as a shared leadership body. Another, more comprehensive call was issued on July 9, 2005. Whereas Israel's colonial oppression of the Palestinian people, which is based on Zionist ideology, comprises the following: Denial of its responsibility for the Nakba -- in particular the waves of ethnic cleansing and dispossession that created the Palestinian refugee problem -- and therefore refusal to accept the inalienable rights of the refugees and displaced stipulated in and protected by international law; Military occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza since 1967, in violation of international law and UN resolutions; The entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, which resembles the defunct apartheid system in South Africa; Since Israeli academic institutions (mostly state controlled) and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the above forms of oppression, or have been complicit in them through their silence, Given that all forms of international intervention have until now failed to force Israel to comply with international law or to end its repression of the Palestinians, which has manifested itself in many forms, including siege, indiscriminate killing, wanton destruction and the racist colonial wall, In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community of scholars and intellectuals have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, Recognizing that the growing international boycott movement against Israel has expressed the need for a Palestinian frame of reference outlining guiding principles, In the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression, We, Palestinian academics and intellectuals, call upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel's occupation, colonization and system of apartheid, by applying the following: Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions; Advocate a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions; Promote divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions; Work toward the condemnation of Israeli policies by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations; Support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support. Endorsed by: Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions Palestinian NGO Network, West Bank Teachers' Federation Palestinian Writers' Federation Palestinian League of Artists Palestinian Journalists' Federation General Union of Palestinian Women Palestinian Lawyers' Association and tens of other Palestinian federations, associations, and civil society organizations.

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