Canadian Graduate Students Petition Against the Proposed CUPE Ontario Boycott of Israeli Academics and Institutions
Source: Via Facebook, reproduced with permission of the author
Sam's message
Dear Friends,
Below is a statement/petition against the proposed CUPE Ontario boycott of Israeli academics and academic institutions, and against all such academic boycotts. I believe that, regardless of the target, such boycott resolutions against academics are counter-academic, and discriminatory as they target people based upon nationality, with no regard for personal views or personal actions.
To have your name added to the statement, please email:
stopthecupeboycott AT gmail.com and list your name, institutional affiliation, and degree (MA or PHD). Also, I encourage you to please send this to any others you think might be interested in signing.
I hope you'll join me in standing against this attempt to curtail academic freedom.
Sincerely,
Samuel Konig
Graduate Student Chair
Canadian Federation of Jewish Students
The statement
Canadian Graduate Students Petition Against the Proposed CUPE Ontario Boycott of Israeli Academics and Institutions
We, the undersigned, are Canadian graduate students writing to condemn the boycott of Israeli universities proposed by CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan. Academic boycotts are anathema to free and fair academic discourse and serve to stifle the free exchange of ideas which is so essential to academic life. Notwithstanding any of our own views on the Arab-Israeli conflict or the current situation in Gaza, stifling debate is not the way forward.
Only through the free exchange of ideas do we have any chance of fostering the kind of understanding and progress that might one day bring peace to the Middle East, or to other areas suffering from conflict. We applaud CUPE National President Paul Moist in his decision not to support the boycott resolution and call upon Sid Ryan and CUPE Ontario to follow suit, and to refrain from such behaviour in the future.
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