Fifty-one Nobel Prize laureates from around the world signed a petition slamming Britain’s University and College Union’s proposal to impose an academic boycott on the State of Israel.“We, Noble Prize laureates, condemn the UCU’s shameful decision to boycott contact and exchange of information with Israeli educators and academic institutions,” the petition said.
The idea of a petition was presented by Technion Professor Aaron Ciechanover, the 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry.
Ciechanover appealed to his good friend, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, who took it upon himself to seek the signatures of fellow laureates.
The petition also condemns the boycotts proposed by UNISON, the largest union in the British Trades Union Congress, and the British National Union of Journalists, calling on British companies not to buy Israeli products.
“Not only do such boycotts encourage the extremists,” the petition said, “but they also praise and glorify prejudices.”
Source:
www.ynetnews.co
Date: June 19, 2007
By: Zvi Zinger
