BMJ  2007;335:124 (21 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.39266.495567.AD

Feature

Head to head

Should we consider a boycott of Israeli academic institutions? Yes

Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 1RA

Tony Blair's appointment as Middle East peace envoy is intended to invigorate the peace process. Tom Hickey thinks boycotting universities might encourage the Israeli government to reach a settlement, but Michael Baum believes collaboration is a more effective way forward

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The proposal adopted by the University and Colleges Union congress to discuss whether it should boycott Israeli academic institutions has caused a furore. The House of Lords set aside time for a full debate, and the British government dispatched a minister to reassure its Israeli counterparts. Whole page advertisements rapidly appeared in national newspapers condemning the decision. The great and the good were mobilised. Irrational, one sided, anti-semitic, and counterproductive were some of the accusations levelled against us for deciding to debate.

As the motion's mover, I have been subjected to sustained vilification. Eminent American professors, and supporters of Israel, have threatened to bankrupt and to destroy the careers of any union members who support a boycott. The conflation of a boycott proposal and a proposal to debate the appropriateness of a boycott clearly serves the purpose of those who wish to deflect attention from the substantive issue: the plight . . . [Full text of this article]

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• Delamothe, T., Godlee, F. (2009). What to do about orchestrated email campaigns. BMJ 338: b500-b500 [Full text]  
• Summerfield, D. A (2007). Royal Society of Medicine under attack by pro-Israel doctors. BMJ 335: 842-842 [Full text]  

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Is boycott a valid academic response?

Anthony Papagiannis
bmj.com, 20 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Vivienne H Nathanson, et al.
bmj.com, 20 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Joel G Naftalin
bmj.com, 21 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Julian Hirsh
bmj.com, 21 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Unrestricted jurisdictions for British academics?

Adolfo E Talpalar
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

A Boycott is Essential

Tony Greenstein
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

BMJ readers make their voices heard

Joy S Wolfe
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Make love not boycott

Boris Gorbis
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Little Boys Boycott - Adults Talk

Simon A P Jenkins
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Is your justice blindsided?

Ehud Emanuel
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Collective Punishment

John R. Cohn
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Can I join BMJ armed wing?

Orian S Shirihai, et al.
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Pro Israel Lobby out to silence a genuine debate

Nadeem Zafar Jilani
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

My comment when I voted (only slightly edited)

Brian Robinson
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Why this now?

Irvin A Lampert
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]

How about we boycott your journal instead?

David B. Rosenberg
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Boycott, an idea that is replete with madness

Kenneth Polin
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Physician Heal Thyself

Hamid Haeri
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Bizarre argument

Peter C. Zhen
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Why is this nonsense in the BMJ?

Robert A. Lange, MD, MBA
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Democracy in Israel and the responsibility of the individual citizen

Nikolai A Manassiev
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

The BMJ at it again

Morris S Odell
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Re: Should we consider a boycott of Israeli academic institutions?

Sean Wall
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

No boycot.

Leonard S. Fagan, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
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self fullfilling argument

al stein
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Proposed boycott

Michael Bar-On
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Why always Israel?

Dr Jonathan F Bernstein
bmj.com, 23 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Unfair to Israel

Patrick M Young
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

An effective academic boycott of Palestinians already exists.

Tahseen Chaudhry
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Fundamentalism is fundamentalism by any name

Elizabeth Marsh
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Why only Israel

Mark Berelowitz
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Proving Bias in your motion

M J Levine
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

What's good for the goose.......

A. Mark Clarfield
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I thought the BMJ was a medical journal

Ian Rivlin
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

And Now For The Real Issue

Andrew M Fink
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Brainwashing. Stalin - Hitler style.

val pepper
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Today, an historical perspective

Eric S. Shinwell
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Educate how?

David S Halpin
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Unjust Boycott

Michael J. Szanto
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Boycotts that are based in misconception

Michael Stone
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

South Africa parallel

Samer R Abdelnour
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

If it looks like Anti-semitism...

George A Werther
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Bigotry pure

Ehud Schwammenthal
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Re: The BMJ at it again

Brian Robinson
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Continued BMJ bias

Jonathan Hasleton
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2007 [Full text]

bigger problem or just rhetoric

Patrick Hudson
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Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions to highlight injustice and denial of human rights

Edward Morris
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Selected for trial on a political issue

A. Michael Denman
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Don't open your mouth if can't say anything nice

Albert J. Kirshen
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worried for the future

linda herzberg
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

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Ann Robinson, et al.
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

the BMJ: pathognomic marker of Britain's history?

Noel D. Sturtz
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

We should boycott israeli medical and academic institutions

Amin Elhihi
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Absolutely Not

Naomi F Solomons
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

An absolute disgrace--does the BMJ support terrorism?

louise Troostwyk
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Education not boycott

Dr Charles Daniels
bmj.com, 25 Jul 2007 [Full text]

The case for an academic (and wider) boycott of Israel

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The Elders of Zion: en bloc vote against the boycott.

Jeremy M Jacobs
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What timing?

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Ghada Karmi
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Renato Caviglia
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Mohammad Dakheel
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Saleem Abdallah
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Overdue

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Medical Academic Institutions absurd

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Get educated not indoctrinated

Sharon Klaff
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The logical fallacies are mind-boggling

Ilanit Meckley
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Just because we're a crowd

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George Steiner
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boycott of Israeli academic institutions

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bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Tom Hickey is to be Congratulated

Wleed Haq
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Bravo BMJ

Michael J Ingram
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Mark B. Sobell, et al.
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Peter Simmons
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

If you boycott Israel, I will never read BMJ again

Jane M. Liebschutz
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

thanks for trying for sanity

Gary E. Goodman
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

...and let's our patients die

tommaso de pas
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Ignorance

Mark B Suss
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Say no to the boycott and its supporters

MARTIN HARRIS
bmj.com, 27 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Were those who campaigned exclusively on apartheid "anti-Afrikander" racists?

derek a summerfield
bmj.com, 28 Jul 2007 [Full text]

Typical British Response

David Ende
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Shame on you

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Michael H Martin-Smith
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the journey of a student from Gaza

Riyad Deis
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May I sugest some additional candidates

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Only one side of the story

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No boycott in international science

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The BMJ should not be a political forum

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A typical case of positive prejudice

Jose M Thalenberg
bmj.com, 9 Aug 2007 [Full text]

Science and morality

Dr. Abid Hussain
bmj.com, 9 Aug 2007 [Full text]

Let science be science

Roland Rosmond, et al.
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Civilized Israeli Occupation

nizar Shakhshir
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Humanity or hypocrisy

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Michael Baum
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Go and see the truth for yourself. I did.

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Online poll

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