By IRNA,
London : The British government Monday defied calls for an academic boycott of Israel by controversially announcing the setting up of a British-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX).
“There is a long history of cooperation between Israel and the UK and BIRAX will help further cement this relationship and create new partnerships. It will help strengthen academic links,” Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said.
“There have been calls in the past for a boycott of Israeli academics but I strongly believe that we have much to learn from each other and our researchers have much to gain from working together,” Rammell said.
At its inaugural annual conference last year, Britain’s biggest lecturers’ union voted in favour of supporting a Palestinian boycott of Israeli institutions but was never implemented after intervention by the UK government.
In a revised motion in May this year, the University and College Union subsequently backed a call for a review of links with Israeli colleges and universities, urging its 120,000 members to “consider the moral and political implications.”
But Rammell said the UK government was “determined to support BIRAX” and that he was encouraging “others to follow their example so that this valuable scheme can expand even further.”
The controversial scheme, which was announced while Prime Minister Gordon Brown became the first UK leader to address the Israeli Knesset, is being administered the British Council, the cultural arm of the Foreign Office.
It was said to be targeted at junior academics from postdoctoral students to mid-career researchers and lecturers “who have far fewer international opportunities.”