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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Activism Home page  back Print  Send To friend Australian campaign: BDS is neither `racist` nor `antisemitic` DEFEND ACADEMIC FREEDOM! SUPPORT THE RIGHT TO TAKE NON-VIOLENT POLITICAL ACTION! Dear Friends, Earlier this year, Australians for Boycotts Divestments and Sanctions was formed in response to the threats of litigation by the Israeli law centre, Shurat HaDin against Professor Jake Lynch and Dr Stuart Rees for their support for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it abides by international law and human rights. In August, we invited people to show their support by signing a letter endorsing the non-violent tactic of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel and committing to join with Jake and Stuart as co-defendants in any case brought against them. This has now been signed by nearly 4,000 people. https://www.change.org/petitions/defend-free-speech-and-human-rights-and- support-the-bds The Shurat HaDin now has taken its case, against Professor Jake Lynch only, to the Federal Court of Australia. We are seeking additional support for a stand on the broader issue of academic freedom and the right to take peaceful, legal political action. We urge academics in particular to sign the following letter with a view to publication. Please send your responses to australians4bds@gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUPPORT LETTER FOR PROFESSOR JAKE LYNCH AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM We the undersigned consider academic freedom to be a fundamental value in all our educational institutions. We understand that Professor Jake Lynch from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, at the University of Sydney, refused to sign his name as a reference for Dan Avnon`s application for a Hebrew University – University of Sydney Fellowship. In other words, Prof. Lynch refused to support an institutional relationship with an Israeli university that is deeply complicit in violations of human rights and international law. The Hebrew University has part of its campus built on illegally confiscated Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem; it has close links with the Israel military and arms manufacturer Elbit, and is complicit in several other ways in maintaining the Israeli regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid. Prof. Lynch refused to support Dan Avnon’s application on the basis that Dan Avnon was acting as an official representative of the Hebrew University in seeking to take advantage of the official institutional relationship between the Hebrew University and the University of Sydney. Jake Lynch did not target Dan Avnon as an individual academic, nor did he reject collaboration with Avnon because of Avnon’s religion, ethnicity, affiliation or origin. We do not endorse boycotting individual academics based on their ethnicity, religion, political principles or affiliation. We note also that Dan Avnon is not an applicant in the legal action against Jake Lynch. We uphold Prof. Lynch’s freedom of speech, academic freedom, and right to exercise his conscience in refusing to deal with an academic institution that violates international law. Many academics similarly refused to engage with South African universities during apartheid. A unanimous ruling in 2004 of the world’s highest authority on international law, the International Court of Justice, established the illegality of Israel`s occupation of Palestinian territory. This illegality is confirmed by a range of acknowledged experts. The International Court of Justice ruling also established that other states are obligated not to recognise nor support Israel’s breaches of international law. We also condemn the actions of the foreign agency, Shurat HaDin, whose director admits to taking direction from the Israeli government on who to prosecute in their cases and which has deep connections with Israeli intelligence services. We condemn this law firm’s attempts to silence Professor Lynch in the Australian Human Rights Commission and in the Australian Federal Court by claiming that his actions contravene the Racial Discrimination Act. We abhor foreign political interference in the democratic right of an Australian academic to hold opinions that are critical of the State of Israel. We consent to having our name/s published in support of Professor Jake Lynch. Name: Position: Institution: Date: PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SUPPORT LETTER TO: australians4bds@gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To those who have already signed the original letter committing to be a co- defendant, we express our deepest thanks. We ask you to sign this letter also. For those who did not sign the earlier letter, we hope you can sign this one for academic freedom. If you can now consider committing to be a co-defendant as well, so much the better. Go to https://www.change.org/petitions/defend-free- speech-and-human-rights-and-support-the-bds Please send your support for academic freedom to australians4bds@gmail.com PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY TO YOUR NETWORKS ESPECIALLY TO ACADEMICS With thanks, Dr Stuart Rees Dr Peter Slezak Paul Duffill for Australians for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Links to the latest articles in this section The burial of ashes - an emotionally loaded day Friday webinar with the Human Rights activists designated as "terrorists" Friday webinar with the Human Rights activists designated as "terrorists"