British Academics Visit Israel
British academics visited universities in Israel last week seeking collaboration between Israeli and British universities.
The visit comes in the wake of the British boycott of Israeli universities was called off on September 29th. Their visit signifies a desire to promote collaboration between the two nations, which already have intense collaboration in the areas of medicine, biotechnology, and social sciences.
Head of the British Mission to Israel Speaks
Prof. Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK
“Struck by the tremendous academic strength of Israeli universities…There is an absolute contradiction between academia and a boycott. We have come to talk about the importance of deepening academic ties between England and this part of the world.”
Reactions from Israel
Prof. Yuli Tamir, Education Minister
“This visit symbolizes the desire to strengthen academic cooperation between the UK and Israel, a desire that we mostly welcome and definitely share.”
Prof. Yosef Yeshurun, Chair, International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom
“The visit serves as a counterpoise to the defunct academic boycott. Instead of threatening academic freedom, it represents a practical effort to generate academic cooperation for the benefit of all.”
Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze’ev, President of the University of Haifa
“I am pleased that the threat of a boycott has finally been removed; we now have to focus our efforts on research and scientific cooperation.”
Prof. Arie Moran, Deputy Vice President, Ben-Gurion University
“The willingness of the British academics to come to Israel and the Palestinian Authority and to see for themselves the cooperative work being done here is very reassuring.”
Middle Eastern Collaboration
Note that the University of Haifa and Ben-Gurion University have the deepest ties with universities in the Palestinian Authority. They have made the significant efforts toward promoting coexistence efforts and academic collaborations between Israel and Palestinian universities.
Credit
Quotes sourced from the Jerusalem Post.
Links
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November 16, 2007 at 12:22 pm |
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