Please find attached the latest press release from BRICUP, in association
with Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) and the Boycott Israel
Network (BIN). Please forward this to your media contacts. Apologies
for any duplication.
You may have heard that SOAS and the JMI (the conference organisers)
are now claiming that they are no longer receiving any funding from
either BI ARTS or the Israeli Embassy, and that they “have updated their
website to reflect the current situation”.
You might like to compare this claim with the latest version of the
publicity leaflet on the JMI website: http://www.jmi.org.uk/israelimusic/JMI%20Israel%20A5%20Leaflet%20%2815%29.pdf
When I looked at this just now, not only were the Israeli Embassy and BI ARTS
still there, but they had been joined by “British Friends of the Hebrew
University”! As I am sure you know, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is a
target for academic boycott in its own right, not least because part of it is
built on land confiscated from Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem.
Any friends of the Hebrew University are no friends of ours.
BRICUP is now seeking further clarification from the organisers about what,
if any, financial or other support they are receiving from official Israeli
organisations. SOAS student groups are doing likewise. We will review our
position in the light of any new information we receive, but at the time of
writing we have NOT called off the boycott of this event.
in solidarity,
Sue Blackwell
BRICUP
