UCU discusses Israel boycott

Last month the executive of the UCU, the university and college lecturers' union, discussed its next moves on the motion on Israel passed at its annual conference.

Despite press reports, the motion does not commit the union or its members to a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Instead, it instructs the union's executive to circulate the full text of the boycott call to all UCU branches and to encourage members to "consider the moral implications of existing and proposed links with Israeli academic institutions".

It also makes proposals for better contacts between Palestinian academics and trade unionists and local UCU branches.

The UCU executive meeting examined how the issue could be discussed in branches and what the next steps should be.

However, UCU general secretary Sally Hunt has made it clear that she thinks a membership ballot would be necessary before there could be an academic boycott. "Personally I believe that any decision to boycott another country's academic institutions should only be taken if the majority of UCU members support it," she said.

UNISON, the public services union, passed a motion at its conference last month calling for "concerted and sustained presssure upon Israel including an economic, cultural, academic and sporting boycott".