Send page to a Friend UK's Boycott of Israeli Academics On May 30, 2007 the 120,000 member University and College Union (UCU) passed a resolution that endorsed the principle of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and included a call for a moratorium on European Union funding for Israeli research. When Columbia University President Lee Bollinger heard of the UCU’s proposed boycott, he expressed his immense concern by publishing the following statement on June 12, 2007:President Lee Bollinger's Statement   Bollinger’s statement was followed almost immediately by a similar one from University of California- Berkley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau on June 14, 2007: President Robert J. Birgeneau's Statement   The Israel Action Center helped mobilize academic communities in the greater Boston area to endorse similar opposition of the UCU boycott. The JCRC believes that the UCU's proposed boycott represents the antithesis of academia's central facets–free speech and a rigorous exchange of ideas. Multiple petitions and statements of solidarity have been circulating, urging educators and University officials in the United States to show similar support of Israel. To view both petitions, click below: American Jewish Committee- "Boycott Israeli Universities? Boycott Ours, Too!" Scholars for Peace in the Middle East- Solidarity Statement  TAKE ACTION: What are other students doing to oppose the boycott? Sign a petition opposing the boycott Harvard University President takes a distinctive stance on the Boycott