Cancelled anti-Israel conference moves to Ireland
University College Cork agrees to host event discussing Israel's legal legitimacy after Southampton pulls it
An academic conference debate the legal legitimacy of the State of Israel which was cancelled at the University of Southampton in April is now set to go ahead in Ireland.
The event, derided as a “one-sided diatribe” by cabinet ministers before it was pulled, has moved to the University College Cork (UCC), after Irish academics slammed the lack of freedom of speech in Britain.
According to a report in Times Higher Education, organisers of the conference – called ‘International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism’ – said other British universities had refused to host it, because they were “afraid of the claws of the Israeli lobby”.
Months earlier, Israel-born law professor Oren Ben-Dor from Southampton Law School unsuccessfully challenged the decision to pull the conference in the High Court, together with Professor Suleiman Sharkh, who grew up in Gaza.
Ben-Dor and Sharkh had argued that it was a matter of freedom of speech, but judges disagreed, saying that Southampton’s decision was based on assessments of public security, after protesters said they would descend on the event.
UCC professor James Bowen said the event was safe in Cork, adding that “academic freedom [in Ireland] is still fairly well protected, unlike in the UK, where it seems to have come to be regarded as a disposable luxury”.
Ben-Dor said he had approached universities across Britain and Europe with a view to hosting the conference, with no success, saying they were “afraid of the claws of the Israeli lobby”.
British Jewish groups had sought to either restructure or cancel the original conference, saying its heavy bias against Israel meant “it could not be treated as a serious or genuine”.
British Jewish academic Prof. Geoffrey Alderman however said he was “very pleased the conference is going ahead, very sorry it is not going ahead in the UK”.
He added: “I will probably be unsympathetic to most of the other arguments expressed at the conference, but so what? That is what academic freedom is about.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
