President Bruininks
202 Morrill Hall
100 Church Street S.E.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455

August 10, 2007

Dear President Bruininks:

This letter is regarding your endorsement, on behalf of the University of Minnesota, of the full-page New York Times advertisement (published in the August 8, 2007 NYT) denouncing Britain's University and College Union's (UCU) decision to discuss an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. As is the case for US funding of Israeli war crimes, we call you to not use the name of our university and our names as students, staff and faculty to support the actions of Israel and, conversely, condemn all those who take action to support the cause of Palestine.

Although a boycott is a drastic step for any institution, in a case such as this, it is necessary for measures of this nature to be sought out for the advancement of academic freedom and human rights at Palestinian Universities which are situated in the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is not to say Palestinian academic institutions are silencing their scholars but the contrary, it is the Israeli government and Israeli Defense Force that is silencing and suffocating Palestinian institutions in the territories. British and Canadian academic institutions are very carefully deliberating an academic boycott of Israeli scholars with the best intentions in mind, for the reconciliation of Israeli government policy towards Palestinians and allowing Palestinian academics to engage freely in their work and scholarship like at any other university in the free world.

The intention of UCU's academic and culutural boycott of Israel is not to attack the Israeli scholars personally, nor the quality of their work. Rather, the main intention is to ensure academic freedom and the right to education in Israel and Palestine respectively, and not have these rights present in one area at the cost of being denied to others. Presently, Israeli scholars may freely go to any institution in the world while Palestinian scholars deal with repressive measures dealt by the Israeli Defense Force on a daily basis. These include military invasions of universities, extrajudicial arrests and shootings of professors and students, the closing down of universities for months at a time, and making it difficult, if not impossible, to reach the universities on some occasions because of military checkpoints situated around the institutions. It is important to note that the extent of the Israeli restrictions does not end with Palestinians; recently foreign professors and students who have sought to study or visit institutions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been denied entry into the country by the Israeli border security on no pretext except that these scholars have a devout interest in learning and achieving a greater understanding among academics. This has effected not only American professors, but also students here at the University of Minnesota who have wished to study in Palestine but were refused permission.

President Bruininks we urge you to reconsider your endorsement of the advertisement published in the New York Times. University Presidents should not be in the business of stifling debate. We thank you very much for your consideration and we await your response.

Sincerely,