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IMRA Newsletter

Nobel Prize Winners join the Condemnation of the proposed Scientific Boycott of Israel

May 6, 2002

A group of leading professors at the University of Chicago, joined by scientists from around the world has initiated a petition in response to calls for a European boycott of research links with Israel. The anti-boycott petition condemns the boycott calls and urges scientists to foster and develop further scientific ties with their Israeli colleagues. By now, more than 1900 professors and researchers from all over the world have signed the anti-petition and signatures continue to arrive. The list of signatories includes many world class scientists, respected leaders in their fields of research, among them Nobel Laureates, Fields medalists (the most prestigious prize in mathematics), members of American National Academy of Sciences and members of national academies of sciences in other countries. This is an astonishing show of unity and support for Israel among scientists.

An editorial in the United Kingdom's "Nature", the leading scientific journal, noted that "Such boycotts are misguided and should be opposed in favour of constructive initiatives."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights NGO, with 400,000 constituent families has endorsed the counter-campaign led by distinguished academicians and is carrying the petition online at www. wiesenthal.com "Unfortunately the European-led efforts to sever research links with Israeli Institution of Higher learning, is only part of a more sweeping effort to isolate and delegitimize the Jewish State", said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Please, find below the text of the petition and a partial list of signatories. The complete list of signatures is available at the petition website: http://www.anti-boycott-petition.org

THE ANTI-BOYCOTT RESPONSE:

WE ARE CONCERNED

The nation of Israel is going through a difficult time. Its very existence is being targeted by daily murderous terrorist attacks. Hundreds of innocent people, women and children have been killed by homicide bombers in the recent months. At the same time anti-Semitic attacks have become a daily occurrence in Europe. These developments pain us and concern us.

We are aware that some European academics have called for a cultural and scientific boycott of Israel. We believe that this call is immoral, dangerous and misguided, and indirectly encourages the terrorist murderers in their deadly deeds. The government of Israel has the right and the duty to protect its citizens against terror. We sincerely hope that upon further reflection these scientists will understand the dangers of their request. We also call upon all our colleagues to express their support of the people of Israel in these trying times by fostering and developing scientific ties with their colleagues from the State of Israel.

NOTE:
ALL SIGNATORIES ARE SIGNING IN PERSONAL CAPACITY; INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS ARE GIVEN ONLY FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES

NAS = National Academy of Sciences, USA
NAE = National Academy of Engineering, USA

George Akerlof, University of California (Berkeley) USA, Nobel prize in Economics, 2001
John Bahcall, Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), USA, NAS Member
Neta Bahcall, Princeton University, USA, NAS Member
George Bankoff, Northwestern University USA, NAE Member
Jean Bourgain, Institute of Advanced Studies (Princeton) USA, Fields medalist, Academie des Sciences, France, Foreign Associate
Haim Brezis, Universite Paris VI, Academie des Sciences, France, Member
Jeff Cheeger, New York University USA, NAS Member
Daniel Chemla, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory USA, NAS Member
Alain Connes, IHES and College de France, France, Fields medalist, Academie des Sciences, France, and NAS Member
Samuel Danishefsky, Columbia University, USA , NAS Member
Vladimir Drinfeld, University of Chicago USA, Fields medalist
Charles Fefferman, Princeton University, USA, Fields medalist, NAS Member
Evgeniy Feinberg, Lebedev Physical Institute of RAS, National Academy of Russia, Member
Walter Feit, Yale University USA, NAS Member
George Feher, University of California, San Diego USA, NAS Member
Alan Fersht, Cambridge University United Kingdom, Royal Society, Member
Stephen Fienberg, Carnegie Mellon University USA, NAS Member
Avner Friedman, Ohio State University USA, NAS Member
Uriel Frisch, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur France, Academie des Sciences, France, Corresponding Member
Hillel Furstenberg, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, NAS Member
Vitaly Ginzburg, Lebedev Physical Institute of RAS, National Academies of Russia and USA, Royal Society, Member
James Glimm, State Univeristy of New York, NAS Member
Marvin Goldberger, President Emeritus of California Institute of Technology, NAS Member
Leo Goodman, University of California, USA, NAS Member
Herbert Huppert, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Royal Society, Member
Daniel Joseph, University of Minnesota USA, NAS and NAE Member
Eric R. Kandel, Columbia University USA, NAS Member
David Kazhdan, Harvard University, NAS Member
Joseph B. Keller, Stanford University, NAS Member
Sergiu Klainerman, Princeton University, USA, Academie des Sciences, France, Foreign Associate
Bertram Kostant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA, NAS Member
George Lusztig, Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA, NAS Member
Yves Meyer, ENS - Cachan France, Academie des Sciences, France, Member
Daniel Mostow, Yale University USA, NAS Member
Louis Nirenberg, New York University USA, NAS and Academie des Sciences, France, Member
Sergey Novikov, University of Maryland USA, Fields medalist, NAS Member
Donald Ornstein, Stanford University, NAS Member
George Papanicolaou, Stanford University, NAS Member Michael Pepper, University of Cambridge United Kingdom, Royal Society, Member
Martin L. Perl, Stanford University, NAS Member, Nobel prize in Physics, 1995
Ronald F. Probstein, Massachusets Institute of Technology USA, NAS and NAE Member
Paul Rabinowitz, University of Wisconsin (Madison) USA, NAS Member
Marina Ratner, University of California, Berkeley USA, NAS Member
Stuart Rice, University of Chicago, NAS Member
Vladimir Rokhlin, Yale University USA, NAS Member
Harry Rubin, University of California (Berkeley) USA, NAS Member
Harold A. Scheraga, Cornell University USA, NAS Member
Richard Stanley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA, NAS Member
Elias Stein, Princeton University USA, NAS Member
Paul Steinhardt, Princeton University USA, NAS Member
Lennart Stenflo, Umea University, Sweden, Swedish Academy of Sciences, Member
Shlomo Sternberg, Harvard University, NAS Member
Marc Van Montagu, Gent University Belgium, US NAS Member
Bert Vogelstein, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA, NAS Member
Shmuel Winograd, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center USA, NAS Member
Efim Zelmanov, Yale University USA, NAS Member, Fields medalist

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