ENGAGE - ARCHIVE

To: Sally Hunt, General Secretary Association of University Teachers, 25 May 2005

Dear Madam

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

We act for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ("the Hebrew University").

The deferred boycott motion

At its last annual Council Meeting a boycott motion was moved against the Hebrew University. Following the intervention of an AUT delegate, the motion was referred, in order to allow an "investigation."

The "investigation" should of course have preceded the moving of the motion. In any event, no such investigation has since been undertaken.

The motion, which is on the AUT website, is defamatory of the Hebrew University.

In summary, the motion alleges that in the course of expanding its Mount Scopus campus, the Hebrew University has confiscated land belonging to Palestinian Arab families, and in particular land belonging to the Al-Helou family. It has done this, the motion further alleges, in an intimidatory and coercive manner, and without regard to their property interests.

The motion calls on all AUT members to boycott the Hebrew University until it ceases to "confiscate" Arab land and reaches "an acceptable settlement" with the families' lawyers in respect of land "already confiscated."

The motion purports to give precise information about these acts of dispossession, identifying: the name of the place where the Palestinian Arabs are said to have lived until 1948; the time and date when bulldozers and guards are supposed to have arrived at the home of the Al-Helou family; the number of Palestinian families "trapped" by the university's actions.

An impression is thereby created that the drafters of the motion are well-informed, and that the motion itself is a truthful and authoritative account of the dealings between the University and Palestinian Arabs.

That this is a mistaken impression, and (indeed) that the drafters of the motion are either ill-informed or deliberately misrepresenting the truth, is evident from the following brief account of the relevant facts and background.

The Hebrew University

In 1914, philanthropists bought a 125-acre site on Mount Scopus for the university. Foundation stones were dedicated in 1918, and in 1925, a formal inauguration ceremony established the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 1920 and 1940 the University grew, as further land was bought for it, principally by the Jewish National Fund.

The first President of the Hebrew University was Dr Judah Magnes, a committed advocate of Arab-Jewish reconciliation. Among its first governors were Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud.
The Hebrew University's constitution declares that it is open to all without distinction of race, sex, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is Israel's leading academic centre for research and postgraduate study.

In 1948, use of the Mount Scopus Campus was lost when Jordan refused to honour the 3 April 1949 armistice agreement, which provided free access to the university. Students and faculty members worked in temporary accommodation until a new campus was built in Givat Ram. It was only in 1967 that access to Mount Scopus was regained.

The current development programme

In the period 1967 to the present, the Hebrew University has expanded through the purchase of land acquired piecemeal and by private bargain.

The dormitories presently being built by the university are being built on land that it already owns.

The Al-Helou family home is not "trapped" amongst the university dormitories, nor will it be, even when the new dormitories are built. The family has never been threatened with eviction, nor has it been told that its land is to be confiscated.

The Al-Helou family neither owns, nor lives upon, the land that is being developed. The family has never owned, or lived upon, that land.

The Al-Helous' case, which went to court, was that they had cultivated the land on which the construction work is taking place, and that they were therefore "in possession" of it. They did not assert title to it; they accepted that they were not and have never been owners of the land.

The District Judge rejected their claim. They had not established that any use whatever had been made by them of the land. At no point before the proceedings themselves had they ever even asserted any rights over the land.

Nevertheless, and because the Hebrew University is a good neighbour, a friendly settlement with the family has now been reached. The Al-Helous' concerns about access to their land have been addressed, and their relations with the Hebrew University are cordial.

Action required by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University understands that the motion may be included among those considered at the Special Meeting tomorrow.

Please ensure that this letter is made available on your website to all members, and is copied to all delegates. In the meantime, our client reserves all its rights.

Yours faithfully