The UK’s University and College Union (UCU) which has spearheaded the campaign for an academic boycott of Israel has announced a series of seminars about the dangers of anti-Semitism.

Academic Friends of Israel write:

The UCU is putting on three one-day seminars about the dangers of anti-Semitism to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2010. This is in line with the Equality Committee resolution that was passed at this year’s UCU Congress.   The seminars will cover areas including: The Holocaust, Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust and Historical Anti-Semitism in Europe: Patterns and Explanations.

Although the idea of running a programme to educate UCU members on the rise and dangers of Antisemitism is urgently needed, this event lacks total credibility for a number of reasons:

The UCU has yet to produce a definition of Antisemitism which includes either the EUMC definition or wording similar to that definition.  Any UCU campaign that uses a definition of Antisemitism which is not acceptable to the Jewish community in Britain is worthless.

Do not forget either that the UCU has never accepted the recommendations of the 2006 Parliamentary investigation into Antisemitism or that Antisemitism from the Left and the Middle East exists and is a threat to Anglo Jewry.  Many Left wing members of the UCU, including some of the NEC still believe that Antisemitism from the Right is the only threat that Anglo Jewry faces.

This probably explains why the panel of “experts” does not include a representative of the Holocaust Education Trust or academics who are accepted as experts in the study of Antisemitism. What could be an educational event of value is nothing but a sham.

With a track record of refusing to investigate claims of institutional Antisemitism and the use of hate speech against Jews in the debates over the boycott, will the UCU now start to put its own house in order- Highly unlikely.

For details of UCU seminars: http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/rtf/UCU222.rtf