Former Queen's University governor questions why Israel is target of major academic boycott whilst dictatorial regimes and wars elsewhere evoke less response

The News Letter has already reported on a boycott of Israel by a raft of artists from Northern Ireland, and protests at retailers in the Province over the sale of goods stemming from Israel.

Now it has combed through an online list managed by a group called Academics for Palestine of hundreds of teachers, lecturers and researchers – overwhelmingly at universities on both sides of the Irish border – to see how many Northern Ireland-based staff are part of the boycott.

Over 50 such names appear on the list, which has been growing since 2014 and was recently recirculated to encourage others to sign up in light of the renewed Gaza-Israel bloodshed.

It was most recently updated on Monday this week.

Those on the list "pledge not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions and with those representing these institutions, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights".

It includes a teacher from Belfast Metropolitan College, and one from Colaiste Feirste, the west Belfast school which courted controversy by publicising images of its pupils engaging in a pro-Palestine playground protest (complete with a speech ending in Bobby Sands’ rallying cry: “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”).

There are 28 names from St Mary’s University College, as well as 21 from the Province’s two major universities: 14 from Queen’s University Belfast, seven from the University of Ulster.

Lord Weir formerly served on the Queen’s senate – a group of 23 people which is its governing body – and studied law at the university.

He called the existence of such a boycott “both deeply disappointing and concerning”.

He said: “At this time in which terrorism has been inflicted on Israel, to be trying to boycott Israel I think is deeply unhelpful.”

Lord Weir said he totally disagreed with the idea of a boycott, but said he would at least respect the stance of those involved if they were “consistent in their approach” – but, he argued, this is not so.

"For example, there are a number of regimes in the Middle East which are deeply discriminatory, as opposed to Israel, which is a democracy,” he said.

"Some of the things happening to Yemenis in part of the Middle East do not seem to raise the same level of concerns...

“It seems with a lot of these people the only state that seems to draw their ire is Israel which I find deeply concerning.

"Iran is a very strong case – obviously, they're the backers of Hamas. But if you look at the oppression of Iran towards its own people, and particularly towards females.”

He also cited Qatar and China as nations where human rights were also significant concerns.

In Yemen, a civil war has been raging since 2014 involving local factions vying for control of the country, with one side backed heavily by Saudi Arabian bombing raids (using western-supplied weapons).

The fight has also pulled in Al Qaeda and ISIS, and Iran is alleged to be among the string of other powers backing various forces on the ground.

A study by the UN Development Programme found that, by the end of 2021, Yemen’s conflict would have caused “377,000 deaths – nearly 60% of which are indirect and caused by issues associated with conflict like lack of access to food, water, and healthcare”.

Most of these fatalities are young children, the UN said, adding that “if war in Yemen continues through 2030, we estimate that 1.3 million people will die as a result”.

Whilst much of the Islamic world focusses on Israeli actions in Gaza, among the worst attacks upon Muslims by non-Muslims in recent memory are those carried out by the Chinese Communist Party, which has herded perhaps upwards of 1.3 million ethnically-Turkic inhabitants of western China into concentration camps where they are forcibly indoctrinated; just in the last 24 hours, the UK government and 50 other states have said the abuses are so extreme they may be classed as “crimes against humanity”.

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The idea of an educational and cultural boycott of Israel has divided artists and academics.

The band Radiohead have refused to boycott Israel and played a major concert there in 2022, with frontman Thom Yorke telling Rolling Stone magazine: "You’re not bringing people together. You’re not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding.

"It’s such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way."

Among the most vocal opponents of a general boycott of Israel is American Jewish polymath Noam Chomsky, who has argued such a move is driven by activists wanting to "feel good" about themselves.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2016 Prof Chomsky said he does support limited boycott efforts "aimed at the occupied territories", calling these "principled" and "correct" because "the settlement and the occupation are illegal acts".

But asked if he supports "cultural boycotts, arts boycotts, operas" of Israel at large, he said: "I don't, no, any more than I support them against other countries, just as I do not suggest boycotting Harvard University and my own university even though the US is involved in horrific acts."

When it was put to him that a majority of Palestinians support a general boycott, he indicated that if most Palestinians were asked the question "Do you want Jews to get out and go home?" then "they would say yes too – but that doesn't mean, yeah, we follow that policy”.