[Boycott - Academic]

Arab reps boycott Med student event

Yaheli Moran Zelikovich, Yedioth News
21 April 2010

Israel to host international student conference but Arabs won't take part.

Israel will host the annual Mediterranean student conference on Thursday. Many participants will be visiting Israel for the first time, and are scheduled to meet ministers and Knesset members. But the excitement will be tainted by the defiant absence of students from Arab states, including those which maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

Arab students boycott Israeli conference

This year, despite continuous opposition through the years from Arab states, Israel was chosen to head the organization. This was possible due to a series of efforts planned to create dialogue with students and young people in neighboring countries.

However, when Arab student representatives realized they would not be able to prevent the choice of Israel this year, they decided not to participate in the vote for the organization's leadership.

The states which decided to boycott the conference include Egypt, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Liberia and Lebanon.

Their student representatives, like those of other countries in the organization, were supposed to spend some time next week touring the areas hit by Qassam rockets in the south, visiting Yad Vashem, Jerusalem and the Galilee, and meeting with elected representatives.

The National Student Union in Israel received a string of cancellations last week. The Algerian representative wrote that the Israeli invitation was complimentary. He hadded hat the first meeting in Paris with Israeli representatives, who were extremely friendly, was an important moment for him. However, he added, to his great sorrow, because of political issues, he will be unable to attend the event in Israel.

Because of the cancellations, only Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Malta, Serbia, Croatia, France, Portugal, Romania, and the European Student Union representatives will attend this year, in addition to the Israeli representatives.

Chairman of the National Student Union Boaz Toporovsky expressed his sadness over the Arab representatives' decision.

"We were sorry to hear that politics and preconceptions led some student organization representatives to avoid visiting Israel," he said.

"We will continue to aim for cooperation and the promotion of common interests of students around the world, regardless of which country they come from. All student leaders must continue the struggle for a better world, and rise above historic disputes and petty and narrow-minded gestures."

Readers comments

Student Conference or Indoctrination?

Funny, this is supposed to be an international student conference. Yet Israel wants to take this students and bus them around to Yad Vashem and Sderot and other "memorials" to help indoctrinate them. They want these students to go through the Israeli "pity party" when the REAL crimes are on-going today with the Gaza blockade, ethnic-cleansing of E. Jerusalem, and illegal occupation of the West Bank. Let the students see what you did in Gaza and the network of checkpoints and fences you built deep in the West Bank. Of course Israel doesn't want to show them that.

Elizabeth , UK (04.21.10)

This is a SHAM conference

If this was really supposed to be a peace-building conference full of dialogue and exchange...then why is Israel seeking to bus these young students to Yad Vashem and Sderot and other political places? Maybe thats why the Arabs boycotted this non-sense. Look at the itinerary, Israel is the one who made this political.

Eric , USA (04.21.10)

Itinerary includes Yad Vashem and Sderot??

What a joke! This is no international student conference, this is an attempt by Israel at indoctrination and political propaganda. If Israel is going to show of Yad Vashem and the "Qassams" at Sderot, then let them show the students what is going on in Gaza and the effects of the occupation in the West Bank. No wonder the Arabs don't want any part of it. Can't say I blame them.

Adam , Canada (04.21.10)

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3879026,00.html

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