I have decided to resign from the AUT over its unfair and malign decision to boycott two Israeli universities, and I urge all other members of the AUT to join me.
In the first place, the actions of the AUT are invidious and discriminatory, singling out two Jewish universities while ignoring, for example, the dozens of Arab universities where all dissent is relentlessly suppressed. The stink of anti-Semitism about the AUT's actions is overwhelming.
Second, at its meeting the AUT deliberately denied opponents of the motions on the boycott the right to speak.
I have been a member of the AUT for nearly ten years. During that time, its ability to produce meaningful pay increases and other benefits for its members has ranged between abysmal and hopeless. Many younger lecturers live in something like real poverty, especially in the South East. Rather than concentrate on its core obligations to its members, the AUT has embarked on a tendentious, divisive and arguably racist campaign. No person of goodwill can continue to belong to such a body.
William D. Rubinstein
University of Wales, Aberystwyth