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UNIVERSITY chiefs in Southampton yesterday defied pressure from zionist groups to cancel a conference on Israel and international law, winning praise from academics.
The University of Southampton planned the event for April 17 to 19 but was confronted by demands from groups including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the UK Zionist Federation to either cancel or “reconstruct” the conference.
Communities Secretary and Tory MP Eric Pickles also intervened but the university stood firm.
Academics have issued a collective statement expressing “principled and full support for the University of Southampton’s commitment to freedom of speech and scholarly debate.”
It states: “We commend the University of Southampton administration, including vice-chancellor Don Nutbeam, for its resolute defence of academic freedom.”
The academics condemned the attempts to stifle debate on Israel. They are inviting others to sign the statement by emailing freespeechsouthampton@gmail.com.
