AUT members please read this now

This is from Jon Pike at Engage:

The good news is that Local Associations at very many institutions have voted for an anti-boycott position.

The bad news is

1) The AUT faces extremely serious legal jeopardy, because of the law suit from Haifa University (and other pending suits). The sums involved may exceed seven figures. Solicitor's letter from Haifa University to AUT

2) Very few delegates have been registered for the Special Council.

3) On the basis of the delegates registered so far, the Special Council may uphold the boycott.

You must act today:

+ If you are an LA secretary, please register your delegation now. Details of how to do this are at http://www.aut.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1212 If this doesn't work, email Catherine.Wilkinson@aut.org.uk directly.
+ If you are not an LA secretary, please contact your LA secretary and ask them to register their own delegation immediately. They should contact Catherine.Wilkinson@aut.org.uk
+ If you have contacts beyond your institution, please alert them to the very real and severe danger that the AUT now faces, and ensure that they register delegates immediately. They can do so by contacting Catherine.Wilkinson@aut.org.uk.

You must also ensure that you send a full delegation to the special council. You are entitled, under rule 9.5.1 to fill any places on your delegation by action of the local executive, or otherwise under local rules.

Colleagues will have different views on the proposed boycotts. Some will wish them set aside on a procedural basis, others will object to the content of the resolutions and to taking a stance on international and political matters, and others will have broader, in principle and in practice objections to the current policy. Whatever the case, please understand and accept the seriousness of the situation the AUT now faces. It is imperative that, for the future of the Association, for the jobs of those who work for it and for the representative nature of our internal democracy that you act today by registering your delegation to the special council.

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Tags: academic boycott, Israel, culture wars