(Telegraph-UK) An Oxford University professor has provoked outrage by rejecting an application from an Israeli Ph.D. student purely because of his nationality. Andrew Wilkie, a professor of pathology, is under investigation after telling Amit Duvshani, a molecular biology student at Tel Aviv University, that he and many other British academics were not prepared to take on Israelis. On June 23, Prof. Wilkie wrote: "I am sure that you are perfectly nice at a personal level, but no way would I take on somebody who had served in the Israeli army." The university issued a statement from Prof. Wilkie apologizing to Mr. Duvshani and making clear that he was not speaking on behalf of Oxford. The spokesman said that the university was investigating Prof. Wilkie and added: "Freedom of expression is a fundamental tenet of university life but under no circumstances are we prepared to accept or condone conduct that appears to, or does, discriminate against anyone on grounds of ethnicity or nationality, either directly or indirectly." "I made a mistake," said Prof. Wilkie. "I expressed personally-held opinions that have nothing to do with Oxford University and they should not have been expressed in that manner. I have learned a lesson....I have a view on the situation in the Middle East but I am not a racist or anti-Semitic." When asked if he would look again at the student's application for a Ph.D., he replied "absolutely" and added that he "entirely accepted" the university's equal opportunities and race equality policies.
2003-06-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive