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Source: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,2092516,00.html
UK Research Funders to Disregard Israel Boycott
[Guardian-UK] Debbie Andalo - Research councils in the UK said Thursday they would still allow collaboration on projects with Israeli institutions despite the decision by the university lecturers' union to back calls for an academic boycott. Research Councils UK, the umbrella organization for the seven councils, which between them hold the purse strings for £2.8b of funding, said: "We would not stop any collaboration unless it was government policy." Israeli universities have an enviable reputation for research, especially in science, and the influential Royal Society - the independent academy which promotes natural and applied science - reaffirmed its opposition Thursday to blanket academic boycotts. Labour MP Denis MacShane, who chaired the all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism, said: "The motion will do nothing to help Palestinian students who are keen to study in the relative oasis of Israeli universities and will exacerbate the position of Jewish students in the UK who already feel harassed, intimidated and uncomfortable on campus."