London museum to hold Israel science event despite promoters' boycott

Despite protests by promoters of a boycott against Israel, the Science Museum in London says it intends to go ahead with an event planned for next month which will showcase Israeli scientific achievements.

On Monday the Guardian ran a letter cosigned by 368 people, including well-known academics and politicians, demanding the institution cancel the Israel Day of Science, promoted by Zionist Federation of Great Britain.

"The event is going ahead as a normal commercial corporate-hire booking," the museum's press officer, Laura Singleton, told Haaretz. She added the event was "scientific, non-political and aimed at the educational sector."

Calling Israel's recent invasion into Gaza "an attempted annihilation of all the infrastructure of organized society," the authors of The Guardian letter wrote, "how can this celebration [the Israel Day of Science] be allowed to borrow respectability from distinguished institutions?"

They also wrote, "what reaction can be expected from the many young people, already disaffected from science?" adding, "the event is being billed as a celebration of science. In fact it is an attempted celebration of Israel."

Ronnie Fraser, a key figure in countering and monitoring Israel boycott initiatives in the U.K., said that "targeting institutions that host Israel-related events is a new tactic by boycott promoters, now riding the post-Gaza wave."

Fraser says he believes that the protest letter was drafted by the British Committee for universities for Palestine [Bricup] as part of an organized and ongoing campaign to boycott Israel.

Fraser pointed to such signatories as Professor Jonathan Rosenhead from the London School of Economics and Dr. Sue Blackwell, well known for their critical stance on Israel. Also undersigned are MP Ian Gibson and Professors Jim Al-Khalili, Steven Rose and R.S. MacKay.

"Academic Israel-boycott efforts have recently been stepped up," a pro-Israel activist, who preferred to not be named, told Haaretz. "From a backroom operation it has become something of a full-time occupation for a few academic staff members."