Peace Studies War – Boycotting Israel for the sake of international law?

This article considers the current boycott of Israeli academics by the Sydney Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) - an affiliate of the University of Sydney - arguing that the boycott suppresses academic freedom, does not promote international law or peace, and is fundamentally racist. It was written in answer to an argument in defence of the boycott recently posted on the Australian-government supported website "The Conversation" by CPACS lecturer Paul Duffill (Jan. 15), who argued "the International Court of Justice ruled in July 2004 that Israel is occupying Palestinian territory in violation of international law", and therefore "a peace centre can hardly be expected to be ‘neutral' or disinterested.'"