UK daily "The Guardian" reports that Physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking has announced that he supports the academic boycott of Israel and that he will not attend the Fifth President's Conference on June 20 in Jerusalem.
"The Guardian" says, "Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.
"Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there"."
"The Guardian" adds, "Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions."
President's Conference chairman Israel Maimon said in response to Hawking's announcement, "Use of the academic boycott against Israel is an outrageous and unworthy decision, especially by someone for whom the spirit of freedom is the foundation of his human and academic mission. Israel is a democracy in which everyone can make his arguments heard, whatever they may be. The boycott does not comply with free and open democratic dialogue."
Maimon added that 5,000 people from around the world would attend this year's President's Conference, including scores of the world's most eminent people as speakers, executives of the world's biggest technology companies, academics, Nobel Prize laureates, artists, and past and present heads of state, including former US President Bill Clinton, who will receive the President's Prize, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Prince Albert of Monaco.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 8, 2013
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