A new good guy: THES

What's interesting here is that the mainstream media (and what used to be known as The Times Higher Education Supplement - the bible of UK University academics - could hardly be more mainstream), or at least some parts of it, are becoming aware of just what the price to be paid by academics for the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) fixation on Israel and Palestine really is. The writer of the Leader column makes all the points we know are valid: the distraction from the very basic concerns of all trade unions: pay and conditions; the waste of resources on pointless campaigns: the boycott of Israel which can never be implemented for legal reasons; the distraction of refusing to take on board the European Union's Working Definition on Antisemitism: it might stop the Executive Committee members from perpetuating antisemitic tropes; the loss of genuine left-wing members, some, but by no means all of them, Jewish, because of the atmosphere generated within the union. In short, THE shows itself as one of the good guys; it knows where the best interests of university and college lecturers interests lie. It's just a pity that their trade union leaders don't know what mere journalists have managed to work out for themselves. The title of the piece is interesting:

Times Higher Education: Bread, not political poses. 

By the way, if you haven't already read Nick Cohen's condemnation of the TUC because of its serious thoughts of disaffiliating from the Histradut, then he's well worth a read here:

Post By: Brian Goldfarb