Criticism has greeted the agreement reached between the University of Exeter, the Jewish Leadership Council and Universities UK about a controversial conference on Israel.

The compromise will see the conference on Settler Colonialism in Palestine, which attracted considerable concern within the Jewish community, go ahead as planned from 3 to 4 October, although the JLC will be allowed to put forward two speakers to act as first respondents. This will now be followed up by a separate event ¨C chaired by Exeter vice-chancellor Sir Steve Smith ¨C where the Israel-Palestine conflict will be debated by people representing a wide spectrum of views.

Simon Johnson, chief executive officer of the JLC, praised the university for its constructive engagement and the compromise as ¡°a good model for future discussions on conferences which may cause controversy¡±.

Yet one commentator on the JLC website described the event as ¡°an Israel hatefest¡­Being ¡®allowed¡¯ to nominate two academics simply gives the hatefest a seal of approval¡±. Another argued that ¡°simply by taking part we are endorsing the conference, which should be halted on academic grounds for its one-sided approach¡±.

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Broader issues of academic freedom were raised by Geoffrey Alderman, professor of politics and contemporary history at the University of Buckingham.

¡°Provided a conference doesn¡¯t advocate violence,¡± he said, ¡°however odious I think it is, the greater principle is the right to espouse controversial opinions without fear. Their right to hold a conference critical of Israel is my right to hold a conference supporting Israel.¡± He was also ¡°troubled by the imprimatur given to this bizarre arrangement by Universities UK and trumpeted as a model ¨C I hope to God it isn¡¯t a model¡±.

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Even if the Jewish Leadership Council was contacted by Exeter, continued Professor Alderman, ¡°it showed poor judgement for them to get involved¡±, since they were not an academic body and it could set a dangerous precedent.

Furthermore, the academics nominated by the JLC ¡°are going to be regarded as lackeys, place persons of the JLC ¨C they will go into the conference hall wearing the label of a stooge. I would be ashamed to attend an academic conference on that basis. I go to a conference as Professor Geoffrey Alderman, not as the nominee of any organisation.¡±

matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com