Here is the full statement AIJAC provided to the Australian’s Sian Powell for the story she was writing on a BDS petition at Sydney University, which appeared today, featuring excerpts from our statement:

“This is getting tiresome. It seems that every time Israel is attacked, and forced to defend itself, certain academics at Sydney University take it upon themselves to criticize not the terrorist group Hamas, responsible for the problem, but reiterate their long-standing, destructive demands for boycotts of Israel. As they have made clear repeatedly, and do so again by calling for the so-called return of millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees into Israel – which would mean the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state – these academics are both fostering continued conflict and essentially challenging Israel’s very existence, using blatantly discriminatory methods contrary to basic academic freedom and human rights.

“If these few academics who it is claimed have signed the pledge were really concerned for Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, they would be condemning the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for refusing to make peace despite Israel’s repeated, generous offers of statehood, and condemning Hamas for initiating so many deadly conflicts with Israel, including now, by trying to breach Israel’s border while using human shields under the cover of the mass demonstrations it has cynically orchestrated.”