If you haven't already signed and circulated this SPME Statement on the Expulsion of Ariel University Center of Samaria from Solar Decathlon 2010 on Political Grounds being sent to the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and to the organizers of the Solar Decathlon Competitions, please read it now and sign on the bottom. If you have Spanish colleagues, please ask them to support this important statement on academic freedom.

Here are some of the comments of the signators thus far:

My university won the Solar Decathlon 2009. It is very regrettable that students are now expelled from this competition purely based on their origin and nationality. It casts a damning light on the reputation of this competion and its organizers. I strongly protest this decision which is unacademic and discriminatory or even racist.
Dr. Karl Ernst Roehl, TU Darmstadt

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I taught both Arab and Jewish students in my classes at Ariel University Center. How can you exclude a university that teaches hundreds of Arab students?
Mel Alexenberg, Professor Emeritus, Ariel University Center

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[The] world must educate itself about Judeophobia and its irrationality. Ignorance is public enemy number one. Decent people can fight discrimination of all forms.
Thomas Braun, Lima, Peru

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Academic freedom and human rights must be protected and extended, universally, across the world.
Dr Chris Maddox, New School of Psychotherap, London

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Ariel was inside the Clinton lines, that is good enough for me. In any case, these boycott people are just too Brezhnev for me. I have seen enough of that where I grew up. Kol ha kavod, Ariel, for making it to the finals!
Prof. Boris Tsygan, Professor, Northwestern University, Illinois

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This is indeed a CRITICAL time in the history of the World - critical because of the need to reverse the growing radicalization of Muslim youth. We are at or approaching a precipice beyond which the world can be destroyed. I hold out hope that the World community, including SPAIN, will act while there is still time. We need to support efforts at bringing all sides together so that understanding and healing can begin, especially between Muslims and Jews. With Ariel University Center being an institution that includes both Muslim and Jewish students, it becomes clear that such institutions need to be supported and encouraged by the World. I therefore respectfully suggest that SPAIN needs to re-think its decision to reject Ariel University Center's participation in Solar Decathlon Europe 2010. Reversal of the SPANISH decision could very easily be viewed worldwide as a bold and significant example for all nations to follow in bringing harmony and peace to the World before it is too late. Thanks, Dale Watson Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

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These are Israeli competitors in a solar panel building competition, not politicians or current soldiers.
Jared Meit, Student, McMaster U, Hamilton/Ontario

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Closing national borders to potential terrorists brings more practical good than barring the Israelis from international conferences supposed making a world better.
Michael Kerjman, Australia

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The issue is quite clear. Politics has no place in competitions to make the world a better place in which to live.
Irving Burke, University of Toronto, Canada

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Politics has no place in scientific inquiry and progress, which benefits all of us, and brings us together
Robert S Hoffman, Assistant Professor, UCLA, California,

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I deplore the campaign to exclude Israel from a variety of activities in a number of countries. Without condoning all that Israel does politically, I see nothing to be gained by preventing Israel's intellectuals, many of whom are their own country's sternest critics, from being part of academic life worldwide. Will you also exclude Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Sudan, and a variety of other countries in Africa and elsewhere, guilty of crimes against humanity?
Dr. Eva Simmons, Cambridge

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The increase of boycotts and exclusions of Israeli institutes and Universities/faculty is alarming. Basic international law as well as national law speaks to fair treatment and civil liberties; it has become a matter of honoring the law, and promoting the understanding of Israeli rights to national identity.
Elizabeth Kirkley Best
Director, Shoaheducation.com

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It would seem that Ariel University, with a student body that is both Israeli and Arab, is one of the most forward-looking institutions in the Mid East and that students there are genuinely seeking peace. Why, in Heaven's name would Spain dis-invite them?? I can think of no other reason than bigotry. I did not expect this from the Spanish Government. I hope this unfortunate decision will be reversed.
Yours truly,
Dr. Carol Ambruster, Pennsylvania

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I encourage the Spanish government to admit qualified participants without regard to politics or nationality. The elimination of Ariel University as described in SPME documentation is, in my opinion, both anti-Israeli and antisemitic in motivation. I believe the government and people of Spain are better than this.
Patrick J. Stevens, Librarian, Cornell University, New York

We, the undersigned faculty members, researchers, professionals, academics and students from around the world, denounce the decision of the Spanish government to expel the team of Ariel University Center in Israel from Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 .

The Solar Decathlon challenges college teams from around the globe to design, build, and operate the most livable, energy-efficient, and completely solar-powered house. Solar Decathlon houses must meet all the home energy needs of a typical family using only the power of the sun. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends aesthetics and modern conveniences with maximum energy production and optimal efficiency. The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002; it and those of 2005, 2007, and 2009 were held in the United States. Solar Decathlon 2010 will be the first to take place in Europe -- in Madrid next June.

Ariel University is an academic institution located in the West Bank, between Nablus and Ramallah. Ariel's student body includes both Jews and Arabs; the university provides them with a strong education and prepares them to work and live together productively and peacefully.
Last April, the Ariel team was selected as one of the 20 architecture teams to participate in the competition as finalists.

Then several anti-Israel and allegedly pro-Palestinian groups (Architects for Justice in Palestine- APJP, PACBI, BDS Movement - Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions for Palestine) pressured the Spanish Ministry of Housing into expelling the Ariel team. In September, the Ministry announced the expulsion, basing its decision not on the Ariel team's merits or lack thereof but solely and explicitly on spurious political grounds. A letter from SPME requesting that the Ministry reverse its disgraceful decision went unanswered.

Some of us are affiliated with institutions that are past solar decathlon finalists. We are therefore especially appalled by what the Spanish government has done. It is specially embarrassing, that the expulsion of an University from this international competition occurs on occasion of the first Solar Decathlon to be held in Europe.

Politically motivated government interference degrades science and scholarship. The Spanish government’s action has done more harm to Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 than to Ariel University Center, and may have set a precedent for the corruption of other academic competitions.

To read SPME’s letter of concern regarding the expulsion of Ariel University click here

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Los que firmamos esta declaración, afiliados de universidades, investigadores, profesionales, academicos y estudiantes de todo el mundo denunciamos la decisión del Gobierno Español de expulsar el equipo de Ariel University Center en Israel del Solar Decathlon Europa 2010.

El Solar Decathlon invita a equipos de Universidades de todo el mundo para diseñar y construir la mas habitable casa, que es eficiente en su balance de energía y completamente activada por energía solar. El primer Solar Decathlon se realizó en 2002. Este y las competencias de los años 2005, 2007 y 2009 fueron organizados en los Estados Unidos. Solar Decathlon 2010 es la primera competencia de ese tipo que se realizará en Europa - Madrid el proximo Junio 2010.

La Universidad Ariel es una institución localizada en Cisjordania entre Nablus y Ramallah. Los estudiantes de Ariel son Judíos y Arabes, la universidad los provee con una educación fuerte y los prepara para trabajar y vivir juntos productivamente y en paz. El Abril pasado el equipo de Ariel fue elegido como uno de los 20 equipos de arquitectura para participar en la competencia como finalistas.

En seguida varios grupos con orientación anti-Israel y supuestamente pro- Palestinos: Arquitectosy Urbanistas por la Justicia en Palestina - APJP, PACBI, el Comité Nacional Palestino de la sociedad civil Palestina para el Boycott, las Desinversiones y las Sanciones- BDS, presionaron al Ministerio Español de Vivienda para expulsar el equipo de Ariel de la competencia. En Septiembre el Ministerio anunció la expulsión basando su decisión no, en los meritos de este equipo sino exclusivamente y explícitamente en razones politicas no justificadas. Una carta de SPME solicitando que el ministerio revise su decision humiliante no ha tenido respuesta ninguna.

Algunos de nosotros estan afiliados con instituciones que fueron finalistas de anteriores competencias del Solar Decathlon. Por eso nosotros estamos especialmente despavoridos por lo que hizo el Gobierno Español. Es especialmente embarazoso que la expulsión de una universidad de esta competencia internacional ocurre en ocasión del primer Solar Decathlon que se realizará en Europa.

La interferencia por motivos politicos cometida por un Gobierno degrada la ciencia y la erudicion. La acción del Gobierno Español ha hecho mas daño a Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 que al Centro Universitario Ariel y puede haber puesto un precedente para la corrupción de otras competencias academicas.

Para leer la carta de SPME haz click aqui .

Atentamente

Adopted December 24, 2009 by the SPME Board of Directors

Nobel Laureate Endorsers
To Date:

Kenneth J. Arrow
Economic Science
Stanford University

Aaron Ciechanover
Chemistry
Technion

Dudley R. Herschbach
Chemistry
Harvard University

Roald Hoffmann
Chemistry
Cornell University

Sir Richard Roberts
Physiology and Medicine
New England Biolabs

Steven Weinberg
Physics
University of Texas

Sincerely,

The Undersigned
As an added security measure for signers of this petition to reduce the need to void anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic remarks that have been posted, as well as reducing the number of fraudulent signature postings, the authors might consider necessary to verify the authenticity of signatures. Unfortunately there are significant numbers of individuals who would like to sabotage the credibility and impact of this important precedent-setting petition. If you have any questions, please contact, Dr. Edward S. Beck, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. Thank you for your understanding, support and patience.