Pro-Israel speakers will provide a counter narrative at a conference on “Settler Colonialism in Palestine” at the University of Exeter as part of a deal with the university’s vice-chancellor .
The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) has proposed Professor Alan Johnson, editor of a quarterly journal on Israel, and Professor Gabriel Noah Brahm, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) to participate in the conference to pose questions and provide counter responses to speeches, including the keynote speech.
Concerns had been raised by the Board of Deputies and grassroots pro-Israel groups that the conference, entitled “Settler Colonialism in Palestine & Workshop own the Naqab Bedouin” and planned for October, would be anti-Israel .
The compromise comes after talks between the JLC and the university’s vice-chancellor Sir Steve Smith. Exeter University said it would invite two lecturers to present the Israeli position, and would also hold a second academic event later in the year co-hosted with the JLC.
