IFOR Information

IFOR is an apolitical academic center, ensuring that Israeli scholars are granted full access to academic activities worldwide. IFOR (International Freedom of Research) - Founding Document Background Israeli academics face discrimination from numerous academic institutions, organizations, and scholars throughout the world, because of their nationality. This discrimination takes various forms, such as summary rejection of scholarly papers, refusals to provide reference letters, exclusion from conferences and academic appointments, as well as calls for targeted academic boycotts. Vision IFOR is an apolitical academic center that is dedicated to ensuring that Israeli scholars and academic institutions are granted full and unhindered access to academic activities worldwide. IFOR maintains that just as Israeli academics enjoy full academic freedom in Israel itself, they are entitled to this same freedom elsewhere. Ideological platform The boycott of Israeli scholars and academic institutions is discriminatory and violates human dignity, justice, and the right to equality. Academic boycott is itself an oxymoron, because it denies free speech and pluralistic discourse, which are the foundations of any academic endeavour. Academic research is intended to promote scientific progress, human development, and intellectual discourse; academic boycotts compromise them all. They silence dissenting opinions and suppress opposition, and may therefore bring about a chilling effect on researchers as a whole. Using academic boycotts against individuals or institutions to achieve a political goal is unethical and breaches fundamental elements of academic integrity.