Sir

As your News story, “Palestinian unease sparks fresh calls for Israeli boycott” (Nature 434, 813; 200510.1038/434813a) notes, intermittent attempts have been made to boycott Israeli academics, in order to protest at the lack of resolution of the Israeli–Arab conflict.

These efforts — such as the recent attempt by some members of the UK Association of University Teachers to impose a boycott of two universities, which was overturned last month (Nature 435, 550; 2005) — are counterproductive in an environment where mistrust is a key obstacle to peace, particularly after four years of escalated violence. This has included closures of Palestinian universities by Israeli forces and direct attacks on Israeli institutions of higher learning, such as the terrorist bombing of the cafeteria at Hebrew University that killed and injured nearly 100 people, mostly students.

In addition to reducing the enmity that must be overcome before peace can be achieved, collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian academics has brought millions of dollars in funding to suburban Jerusalem's Al-Quds University. Joint efforts have enhanced the training and skills of the Palestinian faculty members — skills they and their students will need in any future Palestinian state, if it is to be viable, productive and at peace with its neighbours.

Even at the height of the Cold War, with nuclear missiles aimed at each other's heartlands, the United States and the Soviet Union considered academic exchanges a worthwhile way of enhancing the prospects for peace. Although there are, of course, major differences between the two conflicts, the same principle holds true for Israelis and Palestinians. Only those who are interested in perpetuating this conflict indefinitely stand to gain anything from preventing such exchanges.