UK ACADEMICS SUPPORT ISRAEL BOYCOTT CALL

UK lecturers support Israel boycott call (YNET)
Britain’s University and College Union (UCU), comprising of university academics, voted in favour of considering a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions at its conference in Bournemouth on Thursday evening.

The resolution, passed by 158 votes in favor and 99 against, “notes that Israel’s 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and restriction of movement... deplores the denial of educational rights for Palestinians by invasions, closures, checkpoints, curfews, and shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students.”

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said after the vote: “I do not believe a boycott is supported by the majority of UCU members... Today’s motion on boycott means all branches now have a responsibility to consulate all of their members on the issue... Any future calls for a boycott must pass key tests before a boycott can be implemented.”....

Responding to the resolution, Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at Haifa University, said: "I'm deeply disappointed by the failure of truth and justice at this vote." "I don't think such a boycott will seriously impact Israeli academia, but I treat it with seriousness because it will affect Jewish organizations abroad," Kellner added. "The people who organized this boycott are working for the forces of evil. They not working for Palestinians, they are working against Israel".....