Britain's largest lecturers' union on Monday voted in favor of a boycott of Israeli lecturers and academic institutions who do not publicly dissociate themselves from Israel's "apartheid policies."
Delegates at the annual conference of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) in Blackpool narrowly backed the proposal, despite mounting international pressure from those opposed to a boycott, including a petition from more than 5,000 academics and a plea from the Israeli government.
The decision was greeted with disappointment and anger by anti-boycott campaigners last night, but Palestinian groups issued declarations of support.
Presented on the final day of the conference, the motion criticized "Israeli apartheid policies, including construction of the exclusion wall, and discriminatory educational practices" and invited members to "consider the appropriateness of a boycott of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves from such policies."
After failed efforts to prevent the debate, speakers outlined the litany of difficulties experienced by Palestinian students and lecturers living under occupation, including the number of Palestinian schools shelled by the Israeli army.
"The majority of Israeli academics are either complicit or acquiescent in their government's policies in the occupied territories," said Tom Hickey, a philosophy lecturer from the University of Brighton, member of the union's national executive committee and proposer of the motion. "Turning a blind eye to what an Israeli colleague thinks about the actions of their government is a culpable blindness."
Aharon Ben-Ze'ev of Haifa university said he was "very disappointed," adding: "This ... will only serve to impede the peace process and strengthen extremism on both sides. I never say to British colleagues if you don't subscribe to my beliefs I will boycott you."
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel sent its support, saying British academics had "proved once again that they are up to the challenge of meeting injustice."
Stephen Rose of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine said he was delighted, adding: "We recognize that this has not been an easy decision faced with the extreme pressure put upon the union by outside forces."
He said the vote was "a historic step forward" in "helping persuade our Israeli academic colleagues that it is time to cease silent complicity with the illegal acts of the Israeli state."
But he warned that this was likely to be the start rather than the end of the debate.
"I expect those people who oppose it to mobilize on UK campuses and around the world in the weeks ahead," he said.
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