JERUSALEM - Israel on Saturday condemned a decision by Britain's largest university teachers union to boycott two Israeli universities for allegedly restricting academic freedom and teaching in illegal settlements.
"We categorically denounce the biased and iniquitous decision by the Association of University Teachers and call on British academics to disassociate themselves from it," a foreign ministry statement said.
The AUT took the decision to blacklist Haifa University and Bar Ilan University at an annual conference on Friday as a result of which no member of the 40,000-strong union will be allowed to visit the Israeli institutions.
"It's scandalous that the AUT has decided to take to task Israel, the only country in the Middle East where universities give complete freedom to different political currents and groups of the population," the foreign ministry said.
"The British government has informed Israel that it shares its point of view and that it will make (that opinion) well known."
The AUT said the boycott will remain in force until Haifa "commits itself to academic freedom" and until Bar Ilan severs links with the College of Judea and Samaria, based in the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank.
Both Israeli universities have defended their positions, claiming many of the allegations in the AUT's boycott motions were false.
AUT members charged that a senior lecturer at Haifa faced the sack and possible trial for backing a student's thesis documenting an alleged massacre of 200 civilians by an Israeli army unit in 1948.
The boycott was also condemned by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), which has more than 8,000 members.
"Things in the Middle East are moving forward while in the UK they are moving backwards. These boycotts have struck a blow at talks between Israel and Palestine," UJS spokesman Danny Stone said.
"After today, Jewish students are going to be forced into a situation where they feel they have to justify their feelings on Israel. They will not be equal in the classroom with an AUT member."
04/23/2005 14:04 GMT