Norwegian university to vote on Israel boycott soon

The University of Science and Technology in the Norwegian city of Trondheim (NTNU) may become the first university in the West to officially adopt an academic boycott of Israel, if a majority of its board votes in favor at a meeting on 12 November. Both the chairwoman of the Board of Directors and NTN Rector Torbjørn Digernes said they were opposed to a boycott. Digernes said he wanted to create dialogue between the parties in conflicts. A boycott would have the opposite effect, he added.

In 2007, the British Association of University Teachers voted to boycott Bar-Ilan and Haifa universities, but later reversed the decision.

Meanwhile, the Student Union of Sussex University, in the UK, voted for a boycott of Israeli goods.