The effort is gathering steam.
The controversial decision by Britain's Association of University Teachers (AUT), to boycott Bar-Ilan and Haifa universities, may be annulled before it actually takes effect. Members of the association who oppose the boycott are attempting to collect 25 signatures of AUT's council to force a special meeting that will overturn the decision.
One of the teachers behind this move, Dr. David Hirsh, said in a telephone interview from London University's Goldsmith College, that four to five signatures have been collected: "The call went out only on Wednesday. It is still early," he said, adding that he is convinced the remainder will be collected in the coming days. According to AUT rules, if 25 council members sign an official request for a second discussion, the association's president may summon a special meeting of the council.
Hirsh, a sociologist, says he supports a Palestinian state, but opposes an academic boycott. "Israel is not `illegitimate,' as South African apartheid was. Occupation is illegitimate - not Israel itself."
