Not the first time he’s done this sort of thing either. And from the looks of things, it won’t be the last.

[T]oday in a letter to his host at Imperial, Michael Duff, Prof Weinberg said he was withdrawing from the trip.

In the letter, the professor said his decision was triggered by an agreement by the National Union of Journalists at its national conference to boycott Israeli products.

He wrote: “I know that some will say that these boycotts are directed only against Israel, rather than generally against Jews.

“But given the history of the attacks on Israel and the oppressiveness and aggressiveness of other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, boycotting Israel indicated a moral blindness for which it is hard to find any explanation other than anti-semitism.”…

Prof Weinberg said the only other reason he could imagine for the boycott was the NUJ’s “desire to pander to the growing Muslim minority in Britain”.

The motion to boycott was passed last month at the NUJ’s annual meeting along with motions calling for the closing of Gitmo and declaring support for Hugo Chavez. Really? Support for Chavez at a meeting of journalists?

In other surprising news, another British union will consider a boycott of Israel at its yearly conference next week. Guess which industry.