Their own general secretary urged them not to do it and assured the Beeb beforehand that she didn’t think they would. After all, who could properly single out Israel for criticism given the sea of violent political, religious, sexual, and intellectual repression in which that country floats?

No surprise that a Nobel Prize winner knew better. Lesson: never underestimate the anti-semitism or Islamic apologism of the “enlightened,” particularly when it comes with a British accent.

Britain’s University and College Union (UCU), which comprises of university lecturers, voted for a boycott of Israeli academics at its conference in Bournemouth on Thursday evening.

The resolution, passed by 15 8 votes in favor and 99 against , “notes that Israel’s 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and restriction of movement… deplores the denial of educational rights for Palestinians by invasions, closures, checkpoints, curfews, and shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students.”…

Responding to the boycott, Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at Haifa University, said: “I’m deeply disappointed by the failure of truth and justice at this vote.”…

“The people who organized this boycott are working for the forces of evil. They not working for Palestinians, they are working against Israel,” Kellner declared, adding: “If there was something there that would actually help Palestinians, I would say they are honest but dumb. But this is just an attempt to defame and delegitimize Israel.”

“This is a sad day for British academia. The boycott resolution is a badge of dishonor,” Kellner said.

Exit question: They’re having themselves quite a day today, aren’t they?