Academics sign petition against boycott of Israel

Thousands of British and other academics have signed a petition opposing the academic boycott of Israel, the British daily Guardian reported on Saturday morning. According to the report, supporters of the boycott have conditioned the cancellation of the boycott on Israeli universities' and lecturers' public rejection of Israel's "apartheid" policies in the West Bank. According to Army Radio, a group of left-wing Jews and Arabs in Britain was expected to visit Israel in order to examine what has been referred to as Israeli universities' collaboration with the occupation in the territories.