The University and College Union (UCU) held a meeting in London yesterday to discuss to debate whether to call for an academic boycott of Israel.  The location, full agenda and even the existence of the conference itself has been shrouded in mystery.  (See the report in the Jewish Chronicle.)

Academic boycotts of Israel have been discussed before in the UCU and its predecessor unions, and even when adopted, they have been quietly dropped by the leadership following legal advice.  It is clear at least to the UCU leadership that an academic boycott of Israel violates a number of anti-discrimination laws, British and European, as well as the union’s own constitutional commitment to fighting racism.

As of today (Sunday, 6 December) there is nothing on the UCU website about yesterday’s conference, but we’ll report on it here when we have news.