(from the Middle East Monitor4^th June)

Two conferences taking place in Israeli universities this month have lost keynote and plenary speakers, following the Palestinian boycott call. The Oral History Conference set to take place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on 7-9 June, and the Film and Television Studies Colloquium at Tel Aviv University on 8-11 June, have both experienced withdrawals from international scholars.

According to activists, in both cases “organisers were forced to fall back onto local Israeli speakers, and the majority of contributions to both forums are now also drawn from local institutions”. Following these developments, boycott campaigners are claiming that “the supposed international character of the conferences is obviously a charade now”.