Israeli academics boycott Ariel Univ.

More than 150 senior Israeli academics working in higher education have signed a petition to call for a boycott of Ariel University Center in the occupied West Bank.

The Ariel was established on the occupied Palestinian land and is within proximity to Palestinians forced to live in harsh conditions and lacking basic human rights, read the petition initiated by Professor Nir Gov of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Chemical Physics, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday.

Professor Ron Naaman from the Weizmann Institute of Science said that the petitioners have refused to take part in any academic activity in the Ariel University Centre of Samaria.

Naaman said the illegal settlement of Ariel is preventing the Palestinians from establishing an independent state.

“Illegal Ariel settlement stops Palestinians from creating independent state,” Naaman added.

The move comes around five months after dozens of actors and Israeli artists announced boycotting a cultural center in Ariel because it was built on the occupied Palestinian territories.

In 2010 alone, Israel destroyed nearly 40 Palestinian homes and 90 shops in East al-Quds, with the dramatic increase of razing homes giving rise to concerns about Israel’s plan to remove the Palestinians from the occupied city and judaize the Palestinians’ demanded capital.

A recent report by the United Nations warned that almost a quarter of the 250,000 Palestinians living in East al-Quds are at the risk of having their homes leveled by Israel.