The University of Johannesburg will end the 25-year relationship with Israel's Ben-Gurion University, acting on calls from hundreds of South African academics and intellectuals for an academic boycott in order to isolate Israel for its attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. More than 400 South Africans signed a petition calling for the boycott, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The campaign has resonance coming from a country where activists encouraged international boycotts and sanctions to help end the legalized race discrimination that was apartheid. The university's senate committee discussed the issue for two hours on Wednesday then had a secret vote. Sixty percent voted to sever ties, outvoting the remainder who wanted relations with both Israeli and Palestinian universities. Ben Gurion's Student association leader Uri Keidar wrote a letter to the South African university saying, "I find it difficult to believe that BGU, the home of 20,000 freethinking students of different religious and ethnic backgrounds, is under this brutal attack."
