Twenty-one staff members of the University of Tromsí¸ (www2.uit.no/www/inenglish) have signed a call for boycott of all Israeli academic institutions.

The initiative calls for the University to “establish an academic boycott of Israel”, of Israel”s “institutions of education, research and culture, and the institutions” representatives, regardless of religion and nationality.”

The University of Tromsí¸ has 9000 students and is known in Norway as the “peace university.” Mordechai Vanunu and Desmond Tutu were both granted honorary doctorates by the university. The University was a leading force in Norway during the massive boycott of the Apartheid regime in former South Africa.

The call follows the outline of the PACBI call. See Norwegian text: http://www.nordlys.no/debatt/ytring/article4305622.ece

The city of Tromsí¸ also has a twinning relationship with the city of Gaza, and the people of Tromsí¸ mobilized in good numbers for the Gaza demonstrations in January. One of the Norwegian physicians who worked in Gaza at Shifa Hospital, Mads Gilbert, is also a part of the Palestine movement in Tromsí¸.