The latest development in the AUT boycott -
Haifa University threatens to sue the AUT for defamation. The pretext for the boycott is the claim that Haifa University 'victimized' an outspoken anti-Zionist faculty member and a long-discredited masters student. From the accounts I've read, there is very little to substantiate this claim. The fullest desciption is in a Haaretz interview with Pappe from a few days ago. The only time expulsion from the University was raised came from an irate colleague - the relevant committee never even considered the compaint. Pappe's main complaints are of a 'de facto boycott' - inability to get permission to organize a conference, rumors that the administration seeks to exclude him from invitations to conferences and the cold shoulder from his colleagues. The master's students claims were serious enough to land him in court. During the case - which he lost - the student admitted several major discrepencies between his transcript of notes and the tape-recording itself.