<p>Britain's largest faculty union voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to overturn a controversial boycott of two Israeli universities. </p>
<p>In a decision that provoked international condemnation, the governing council of the Association of University Teachers had voted at its annual meeting in April to sever ties with the University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University. At the time, some 200 council members approved motions that accused those institutions of undermining Palestinian rights and curtailing academic freedom. </p>
<p>Almost immediately critics of the boycott began organizing to overturn it. At a special session of the governing council, convened on Thursday in reaction to the boycott, some 250 delegates voted by a show of hands to do just that. </p>
<p>The union's April decision to impose a boycott was condemned by critics around the world, including academics and politicians. </p>
<p>"Boycotting universities and their faculty is anathema to academic freedom," the American Federation of Teachers said. It called on its British counterpart, which represents 50,000 higher-education professionals, to reverse its action, saying that "boycotts of this nature, especially at this sensitive time, are counterproductive to the peace process." </p>
<p>Universities UK, the lobbying group for British institutions, said the boycott decision was "inimical to academic freedom, which includes the right of academics to collaborate with other academics." </p>
<p>Discord Over Litmus Test </p>
<p>The British faculty association did not issue guidelines on how to observe the boycott, which called for its members to "refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration, or joint projects" with the two Israeli institutions. Faculty members at the Israeli universities would have been excluded from international conferences and academic exchanges unless they publicly distanced themselves from Israeli policies toward Palestinians. </p>
<p>Opponents of the boycott deemed especially offensive the notion that individual professors would be subjected to an ideological or political litmus test before being allowed to participate in scholarly exchanges. Many academics cited that as a central reason for their opposition. </p>
<p>Supporters of the boycott vowed to press on with their efforts. "So we've lost a battle, but not the campaign," said Hilary Rose, one of the boycott organizers and an emerita professor of social policy at the University of Bradford, in England. "This is a big setback, but the campaign will continue." </p>
<p>Sari Nusseibeh, the Palestinian president of Israel's leading Arab institution, Al-Quds University, in Jerusalem, also joined the opposition to the boycott. In a statement signed with Menachem Magidor, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mr. Nusseibeh said it was only "through cooperation based on mutual respect, rather than through boycotts or discrimination, that our common goals can be achieved." </p>
<p>"Bridging political gulfs -- rather than widening them further apart -- between nations and individuals thus becomes an educational duty as well as a functional necessity, requiring exchange and dialogue rather than confrontation and antagonism," Mr. Nusseibeh said. </p>
<p>Mr. Nusseibeh's opposition to the boycott was, in turn, condemned by many Palestinians, including the Palestinian Union of University Teachers and Employees, which accused him of taking a stand against the boycott as a way of trying to normalize relations with the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon. </p>
<p>'Very Difficult Conditions' </p>
<p>Jon Pike, a senior lecturer in philosophy at Britain's Open University and a co-founder of the antiboycott campaign, said that although the boycott had been intended as a show of solidarity with Palestinians, it would have hurt them, too. "Israeli and Palestinian academics and students are existing in very difficult conditions," he said. "Palestinians especially are working in very difficult situations, and we want to give them support. This doesn't do that. It's negative attention that has diverted attention from doing practical work, both as a trade union and as individual academics." </p>
<p>After the boycott was overturned, Aaron Ben Ze'ev, president of the University of Haifa, said he was pleased but not surprised. "We have done a lot of work in persuading people and in presenting our case, by revealing the false accusations against our university," he said. Haifa had warned the British faculty association that it was considering libel proceedings for what Mr. Ben Ze'ev called the "slander and defamation against our university." </p>
<p>Despite the boycott reversal, Mr. Ben Ze'ev said he was disappointed that he had not yet received any apologies from representatives of the faculty association. "We are the most pluralistic university in Israel," he said. "We also want to continue and strengthen our connection with Palestinians and Arab states." </p>
<p>He noted that his institution, where 20 percent of the students are Palestinian, had just elected an Arab as dean of research. Rather than undermining Palestinian rights, he said, his institution had done much to foster good relations with Palestinians. Beyond its ramifications for his own university, Mr. Ben Ze'ev said, the boycott also raised wider issues. "I don't see this as an isolated or accidental incident," he said. "I see it as a part of a larger-scale campaign against the State of Israel and its academic institutions." </p>
<p>He said he was concerned that other organizations might try similar tactics. "The University of Haifa intends to lead the struggle in Israel against this sort of immoral phenomenon," he said. </p>
<p>Haifa has organized a large meeting of academics and public figures, scheduled for next Wednesday, to discuss the issues raised by the boycott. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's finance minister, will be the keynote speaker.</p>