NORWAY: University rejects boycott of Israel

An academic boycott of Israel by the Trondheim-based Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, was averted on Thursday when its executive board unanimously rejected the controversial move, writes Cnaan Liphshiz for Haaretz.

"The vote resulted in total victory," said Professor Bjorn Alsberg, a member of the board and a chemistry professor who led a campaign against a proposed academic boycott, which had sparked condemnation from Jewish organisations in Israel and elsewhere.

Alsberg said none of the board members objected when a university dean, Torbjorn Digernes suggested scrapping the motion from the board meeting agenda. "Some of the people in attendance spoke in favor of scrapping the vote," Alsberg told Haaretz. "The main arguments raised were that Norwegian universities should not [make] their own foreign policies, and that a boycott would be harmful to NTNU."
Full report on the Haaretz site