Welsh Assembly speaker boycotts ambassador of pariah state of Israel

Welsh Assembly speaker boycotts Israeli ambassador

"I am unwilling to accept the invitation to meet the ambassador, because of my objection to the failure of the State of Israel to meet its international obligations to the Palestinian people of the Holy Lands," Elis-Thomas said.

LONDON (AFP) — The speaker of the Welsh Assembly is to boycott a meeting with Israel's ambassador to Britain because of the Jewish state's failure to fulfil its obligations towards Palestinians.

Dafydd Elis-Thomas said he would not meet Ron Prosor at the legislature in Cardiff later this month...

"I am unwilling to accept the invitation to meet the ambassador, because of my objection to the failure of the State of Israel to meet its international obligations to the Palestinian people of the Holy Lands," Elis-Thomas said.  "I would invite other colleagues to (do) the same."

Elis-Thomas's comments come after Prosor wrote in a newspaper article Tuesday that Britain has become a "hotbed for radical anti-Israeli views" in recent years, particularly in universities.

The British, Israeli and US governments complained in May 2007 when members of the University and College Union voted to back a boycott of Israeli universities due to the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The initiative called on British academics to stop writing for journals published by Israeli universities and refuse travel to Israel for conferences. But the union was warned in September that such a boycott would be illegal.

Full report in AFP,  11 June, 2008