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Netanyahu blasts Britain Student Body's decision to boycott Israel

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed on Wednesday a decision by the British Student Body Union to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and participating in a boycott of Israel.

"A national student group in Britain voted to support a boycott of Israel," the Israeli prime minister said in a statement prior to a meeting with visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Robert Nicholson in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

"They boycott Israel but they refuse to boycott IS, this tells you everything you want to know about the BDS movement," the prime minister said, according to a statement from his office.

The prime minister praised Israel's connection with Canada and expressed appreciation to Canada's support of Israel, in what he said is an "international environment that is often marked by cynicism and double talk."

"Canada, led by Prime Minister Harper, is always stalwart and tells the truth. We think this is a refreshing wind in an increasingly hostile environment," Netanyahu said.

On Tuesday, the heads of the British Union of Students voted to join the BDS movement and boycott Israel, with 19 members voting for it and 14 voting against it. Though mainly symbolic, it is still an achievement for the BDS movement.

The BDS movement, a global campaign aimed to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories it took over amid the 1967 Mideast War and equal rights for Palestinian and Arab-Israeli citizens of Israel with economic and political means, made its first appearance on the international arena in 2005.

Netanyahu has made a series of remarks this week rebuking the international community's critique of Israel. On Monday, the prime minister said Israel is in "the midst of a diplomatic campaign" in which "the reality is being distorted and we stand falsely accused."

Israel has been under growing diplomatic scrutiny from the international community amid growing frustrations with its 48-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip territories and annexation of east Jerusalem territories.

The international community criticizes Israel for continuing to build Jewish settlements on lands slated to be part of a future Palestinian state, its nationalist legislation and imposing a status quo regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Several European countries have voiced their support of a Palestinian state and are considering further actions against Israel in order to increase pressure.

Israeli officials are concerned from growing diplomatic isolation and the possible impact of the BDS movement, amid strained relationship with European countries and the United States, especially amid Netanyahu's new right-wing government, which did not mention the peace process in its coalition agreements signed last month. Endit