Jerusalem- The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is debating the possibility of cutting its ties with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) over what one professor termed Israeli "Apartheid." The University's Senate convened last Monday to debate a proposed measure which would cut recently established ties between the Universities. The two institutions currently have an academic cooperation and staff exchange agreement and collaborate in the fields of water purification and micro-algal biotechnology.

Steven Friedman, Director of the University's Centre for the Study of Democracy, explained that those in favor cutting ties "are not asking UJ to join a boycott campaign against Israel." Friedman, however, told the Mail & Guardian newspaper that he is against UJ signing agreements with "institutions which collaborate with governments that commit human rights violations." The professor argued that Ben-Gurion University's IDF research contracts make it such a collaborator. He also accused Israel, which has Arabs in Parliament and on the Supreme Court, of having 53 Apartheid style laws used to discriminate against non-Jews.

One University researcher explained that the University "played a particular role in cooperating with apartheid. It was on the wrong side of history then and we don't want UJ to be on the wrong side now."

According to Dr. Steven Plaut, an Israeli economist and professor, the furor over Ben-Gurion University is extremely ironic. Several members of the University's faculty, he pointed out, are known for their calls to boycott Israel and for describing Israel as an "Apartheid regime."

In 2009 BGU Professor Neve Gordon drew opprobrium from nationalists after writing an op-ed in the LA Times in which he called for a general boycott of the country, writing that it is "the only way that Israel can be saved from itself." While University head Rivka Carmi called the article the "egregious remarks of one person," one professor alleged that Gordon submitted his remarks to colleagues before publishing, offering to resign his position as chair if his comments would be too embarrassing to the department.  "There was a unanimous decision not to let him do that," Professor Fred Lazin said.

Dr. Plaut, a nationalist who is involved in efforts to monitor what he calls anti-Israel extremism on Israeli campuses, called UJ's proposed move "poetic justice."

"Ben Gurion University has long been one of the centers of the anti-Israel academic Left inside Israel and the capital for calls from tenured traitors for a world boycott of Israel," said Plaut.