By Robert White

Copyright yahoo

A science journal has been reported to its regulator over “racist boycott motion” which banned working with Israeli academic institutions.

The European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) declared in November last year that it would be cutting ties with academics from Israel over the country’s alleged “war crimes, crimes against humanity and plausible genocide committed in the Gaza strip”.

It announced it would not list Israeli academic institutions in EASA’s published materials, allow the participation of these institutions in joint conferences, or permit them to be advertised in EASA publications from July 2025 onwards.

The organisation – a registered UK charity based in London – has now been reported to the Charity Commission on the grounds that the boycott motion breaches charity and equality laws.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) argues that EASA’s actions are in direct conflict with its stated charitable objectives to “promote education and research in social anthropology by improving understanding of world societies and encouraging professional communication and cooperation between anthropologists”, adding: “Instead, it advances a racist political campaign that undermines academic exchange and stifles collaboration.”

It also believes the boycott motion breaches the Equality Act as it constitutes “direct discrimination under section 13 by treating Israeli academics less favourably based on nationality”. The group adds that it causes harassment by fostering an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for Israeli, Jewish and Zionist service users, employees, and members”, as well as “denying equal access to services, employment, and association participation”.

One member of the current EASA executive committee is Dr Hayal Akarsu, a professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

In July this year, she spoke about the “strategic weaponisation of anti-Semitism accusations to silence legitimate criticism of state violence and settler colonialism” on Facebook. In the same post, Dr Akarsu added: “These attacks particularly target those calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, advocating for institutional divestment from Israeli institutions, and opposing complicity with genocide.”

In its case against EASA, UKLFI disputes the claim that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found a “plausible genocide committed in the Gaza strip”, highlighting that the ICJ president clarified in January 2024 that the organisation “didn’t decide that the claim of genocide was plausible”.

UKLFI said: “The allegation of genocide advanced by EASA is a serious and inflammatory accusation that is strongly disputed.”

EASA was formed in 1989, and its founding members include Philippe Descola, a French anthropologist whose work influenced theories of nature, culture and social relations, and Adam Kuper, a British anthropologist who was the association’s first president. It holds biennial conferences across European countries, with the next scheduled to be in Poznan, Poland, in July 2026.

A UKLFI spokesman said: “EASA’s boycott motion is racist, politically motivated, and wholly inconsistent with its charitable objectives. It also breaches the Equality Act 2010 and exposes EASA to liabilities. We trust the Charity Commission will take appropriate action to ensure that EASA complies with legal requirements.”

EASA and Dr Akarsu were contacted for comment.