Pretoria, December 17 (RHC)-- Over 200 South African scholars have released a statement announcing their support of an academic boycott of Israel. The scholars announced that they will refrain from accepting invitations from Israeli institutions and also from attending Israeli organized or sponsored conferences, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

“We will maintain this position until Israel complies with international law, and respects universal principles of human rights,” read the statement. The scholars say they are “deeply disturbed by Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, the intolerable human rights violations that it inflicts on all sections of the Palestinian people, and it’s apparent determination to resist any feasible settlement.”

The move follows similar measures launched by UK and US scholars over the past months. In November, the American Anthropological Association, the largest professional organization of anthropologists in the world, approved a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions.

Moreover, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, known as BDS, is gaining momentum on U.S. college campuses and churches, as well as in many places in Europe. The BDS movement seeks to end the Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands.