Rory Cellan Jones: "[T]his whole affair is showing the huge hole in the democratic structure of the union."

Obs leader: "Last month, the National Union of Journalists voted for a boycott of everything Israeli, an absurd gesture since, if implemented, it would make reporting from Jerusalem impossible."

New York Times leader slams the "shameful" NUJ boycott call: "Who would trust the dispatches of a reporter who has been openly engaged against one side of a conflict?"

Steven Weinberg, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has cancelled a trip to speak at Imperial College because of the NUJ’s decision to call for a boycott of Israel.

"This chapel … believ[es] that all such political positioning by the union runs counter to our commitment as Reuters journalists to maintain professional objectivity and freedom from bias."

"[The NUJ] it has called into question the fairness and impartiality of its membership. … The call to boycott is an undeserved blow to the credibility of British journalists and an unwarranted attack against Israel."

The comments here are more interesting than the story. Why is Jeremy Dear so astonished that the Israel motion overshadowed all the NUJ’s other work? This is precisely why this was such a PR own goal!

Jonathan Freedland: "The casual reader, unaware of the humdrum realities of trade union politics, assumes that this is a democratic, collective declaration by British journalism that Israel is beyond the pale…"

"What right do the NUJ - which incidentally I have paid my measly ten pounds to be a member of this year - (for the perks I have yet to receive - other than a pretty membership card) - have to start delving into issues that are not within their remit?"

"The danger … is that further politicisation … could not only weaken and fragment the union both internally and externally … but also detract it from its original purpose of representing and protecting journalists."

Well, this was inevitable. Brace for impact.

This post from a right-wing US magazine is bullshit, but the NUJ delegates who voted for the Israel boycott handed the anti-MSM types this one on a plate.

Toby Harnden: "I am a member of the NUJ, though at times like this I wonder why. A union battling for better pay and conditions is one thing. But why should my dues be spent on anti-Israel posturing of which I and many other members want no part?"