On 7 June 2013, the Boycott National Committee (BNC) convened the Fourth National Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Conference at Bethlehem University. Comprised of three panels and one set of concurrent workshops, the daylong event targeted local Palestinian communities. While the organizers anticipated four to five hundred participants, seven hundred people showed up.

(CNN) -- Mahmoud Sarsak is twice the man he used to be.

The diminutive Palestinian soccer player is sitting in a small cafe in central London, tired but otherwise surprisingly healthy for a man who had lost half his body weight during a hunger strike 12 months ago.

It is his first visit to the British capital but, like many who try to leave Gaza, his journey was long and far from easy.

"The Rafah border (between Gaza and Egypt) was closed for days because of the kidnapping of soldiers in Egypt.

Israel is not only one of the world’s most negatively viewed countries, but its reputation is deteriorating, according to the BBC World Service’s latest global survey.

The US is now the only Western country that holds favorable views of Israel and in some European countries, including Germany, positive views of Israel are in the single digits.

The 2013 Country Ratings Poll, conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA for the BBC among 26,299 people

The federal opposition has announced that it will support sweeping attacks on academic freedom and the free speech of any individual or organisation supporting the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

According to the 25 May Weekend Australian, a “Coalition government would block all federal funds to individuals and institutions who speak out in favour of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel”.