British feminist historian Catherine Hall, pictured, declined an Israeli award she was set to receive. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

JNS.org – British feminist historian Catherine Hall of University College London declined an Israeli award she was set to receive, the lucrative Dan David Prize, for what she called “political” reasons. Hall did not attend the award ceremony at Tel Aviv University (TAU) on Sunday.

TAU administers annual $1 million prizes, named after late philanthropist Dan David, for researchers in three different fields. Hall was among the three researchers set to split the $1 million prize in social history. Ariel David, Dan David’s son, said the $300,000 intended for Hall will instead go toward funding scholarships for TAU students.

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, an organization of British academics who call for boycotting Israel, quoted Hall as saying that she made “an independent political choice, undertaken after many discussions with those who are deeply involved with the politics of Israel-Palestine, but with differing views as to how best to act.”

Hall was due to receive the prize for her research’s “impact on social history, as a pioneer in gender history, race, and slavery.”