LONDON - A Nobel Prize-winning U.S. physicist has turned down an invitation to speak in London because of what he sees as increasing anti-Semitism.

Steven Weinberg, who teaches at the University of Texas, pointed to a decision by the National Union of Journalists to boycott Israeli products, The Guardian reported. In a letter to Michael Duff of Imperial College, Weinberg cited "a widespread anti-Israel and anti-Semitic current in British opinion."

Duff had invited Weinberg to speak in honor of a Pakistani physicist, Abdus Salam, and at a conference on particle physics.

In 2006, Weinberg turned down an invitation to speak at the University of Durham. He said the union representing university lecturers appeared to be boycotting academics from Israel.

In his letter to Duff, Weinberg said boycotts against Israel show "a moral blindness for which it is hard to find any explanation other than anti-Semitism."

He said the journalists' union might want to "pander" to Britain's growing Muslim community.

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