More rejections for ASA’s academic boycott of Israel

/ 1 Comment

NEW YORK (Press Release)– Despite many universities and colleges being closed for the holiday/winter break, 55 have already issued statements rejecting the American Studies Association’s call for a boycott of Israeli universities.  More are expected in the coming days as they learn of the ASA action.

Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, welcomed this nationwide repudiation of the discriminatory and unjustified ASA action and by that, the effort to boycott Israel. This remarkable response is a clear declaration that American academia will not be party to the efforts to promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.  About 16% percent of the claimed membership of the ASA actually voted in favor of the measure. But all it takes is a dedicated extremist minority to determine the outcome of a vote when most are apathetic or indifferent.  We must continue to be vigilant lest this takes root and spreads in the US.

The Presidents Conference wrote to the institutional members of the ASA outlining why this was an unjustifiable and blatantly discriminatory act. The leaders said, “The response is very encouraging and we are grateful that so many took the time during a holiday week to respond.” We continue to urge the rest of the members to speak out against the action and to disassociate from supporting the ASA.

Many university presidents have continued to express their support directly to the Conference of Presidents, including Rider University, Lehigh University, and the University of Delaware.

President of Rider University, Mordechai Rozanski wrote to the Conference:

“As the son of Holocaust survivors, I join the Association of American Universities and the American Association of University Professors in strongly rejecting the ASA boycott of Israeli universities. I consider it antithetical to our core principle of academic freedom and contrary to the free exchange of ideas so essential to the advancement of scholarly activities.”

 

Lehigh University released this statement:

“Lehigh University strongly opposes the ASA boycott of  Israeli academic institutions and we are disappointed that a portion of the ASA’s membership chose to take this action. We also believe that one cannot effectively impact a boycott by the ASA with a boycott of the ASA.  It would be more productive for our faculty members who belong to that organization to express their displeasure to the leadership and advocate for a change in policy.  We will call upon our faculty to make their opinions known to the ASA. This would apply as well to any academic organization that might vote to adopt the same position as the ASA.

 

“The boycott of an academic community is antithetical to the mission of academia.  The essence of the academic enterprise is to advance the exchange of knowledge and ideas. This mission necessarily calls us to be open and receptive to intellectual discourse with others. There is no room in the pursuit of this mission for the isolation of any group of academics.  A boycott of any group is harmful to all. International collaboration and exchange has never been more important than it is today.  Through collaboration across disciplines – and across borders – we will continue to live up to our responsibilities to our nation and our world.”

Patrick T. Harker, President of the University of Delaware, stated in an email to the Conference:

“The University of Delaware rejects the decision of the American Studies Association to endorse an academic boycott of Israel. Such a boycott is fundamentally incompatible with the principle of academic freedom, which is central to the mission of this University and to that of American higher education as a whole. It is imperative that the University’s scholars be able to freely associate with colleagues and institutions around the world, and we will not suppress the rich research collaborations, faculty exchanges and program agreements with Israeli universities that have enlarged the breadth and enhanced the quality of our scholarship, nor will we discourage the formation of new partnerships.”

A complete list of universities that have publicly rejected the ASA’s boycott can be found below, with thanks to Avi Mayer, social media activist, and William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection for his diligence.

(Updated 11:00 p.m. EST, 12/26.)

In addition, the following institutions’ American Studies programs have withdrawn their membership in the American Studies Association (ASA) following last week’s boycott vote:

Furthermore, the following institutions have flatly denied being institutional members of the ASA, though the organization lists them as such:

*
Preceding provided by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

 

1 thought on “More rejections for ASA’s academic boycott of Israel”

  1. Ariely Shein

    Boycotters –pls don’t request to extend your anti Israels actions in agricultural field>
    Millions of people worldwide will have to face food shortage:
    Israel agricultural free know how transfer includes the use of advanced agricultural technology, water-conserving irrigation methods, anaerobic digestion, greenhouse technology, desert agriculture and salinity research.
    As well pls don’t boycott Israel institutions providing the following:
    -Medical emergency care to hundreds of wounded Syrians>
    -SPECTATOR.CO.UK-Only Israel provides to enemy conducting destruction wars&terror such medical treatment.
    -Der Spigel:Palestin woman gave birth in Israel hospital rocketed by Gaza
    -Health Assembly:35000 Palestins treated in Israel hospitals
    -Saving Children:980 Palestin children free cardiac surgery by Israel.
    -Child’s Heart:828 Palestinian children with heart problems free medical in Israel/
    -Public Health-Palestins receive care in Israel they couldn’t get in Arab countries
    However you are free to use in your science work the recent Palestinian, Arabs and Iranian contributions such as:
    1: How to reweight history:
    The chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas:
    In his Christmas speech to Christians throughout the world, Abbas said: “In Bethlehem, 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born – a Palestinian who brought the gospel and became a guide for millions worldwide.
    2:How to clean up the ME from Christians and still get international academic support>
    Following the Palestinian authority establishment in 1993, the Christian community in Bethlehem and elsewhere largely driven out by local Muslims>
    The Christian communities have decrease by 25% in the Middle East on the past 25 years.
    3; How to contribute to deny the right of the 3500 years old nation and religions (The Jewish) the right to their homeland and the right of the victim (Israel) to defend itself.
    ——-
    Most of the boycotters couldn’t get an academic degree or proceed with advance modern research if they will:
    1: Don’t use in your academic works the findings of THE “GOD PARTICLE” (a subatomic particle that accounts for the existence of matter and diversity in the universe.)
    A team from Israel’s Technion was charged with building and monitoring the collider’s elementary particle detectors, without which the discovery of the Higgs Boson would have been impossible.
    2: Delete from your academic works references to Israelis and Jewish works.
    3: Stop using the communication technologies invented and developed by Israelis:
    ( few examples: Voice on Internet- Google search-firewalls- All computers using CPU developed by Intel Israel-cell phones using cheeps developed in Israel)
    ———————–
    However the boycotters are free to use Israel medicine for cure:
    Following a short appetizer list.
    Be our guest.
    * Antibiotics targeting cellular regulation based Yonath- Nobel prize winner
    * New type of Personal targeted drug based on Hershko&Ciehanover- Nobel prize winner
    * The stint preventing hard attacks
    * Swallowed camera pill that photographs esophagus.

Comments are closed.