NEW YORK (Press Release) – A measure calling for the boycott of Israeli academics, first introduced at the Modern Language Association’s convention in Chicago last January, has failed to muster the minimum required for ratification, the MLA reported on Wednesday, June 4. The American Jewish Committtee (AJC) welcomed the rejection of what it called” a vicious resolution targeting Israel.”
“Reason and truth have triumphed over the hatred and hypocrisy at the core of the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement against Israel,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.
The MLA is the largest American academic association to consider a motion sponsored by BDS movement supporters, who seek punitive measures against democratic Israel, the only nation in the world, it should be noted, singled out by this pernicious effort.
Two leading academic associations, the American Association of Universities and the American Association of University Professors, have long opposed the BDS movement.
“The MLA’s repudiation of the BDS effort is yet another failure of those who have maliciously tried to use the American campus to delegitimize the State of Israel,” said Harris.
“Cooperation between American and Israeli academic institutions is flourishing, as befits two scholarly communities who have so much to share with each other, who both treasure the spirit of academic inquiry and open-mindedness, and who contribute so powerfully to advancing the frontiers of human civilization,” Harris added.
“AJC will continue to do our part to help expand still further these mutually productive and beneficial links.”
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Preceding provided by the American Jewish Committee (AJC)