The steady drip of anti-Israel foment in academia became an unexpected gush this week when the leadership of the American Studies Association voted to boycott Israeli academics.
Professor bias and campus agitation, such as Israel Apartheid Week demonstrations and student BDS bills, are common. But rarely do American academic professional organizations vote to boycott Israel outright.
It happened when the ASA’s 20-member national council voted unanimously on Dec. 3 to end formal contact and collaborations with Israeli academic institutions.
The language in the resolution could have come from a Code Pink rally, reading in part, “A boycott is warranted given U.S. military and other support for Israel; Israel’s violation of international law and UN resolutions; the documented impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian scholars and students; the extent to which Israeli institutions of higher education are a party to state policies that violate human rights.”
Granted, the boycott vote is non-binding, and must go before the ASA’s 5,000 members for approval. Some members will embrace the boycott, while some — a majority, we hope — will oppose it.
High-minded boycotts of Israel, especially those supposedly based on human rights, stink of hypocrisy when no academic boycotts of Iran, China, Egypt or other notorious human rights violators ever pass.
Equally appalling, this vote is an insult to the very notion of academic freedom.
How can an association of university professors, the presumed guardians of knowledge and progress, choose to cut itself off from other purveyors of knowledge? How can it close down debate, inquiry and the exchange of ideas?
It can when its leadership is so easily swayed by bad information and a perverse belief in the illegitimacy of a sovereign nation.
Even if an organization opposes the policies of the Israeli government vis-à-vis the Palestinians, translating that into a refusal to work with Israeli intellectuals, scientists and researchers — many of whom oppose those same policies — is short-sighted and just plain stupid.
Forces bent on crippling Israel never rest. They exploit every avenue, from college campuses to Christian denominations to gullible city councils. Those who support Israel must be equally public if they are to confront the lies and misinformation that passes for correct thinking.
Meanwhile, we condemn this shameful vote and urge members of the American Studies Association to ignore the boycott so shamefully promoted by their leadership.