Why an Academic Boycott?

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I WANT TO START by thanking the Los Angeles Review of Books for setting up this forum. As a member of three academic organizations that have, in turn, each been involved in voicing concerns about Palestinian rights (the Association for Asian American Studies, the American Studies Association, and the Modern Language Association), I am keenly aware of how the issue of censuring Israel for state practices that discriminate against Palestinians has played out within the context of academic organizations.

I am especially grateful that the editors have allowed us to think about this issue carefully many weeks after the meeting of the Modern Language Association (MLA) in January. A slew of op-eds came out immediately after the American Studies Association (ASA) voted in December to honor the call from over 100 Palestinian civil organizations — the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) — with an academic boycott of Israel; many more followed the decision of the Delegate Assembly of the MLA to ask the MLA membership to vote on a resolution regarding the Right to Enter. Given the chance to step back and reflect a bit on these events, I focus not just on the academic boycott of Israel and the MLA resolution, but more broadly on the questions: why an academic boycott, and why should academic organizations get involved? That is, why intrude upon a cherished space where thought and knowledge are supposed to flow freely and disinterestedly, and instead call for votes in which an otherwise peaceful group of scholars (aside from debating about literary value, about the best theories to apply to certain texts, the correct interpretation of novels, plays, poems, et cetera) is asked to take “political” positions? To try to answer that question I will weave together both the particular case of Israel with the idea of an academic boycott, and focus not so much on the world stage as on the classroom and on the university campus.

Why an Academic Boycott?

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