Prominent Scholars, Citing Importance of Academic Freedom, Denounce Israeli Boycott

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The American Studies Association’s endorsement this month of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions continues to stir passions, with four colleges and universities announcing their withdrawal from the association, a second leading higher-education association denouncing the boycott and a rising tide of college presidents speaking out against it.

One after the other, prominent university presidents and academic leaders have issued condemnations over the last week that emphasize the importance of academic freedom.

“Academic boycotts subvert the academic freedoms and values necessary to the free flow of ideas, which is the lifeblood of the worldwide community of scholars,” said Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard.

The executive committee of the American Association of Universities, an organization of the most prestigious research institutions, joined the American Association of University Professors in opposing the boycott. It said the boycott would violate the academic freedom “not only of Israeli scholars but also of American scholars who might be pressured to comply with it.”

And Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan, described the boycott as an attack on academic freedom, declaring “institutions off limits because of their national affiliations.”

The American Studies Association also frames the issue in good part around academic freedom, citing the lack of such freedom “for Palestinian students and scholars under conditions of Israeli occupation” and “the protected rights of students and scholars everywhere to engage in research and public speaking about Israel-Palestine and in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

Supporters of the boycott, including some prominent Jewish professors, say the American Studies Association’s resolution was written carefully to apply to institutions, not individual scholars, leaving room for scholarly collaborations. And they say that as professors, they have a moral responsibility to take a public stand against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

“I know many Jews are against the occupation but don’t believe in the boycott,” said Colin Dayan, the Robert Penn Warren professor in the humanities at Vanderbilt University. “I have noticed, as a Jew, that the one subject that can never be critiqued is action taken by Israel against Palestinians. What made it clear to me that I needed to speak out — although it puts me in a difficult position vis-à-vis family and friends — is that the situation for Palestinians is deteriorating. It’s worse than I ever would have imagined.”

There are now three small American academic groups that support a boycott. The Association for Asian American Studies endorsed it in April, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association did so this month after the vote by the American Studies Association. In that vote, 66 percent supported the boycott, and 30.5 percent opposed it — but only 1,252 of the group’s 5,000 members participated.

Next month, the Modern Language Association’s annual meeting will include a discussion on academic boycotts, and the group will consider a motion critical of Israel for restricting professors’ freedom to visit Palestinian universities.

Brandeis University and Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg announced last week that they would withdraw from the American Studies Association, and this week they were joined by Indiana University and Kenyon College.

“Indiana University values its academic relationships with colleagues and institutions around the world, including many important ones with institutions in Israel, and will not allow political considerations such as those behind this ill-conceived boycott to weaken those relationships or undermine the principle of academic freedom in this way,” Michael McRobbie, the president, said in a statement on Monday.

The same day, the president of Kenyon, Sean M. Decatur, wrote on his blog that he rejected the idea of boycotting academic institutions “as a geopolitical tool.”

In a recent television interview, Lawrence H. Summers, a former president of Harvard, said Israel was being unfairly singled out when other countries’ human rights records were far worse. He suggested an informal counterboycott in which university administrators would refuse to pay for professors to go to the association’s meetings.

Prominent Scholars, Citing Importance of Academic Freedom, Denounce Israeli Boycott

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