I want to begin with a quotation from Tzvetan Todorov’s Facing the Extreme Moral Life in the Concentration Camps, because, of all the many things that might be said in opposition to the American Studies Association boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education, the…
read moreSupporters of the American Studies Association’s call for a boycott of Israel universities are distorting what the boycott is – and how it will affect academe. The “institutional boycott” is likely to function as a political test in a hidden…
read moreDear Fellow Members of the American Studies Association (ASA), We are pleased to report our progress toward our next boycott resolution. As you know, our president, Professor Curtis Marez, gained some notoriety from a quote given by him to the New York…
read moreAs I have reported here, the upcoming annual meeting of the Modern Language Association, a 30,000 member association of language and literature scholars, will include a panel entitled “Academic Boycotts: A Conversation about Israel and Palestine.” The panel is scheduled for…
read moreEXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The BDS movement is driven by anti-Zionism, but its ability to generate support depends on casting Israel as undemocratic and solely responsible for the lack of peace. Consequently, the proposed law targeting pro-BDS NGOs does more harm than good…
read moreTwo weeks ago, the American Studies Association (ASA) voted to boycott Israeli universities and asked American scholars to sever ties with Israeli academic institutions. Jewish mainstream organizations have responded with shock and anger, both on at the national level and…
read moreThere are many good reasons to oppose the American Studies Association (ASA) decision to boycott Israeli universities. But there are some bad reasons as well. Many arguments against the boycott play exactly into the hands of the pro-boycott propagandists and…
read moreWith its recent vote to boycott Israel’s higher-education institutions to protest that nation’s treatment of Palestinians, the American Studies Association has itself become the target of widespread criticism and ostracism. It has gone from relative obscurity to prominence as a pariah of…
read moreSix days after its membership voted to implement an academic boycott against Israeli universities, the American Studies Association’s Caucus on Academic and Community Activism hurriedly issued a defensive appeal for support bemoaning, in the wake of a tsunami of backlash,…
read moreOver the past few years, I have repeatedly been approached by a broad array of Jews worried about developments in Europe. They have pointed to anti-Israel protests, shootings, and the rising tide of extreme religious identification among young Muslims born and…
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