With its call for an academic boycott of Israel, the leadership board of The American Humanities Association (ASA) stands increasingly alone.
It all started with a pompous gesture in support of the so-called BDS movement by the ASA’s national council.
As I wrote late last month:
“The ongoing movement to institute a boycott on Israeli academic institutions has gained some support, particularly in Europe. And the plight of the Palestinians is the most commonly cited rationale for the so-called “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) movement. But BDS advocates never seem to explain why Israel, of all nations, should be uniquely singled out for an academic boycott purely for political reasons. Why, for instance, don’t BDS supporters suggest academic boycotts for other nations whose politics they detest? Why only Israel? Nor are they able to explain such political boycotts mesh with the idea of academic freedom.
The good news is, so far, no American universities have agreed to join in the boycott. That’s zero, zip, zilch.”
Far from joining this misguided boycott, many universities have actively spoken out against the ASA over the last couple of weeks. At his blog, Legal Insurrection, Cornell professor Bill Jacobson has compiled a list of more than 150 universities that he says have publicly rejected the ASA’s resolution to boycott Israel.
And still, not one single university in the U.S. has come out in support of the effort.
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