What should from the American Studies Association’s lopsided December 15 vote to endorse the anti-Israel boycott? Here are five takeaways:
- The Jewish Community Got Beat
There is no question about it. The American Studies Association’s anti-Israel boycott resolution is a defeat for everyone who is concerned about anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in higher education. The ASA is the largest, most important academic association to support the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel (BDS). By a membership vote of nearly 2-to-1, the ASA voted to support a limited academic boycott of Israel, the first country that the association has ever seen fit to treat in this manner. The ASA vote followed similar unanimous resolutions by the Association for Asian American Studies http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/24/asian-american-studies-association-endorses-boycott-israeli-universities in April and the leadership council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association in December. http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/18/native-american-studies-group-joins-israel-boycott
For years, Israel’s supporters have observed that BDS tarnishes Israel’s reputation even when it fails. Until recently, BDS resolutions failed over and over again in the United States. Yet each battle imposed a cost, as Israel was falsely cast in the public mind as a rogue nation. The harm is obviously greater when these resolutions actually pass, as they have recently on some university campuses, such as the University of California at Berkeley and Irvine. The ASA resolution gives a scholarly imprimatur to a cause that is at best political and at worst bigoted.
- The ASA Was Tarnished Too
In the end, the ASA may be the biggest loser, and this outcome will not be lost on other associations. For its efforts, the ASA is now publicly mocked, ridiculed and condemned, even by some of its members and former presidents, http://www.telospress.com/opposing-the-israel-boycott-by-the-american-studies-association/ as well as by major scholars http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/education/academic-leaders-denounce-israel-boycott.html?hpw&rref=education&_r=1&
and numerous university presidents. The American Association of University Professors announced that 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.”
Four universities have already terminated their institutional memberships in the ASA. Penn State Harrisburg was the first to cut its formal ties, followed by Brandeis University, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Kenyon College. These four institutions should be honored for their leadership. Indiana University, in a strong statement, http://news.iu.edu/releases/iu/2013/12/israeli-academic-boycott-statement.shtml
announced that it “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.”
In short order, over sixty universities have issued strong statements rejecting the ASA’s actions. Some institutions, like the University of Chicago have responded http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/12/22/university-statement-academic-boycotts with strong statements denouncing academic boycotts and the academic societies that promote them. Professor William A. Jacobson compiled this list http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/list-of-universities-rejecting-academic-boycott-of-israel/
of institutions that have denounced the ASA boycott:
- American University (D.C.)
- Birmingham Southern College
- Boston University
- Bowdon College
- Brandeis University
- Brooklyn College, CUNY
- Brown University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Cornell University
- Dickinson College
- Duke University
- Florida International University
- Fordham University
- George Washington University
- Hamilton College
- Harvard University
- Haverford College
- Indiana University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kenyon College
- Lehigh University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Michigan State
- Middlebury College
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State
- Princeton University
- Purdue University
- Rhode Island College
- Rutgers University
- Smith College
- Stanford University
- The City University of New York
- Trinity College (CT)
- Tufts University
- Tulane University
- University of Alabama System
- University of California System
- University of California-Berkeley
- University of California-Irvine
- University of California-San Diego
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Connecticut
- University of Delaware
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Kansas
- University of Maryland
- University of Maryland – Baltimore County
- University of Miami
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas-Austin
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Wesleyan University
- Willamette University
- Yale University
61. Yeshiva University
- Others May Cut Ties
More universities may, and should, cut their institutional memberships with ASA. As former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers has cogently argued, http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60313913
“My hope would be that responsible university leaders will become very reluctant to see their university’s funds used to finance faculty membership and faculty travel to an association that is showing itself not to be a scholarly association but really more of a political tool.”
The ASA has publicizes a list of its institutional members, http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/how-can-these-u-s-universities-justify-membership-in-american-studies-association-after-israel-boycott/ which is now readily available thanks to Professor William A. Jacobson:
AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION – INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS 2013
Alberta Institute for American Studies
Bard Graduate Center
Boston College
Boston University
Brandeis University
Brigham Young University
Brown University
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Long Beach
Carnegie-Mellon University
Centre for the Study of the United States
College of Staten Island, CUNY
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art
CUNY Graduate Center, American Studies Certificate Program
DePaul University
Dickinson College
Eccles Centre for American Studies, The British Library
Emory University
Fordham University
Franklin College of Indiana
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Indiana University
Kennesaw State University
Kenyon College
Lehigh University
The Long Island Museum
Michigan State University, English Department
Middlebury College
New York University
Northwestern University
Penn State University, Harrisburg
Princeton University
Ramapo College
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Rider University
Roger Williams University
Rowan College of New Jersey
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Saint John Fisher College
Saint Louis University
Saint Olaf College
Skidmore College
Smith College
Sophia University
St. Francis College
Stanford University, American Studies Program
Stanford University, Green Library
Stetson University
Students At The Center
Temple University
Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
Tufts University
University of Alabama
University of California, San Diego
University of Delaware
University of Hawaii
University of Iowa
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Minnesota
University of Mississippi
University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma Honors College
University of Southern California
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Texas, Austin
University of Texas, Dallas
University of Utah
University of Western Ontario
University of Wyoming
Vanderbilt University
Vassar
Washington State University
Washington University, St. Louis
Western Connecticut State University
Willamette University
Winterthur Program in Early American
Culture Youngstown State University
Significantly, some of these institutions have denied that they are ASA members, http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/12/24/Harvard-and-Yale-Condemn-Reject-ASA-Boycott-of-Israel
even though the ASA claims them as members on their web site. These include Brown, Northwestern,
Tufts, Temple, Willamette, http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/willamette-rejects-israel-boycott-denies-being-institutional-member-of-american-studies-assoc/
and the University of Southern California. As Prof. Eugene Kantorovich observes, http://www.volokh.com/2013/12/22/northwestern-cant-quit-asa-boycott-member/
the ASA owes these institutions an explanation.
Interestingly, the presidents of many of these universities are signatories to the American Jewish Committee’s powerful ad, http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/NYT_ISRAEL_BOYCOTT_AD_080807.PDF
which boldly proclaims: “Boycott Israeli Universities? Boycott Ours Too!” Indeed, these institutions joined Columbia University President Lee Bolinger’s statement that anti-Israel academic boycotts are “utterly antithetical to the fundamental
values of the academy, where we will not hold intellectual exchange hostage to
the political disagreements of the moment.”
At a minimum, universities that endorsed the AJC statement should demonstrate intellectual consistency and integrity by dropping their institutional memberships with the ASA. That would seem to include the following institutions:
Bard Graduate Center
Brigham Young University
California State University, Long Beach
Carnegie-Mellon University
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Michigan State University, English Department
Middlebury College
Princeton University
Ramapo College
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Roger Williams University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Smith College
Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Minnesota
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Texas, Austin
University of Texas, Dallas
University of Utah
Washington State University
Washington University, St. Louis
Willamette University
- The Courts May Have the Final Say
The ASA may be held accountable in other ways too. Its resolution has, to say the least, pushed the legal envelope with respect to anti-boycott laws. Several groups are contemplating taking legal action against the association. Anti-Israel boycotts may violate federal anti-boycott law, as well as the laws of some states, such as Section 296(13) of New York’s Human Rights’ Law http://www.thelawfareproject.org/Articles-by-LP-Staff/can-you-be-sued-for-boycotting-israeli-companies.html
and localities. The ASA, and other institutions that adopt such boycott resolutions, should not be surprised to find themselves in court.
In addition, the BDS resolution may jeopardize the ASA’s tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, since it is arguably a political activity outside of the ASA’s mission. The ASA is on notice http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/maybe-its-time-to-reconsider-the-tax-exempt-status-of-academic-boycotters/
that its tax-exempt status may soon be challenged.
- MLA is Next
Sadly, the ASA is not alone. Despite the troubles that the ASA has brought upon itself, other academic associations are considering similar action. The Modern Language Association (MLA) is next in line. In its upcoming conference, the MLA is considering an anti-Israel motion. While not technically a BDS resolution, the MLA’s more narrowly crafted resolution also reflects antipathy towards the Jewish state.
Proposers of record: Richard M. Ohmann and Bruce W. Robbins
Supporting materials: Click here http://www.mla.org/pdf/resol20141_support.pdf
to see the information provided by the proposers.
Whereas Israel has arbitrarily denied academics of Palestinian ethnicity entry into the West Bank and Gaza; Whereas these restrictions violate international conventions on an occupying power’s obligation to protect the right to education; Whereas the U.S. Department of State acknowledges on its Web site that Israel restricts the movements of American citizens of Palestinian descent; Whereas the denials have disrupted instruction, research, and planning at Palestinian universities; Whereas the denials have restricted the academic freedom of scholars and teachers who are U. S. citizens; Be it resolved that the MLA urges the U.S. Department of State to contest Israel’s arbitrary denials of entry to Gaza and the West Bank by U. S. academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities.
At present, the MLA plans to present its members with a one-sided presentation http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.564224
before voting on yet another politicized, unacademic resolution. In light of the widespread derision, not to mention legal liability, that ASA has brought upon itself, one might hope that other scholarly associations would turn to more fruitful areas of inquiry – perhaps even returning to the scholarly endeavors which they were presumably formed to advance.
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