11 Dec, 2013
Calls to boycott Israel grow on US campuses – Al Jazeera
On December 4, the council of the American Studies Association (ASA) voted unanimously to endorse the call from Palestinian civil society for an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions (USACBI), becoming only the second academic association in the US to do so. The decision was described by the ASA as an “ethical stance”, which “represents a principle of solidarity with scholars and students deprived of their academic freedom and an aspiration to enlarge that freedom for all, including Palestinians”.
Support for the resolution was described to Al Jazeera by author and Professor of American Studies Alex Lubin as “nothing less than the breaking of what Edward Said called ‘America’s last taboo’…Creating a space within US society to break through the enforced silence on Israeli occupation”.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Distinguished Professor at University of California-Riverside, David Lloyd spoke about the conference that preceded the historic vote: “There was an incredible swell of applause and enthusiasm for the speakers who supported the Boycott. All expressed in different ways that this [boycott] was a fundamental matter of justice. This event indicates just how much things have shifted within the academy.”
Read the rest: Calls to boycott Israel grow on US campuses – Features – Al Jazeera English.
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