Dec 27, 2013

Federation Applauds Florida International University and University of Miami Opposition to ASA Academic Boycott of Israel

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation and its Jewish Community Relations Council are greatly concerned that while assaults on Israel’s legitimacy were once held to the extreme margins of society, they are now seeping into mainstream discourse in academia.

On December 16, the American Studies Association (ASA) voted for a resolution supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The resolution purports to support academic freedom, yet urges a sweeping boycott of Israeli institutions based on extreme rhetoric and distorted generalizations. While just a narrow fraction of overall ASA members took part in the vote, we are deeply troubled by the resolution as it fuels a dangerous trend in which violating rights to academic freedom becomes a norm. Singling out Israel from among the family of nations and making one-sided attacks based on falsehoods should shame its proponents and be soundly condemned.

Federation and the JCRC applaud the statement in repudiation of the resolution made by the University of Miami (UM) in which the action is labeled as “misguided, inappropriate, and hostile to the larger purposes of learning, academic freedom, and intellectual exchange.” We also thank Florida International University (FIU) for its statement in opposition to the resolution affirming that the imposition of the resolution’s restrictions “are antithetical to the freedom of inquiry identified by our Board as essential to an engaged university seeking solutions to global problems.”

Such statements have also been released by more than 70 ASA members, upwards of 54 colleges and universities, the 40,000 member Association of American University Professors and the Executive Committee of the American Association of Universities, an association of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.

Tragically, the ASA resolution will not be the last attempt on the part of those who seek to delegitimize Israel and call into question its right to exist as the Jewish homeland. That demands our ongoing vigilance and activism.

For more information on the Jewish Community Relations Council, click here or contact Carol Brick-Turin at 786.866.8485 or [email protected].