Scholarly Group Votes to Support a Boycott of Israeli Institutions

Members of the Association for Asian American Studies voted this weekend to support a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, making the group the first U.S.-based scholarly association to support such a measure, according to the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel.

The resolution says the boycott is “in protest of the illegal occupation of Palestine, the infringements of the right to education of Palestinian students, and the academic freedom of Palestinian scholars and students in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.”

It goes on to say that “Israeli academic institutions are deeply complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights and in its denial of the right to education and academic freedom to Palestinians, in addition to their basic rights as guaranteed by international law.”