Association of American Universities re-releases statement calling academic boycotts of Israel a violation of academic freedom
WASHINGTON — After members of the American Anthropological Association voted in favor of a motion to boycott Israeli academic institutions, the Association of American Universities (AAU) reaffirmed its stance that such moves violate academic freedom.
At the AHA’s November conference in Denver, Colorado, a resolution introduced by proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel was approved by a vote of 1,040 to 36. In April, the resolution will be voted upon by the entire organization, made up of more than 10,000 members, who will decide whether officially to boycott any formal collaborations with Israeli universities.
In light of that development, AAU, an international organization made up of 60 leading research universities, re-released a statement its executive committee issued in December 2013, after the American Studies Association (ASA) and the Native American Studies Association each voted in favor of boycott resolutions, castigating such attempts to constrain academic partnerships.
“Restrictions imposed on the ability of scholars of any particular country to work with their fellow academics in other countries, participate in meetings and organizations, or otherwise carry out their scholarly activities violate academic freedom,” the original statement read. “The boycott of Israeli academic institutions therefore clearly violates the academic freedom not only of Israeli scholars but also of American scholars who might be pressured to comply with it.
“Academic freedom is the freedom of university faculty responsibly to produce and disseminate knowledge through research, teaching, and service, without undue constraint. It is a principle that should not be abridged by political considerations.”
AAU’s leadership, which consists of the presidents and chancellors of several schools that are a part of the association, felt strongly that they should speak out against AHA’s boycott resolution as an attack on academic freedom and encourage opposition to its final passage, according to AAU spokesperson Barry Toiv.
“While our decision to re-issue this statement was prompted by the particular action taking place within the American Anthropological Association, it applies equally to all boycott attempts pushed through academic organizations and institutions,” he told The Times of Israel.
The same month as the AHA’s resolution, the National Women’s Studies Association’s executive committee voted to do the same and also voted to uphold its 2005 endorsement to boycott all “economic, military and cultural entities and projects sponsored by the state of Israel.”
Since 2013, six US-based scholarly organizations have approved measures supporting an academic boycott of Israel, according to The Washington Post.
As reported by The Times of Israel