American Studies Association Boycott of Israel

Discussion of a possible ASA boycott campaign dated back to at least 2006. In 2012, the Academic and Community Activism Caucus proposed a formal resolution for consideration. During planning for the 2013 convention, the program included eight sessions on "Middle East American Studies," four of which focused on the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians.[1]

The boycott effort was part of a broader wave of BDS activity in U.S. academia that year. The Association for Asian American Studies and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association also adopted boycott resolutions in 2013.[7]

The ASA National Council voted unanimously on December 4, 2013, to endorse a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and referred the measure to the full membership.[1][2] The membership result was announced on December 16: 1,252 members cast electronic ballots — described by the ASA as the highest participation in its history — with 66.05 percent in favor, 30.5 percent opposed, and 3.43 percent abstaining.[2] Of the association's approximately 5,000 members, supporters represented about 17 percent of total membership.[3]

The resolution's preamble asserted that U.S. policy enabled the Israeli occupation and settlement expansion, and declared Israeli institutions of higher learning to be "a party to Israeli state policies that violate human rights and negatively impact the working conditions of Palestinian scholars and students."[2][1] The measure called on the ASA to endorse and honor a Palestinian civil-society call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. It also affirmed the rights of students and scholars to research and speak publicly about Israel-Palestine and to support BDS.[2]

In practical terms, the boycott prohibited the ASA from entering into formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions or their official representatives. Individual Israeli scholars who were not acting as institutional or governmental representatives could still participate in ASA conferences and academic exchanges.[1] The Council acknowledged that the issue could provoke "strong and potentially divided feelings" before submitting it to the membership.[1] Individual ASA members were not required to comply with the resolution.[3]

The resolution framed the boycott as an act of solidarity with Palestinians and opposition to racism and discrimination.[2] ASA president Curtis Marez, when asked why the group was singling out Israel given that other countries had comparable or worse human-rights records, was quoted as replying, "One has to start somewhere."[8][7] Marez added that Palestinian civil-society groups had specifically asked the ASA to act and that no equivalent requests had been received regarding other countries.[7]

In 2021, the ASA issued a Statement of Continued Responsibility of American Studies to Palestine, describing its 2013 boycott endorsement as a "catalytic event" in the organization's history.[1] The statement called on members to build on the resolution by refusing complicity with Israeli academic institutions and rejecting participation in Israeli-sponsored or funded programs, including study-abroad programs in Israel.[1] Boycott supporter Ashley Dawson, an English professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center, argued that opposition to the resolution arose "because it is daring to bring up the issue of what is happening in the Middle East."[4]

Eight former ASA presidents sent an open letter to members opposing the boycott, calling it "antithetical to the mission of free and open inquiry for which a scholarly organization stands."[9][1] They also objected that, despite requests, the National Council had not circulated alternative perspectives during the membership vote, raising procedural concerns about the integrity of the process.[1]

The decision drew swift and extensive opposition from American universities and academic bodies. As of January 1, 2014, the presidents or chancellors of 100 U.S. universities and colleges had publicly rejected the boycott, including the leaders of Harvard, Columbia, Brown, MIT, the University of Michigan, and Georgetown.[6] Later reporting placed the number of institutions that announced opposition at more than 250.[1]

At least five institutions withdrew from the ASA in protest: Bard College, Brandeis University, Indiana University, Kenyon College, and Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg.[4] Brandeis's president said the university was among the first institutions to withdraw. Indiana University announced that it would contact the ASA to end its institutional membership, and Kenyon's president reported that its American Studies program had withdrawn.[10]

Harvard president Drew Faust said academic boycotts "subvert the academic freedoms and values necessary to the free flow of ideas."[10] Major higher-education associations also condemned the resolution, including the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, and the American Association of University Professors.[6][11]

Regional affiliates of the ASA itself refused to follow the national body's lead. The California American Studies Association stated that it would not apply the boycott guidelines at its upcoming conference, and the Eastern American Studies Association declared that it would not comply with or support the council resolution, calling itself an inclusive organization open to scholars from around the world.[12]

The ASA vote provoked a significant response in Congress. A January 2014 letter condemning the decision was signed by 134 members of the House of Representatives and initiated by Representatives Peter Roskam, Ted Deutch, Doug Collins, and Brad Schneider.[5] The signatories argued that the boycott restricted educational and cultural exchange and thus undermined academic freedom. They also objected to what they characterized as Israel's singular targeting while academic relationships with universities in autocratic and repressive countries continued.[5]

In September 2014, Representative Frank R. Wolf cited the ASA vote in remarks on antisemitism, describing the association as the country's largest organization for the study of American culture and history.[8] In 2015, Representative Carlos Curbelo introduced H.Res. 318, which condemned scholarly-association or higher-education policies restricting cooperation with Israeli institutions or scholars on the basis of their connection to Israel and praised institutions that had opposed academic boycotts; the resolution was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.[13] The Congressional Research Service discussed the ASA vote in the context of the broader BDS movement, noting that it had amplified controversy among lawmakers, higher-education institutions, and student councils.[14]

The boycott's application became contentious ahead of the ASA's 2014 annual meeting in Los Angeles. After the American Center for Law and Justice warned the conference hotel that the policy could violate California civil-rights law, the ASA amended its conference statement to clarify that Israeli academics would attend and that no one would be barred from registering or participating.[15] The ASA maintained that the boycott remained in force at the institutional level.[15]

The conference program included three Israeli scholars, and the ASA confirmed that they and a Haifa University administrator could attend.[15] The association said that it had not changed the policy: at the institutional level, it would not collaborate with Israeli research institutions or speak at Israeli academic institutions. Critics argued that the distinction between institutional representatives and scholars affiliated with Israeli universities was unclear.[15]

The Israeli NGO Shurat Hadin sent the ASA a letter threatening legal action, though the threat's legal basis and outcome were not detailed in the source.[7] The dispute later moved into federal court, where ASA members alleged that the boycott had been improperly adopted and involved claims including corporate waste, breach of contract, and violation of the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act.[1][16]

ASA members who brought suit against the association and its board members alleged that the boycott resolution was improperly adopted and that its adoption involved breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and other violations.[16] The district court did not resolve whether the boycott was constitutionally protected speech; it assumed for purposes of the case that it could be, but held that enforcing the obligations the parties had voluntarily assumed did not constitute state action.[16]

Former ASA president Shelley Fisher Fishkin, who served from 2004 to 2005, said, "Academic boycotts make the free exchange of ideas impossible." She opposed many Israeli government policies but did not consider boycotting Israeli universities a sensible response, noting that those universities fostered Arab-Jewish dialogue.[9]