Stan Dubinsky over at USC brought my attention to this at the end of last week:
President Pastides’ statement on Israeli boycott
The essence of academic freedom is the free exchange of diverse ideas and opinions. I am in agreement with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities that, “Freedom of inquiry and expression are the foundational principles of [this] vital work, and free exchange of ideas is its lifeblood.” For these reasons, I stand with colleagues throughout the country in strong opposition to a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
At the time, I asked Stan if he could provide me with some context for this statement. (I mean, I’m aware of the “boycott Israel” movement out there in Western academia, but I wanted to know whether there had been any proximate stimulus for this particular response.
Stan answered me right away, but I’ve just today dug all the way through my email from over the weekend. After responding as follows…
Useful idiots on the Left have passed boycott resolutions of Israeli universities (the American Studies Association being the most recent and prominent of these). They are clearly paying the price for their foolishness.
… he provided this link for further info:
(JTA) — At least 90 American universities and colleges have rejected the American Studies Association membership vote in favor of an academic boycott of Israel, according to a Jewish umbrella group.
The number, as of Dec. 31, was tracked by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The rejections have come in the form of statements by university presidents and chancellors rejecting the decision.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Presidents Conference expressed its appreciation to the school chiefs who “stood up against this discriminatory and unjustified measure and rejected the ASA boycott of Israel.”…
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Good for Pastides. This is a sort of trend that has started to get annoying of late. An organization with an agenda (usually leftist) demands a firing — in this case, the American Studies Association demanded a firing of Israel. The firing would take the form of an academic boycott, which would mean that universities who join the boycott would cut their ties (programmatic) with Israel and Israeli universities.
It’s become standard practice to give into this sort of bullying, when the bully shows up with a list of demands. It’s so easy for a university (or in other instances, corporations) to give in. It’s time we stood up to this pseudo-intellectual bullying. It’s time to tell the mob to shut up and keep a civil tongue. If a group has a point they would like to make, then make the point logically. But this bullying tactic of a demand for a firing or a boycott or whatever has to stop. I’m glad that USC and other universities are saying “No.”
I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but sometimes it gets replaced. I’ve had it with these groups of “professional outrage”. Speaking of sayings, the one about the squeaky wheel is an American one. The Japanese have a slightly different version:
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
It has a certain ring to it, no?
Just to put this in perspective, the ASA has about 5000 members. Their governing Council having voted for this academic boycott, it was put to a vote of their membership: 1200 voted, 2/3 of these approving. That’s about 800 people.
In contrast, the American Association of University Professors, partly in reaction to the ASA vote, has issued repeated statements opposing all academic boycotts. Their membership is 48,000. I support Pastides’ position, and the main point here is that he is simply part of an overwhelming reaffirmation of academic freedom coming from universities all over the country. Calls for academic boycotts of Israel have gotten very little traction, which is as it should be.