May 9, 2016

Two professors filed a lawsuit against the American Studies Association over its support for BDS. Professors Simon Bronner and Michael Rockland took to The Hill to explain why.

We now fear what will happen to academic programming in American studies. We see how the ASA’s anti-Israel boycott has alienated our students. Few of our students and fellow faculty members attend ASA meetings any longer . . .

 

The reason for specifying a purpose in the charter of a non-profit entity, such as a church or academic organization, is to make members or donors feel secure that their contributions will be used for that purpose, and not later hijacked for an altogether different one. Just as it would be wrong to take control of a church, temple, or mosque, and use its resources to promote another faith, it is wrong to take a scholarly organization such as the ASA and turn into a political organization aimed at “social change”. We dedicated our time and effort to the American Studies Association in order to build a scholarly organization, not to provide a platform for those who are interested in making foreign policy pronouncements. In addition to betraying us and our efforts, the anti-Israel warriors running the ASA have created a distraction at substantial cost to the ASA in terms of membership and lost revenue. They have also exposed our group to ridicule.