A foreign policy debate that has confounded the world’s diplomatic and military leaders for nearly a century is playing out in Annapolis as legislators debate whether to fund Palestine-supporting academic institutions.
A state bill would prohibit state dollars from funding activities such as travel or membership dues tied to the American Studies Association, which passed a resolution in December to boycott Israeli academic institutions. The almost 5,000-member organization is devoted to American studies but also has taken a position on foreign policy regarding Israel that state officials said conflicts with the state’s stance.
The bill’s sponsor, Del. Benjamin Kramer (D-Montgomery), said it would be inconsistent for the state to continue to support Israel in trade and agricultural and economic development while also funding organizations like the ASA. He called the ASA’s boycott a “discriminatory position.”
“Here we have a Maryland state policy that says we are going to try to work closely with, to the benefit of citizens of both, Maryland and Israel on these various issues,” he said. “And yet, we’re using public funds … to undermine the very cooperation agreement — the policy of this state.”
The ASA boycott is a part of a much larger movement by world organizations and Palestinian civil society groups called the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. The plan calls for broad nonviolent measures to undermine Israeli cultural institutions associated with what movement members believe are apartheid policies and violations of international law in regard to Israeli occupation of Palestine.
The ASA took the measure to a vote in December, and about two-thirds of the voting body supported the boycott of institutions in solidarity with the BDS movement.
According to the ASA’s website, “by responding to the call from Palestinian civil society for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions, the ASA recognizes that 1) there is no effective or substantive academic freedom afforded to Palestinians under the conditions of Israeli occupation; and that 2) Israeli institutions of higher learning are a party to Israeli state policies that violate human rights.”
The bill’s language, however, seems intended to set precedent, rather than to target the ASA. William Martin, a former mathematics professor and columnist on issues in the Middle East, said this is a part of a larger effort by the West to shield Israel from being held accountable for its actions towards Palestine.
“It is all about protecting Israel and nothing more. It is not about defending a universal principle of morality,” Martin wrote in an email. “It is about damping criticism of Israel, about punishing the American Studies Association, and it is about discouraging any future popular movements aimed at Israel.”
The announcement of boycotts such as the ASA’s drew criticism from a number of academic leaders, including university President Wallace Loh.
“Any such boycott is a breach of the principle of academic freedom that undergirds the University of Maryland and, indeed, all of American higher education,” Loh wrote in a December statement. “To restrict the free flow of people and ideas with some universities because of their national identity is unwise, unnecessary, and irreconcilable with our core academic values.”
