In an op-ed piece in today's LA Times there is a very interesting article on the damage that has been done to the mission of the American Studies Association after their controversial decision to support BDS against Israel.
For about a year, the American Studies Assn. has been offering a very public object lesson in how to destroy a scholarly organization. Ostensibly devoted to the study of all things American, the 5,000-member academic cohort has ventured outside its natural borders and into the crossfire of Israeli-Palestinian politics by voting to bestow pariah status on Israel. The decision to morph from a scholarly association into a political action committee has proved disastrous for the group and the discipline it purports to represent, undermining its credibility, alienating many of its practitioners and betraying what should be a bedrock commitment to the American values that used to define the field.
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Once the motion passed, the ASA discovered that beyond its ideological cocoon the notion of an American scholarly group boycotting Israel was perceived as deeply un-American. Longtime members resigned, and many of the universities that were institutional sponsors withdrew their support, including mine, Brandeis University. Two branches — the California ASA and the Eastern ASA — declared their non-compliance. The dispute spilled into the mainstream media, and the heretofore obscure academic group found itself condemned by newspaper editorialists and Op-Ed writers for shutting down the very kinds of dialogue it was created to foster.
And good for the American Center for Law and Justice for highlighting the discriminatory nature of BDS by objecting to the ASA convention lodging in Los Angeles.
The latest twist has led the ASA further down the rabbit hole. In a devious and rather brilliant legal maneuver, the American Center for Law and Justice served notice on the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, the site of the ASA's convention this week, that the ASA's anti-Israel policy was a clear violation of California's strict non-discrimination laws.
Faced with the prospect of being denied a room at the inn, the ASA backtracked. Its executive director insisted that the boycott was never, not for a minute, meant to discriminate against Israeli participants, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself would be welcome to participate — but only if he registered as "Mr. Netanyahu" and not "Prime Minister Netanyahu." Presumably professors from public universities in Israel might also register as Ms. or Mr., not as professors, so the ASA might avoid the taint of official contamination.
Shame, shame, shame on the ASA for destroying itself for the sake of discrimination.