Academic Anti-Boycott
Updated January 2022
(first published September 19, 2014)
Many people agree that academic boycotts of Israel are a perversion of academic values. Beyond statements of condemnations, universities can counter this ugly campaign by taking public, proactive, affirmative actions to embark on or increase high-profile collaboration projects with Israeli scholars and institutions. Here are some suggestions for such actions—as undertaken by various institutions of higher education:
- Offering a joint degree program (Columbia Univ., Cornell, Florida Atlantic U., Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, Baruch College-CUNY, Univ. of Tulsa), joint study program (Cleveland State), or joint class or seminar (Northwestern Univ. Law School) with an Israeli academic institution
- Establishing a satellite campus in Israel (Columbia Medical School, Texas A&M)
- Launching or expanding a study-abroad or exchange program with an Israeli academic institution (Brandeis, Boston Univ., Middlebury College, Univ. of Maryland, UT Austin, Univ. of Washington, and many others), or a joint innovation hub (Univ. of Illinois, Univ. of Chicago, and Northwestern)
- Starting or expanding study trips to Israel (Florida State, Liberty Univ. and its law school, Corban U., York Univ., UPenn’s Wharton School, and many others)
- Collaboration of public-policy scholars and practitioners (UCLA)
- Establishing a fellowship for Israel studies (Stanford)
- Launching or expanding an official joint research project (MIT, Univ. of Illinois, Univ. of Chicago, Northwestern Univ., Univ. of Arizona, Temple Univ., Drexel Univ., U. North Texas, University of Washington archeological dig), joint research funding (MIT), joint research center (Texas A&M, Harvard Business School), innovation cooperation (University of California, Yeshiva U.), or broader agreement (Arizona State, Rutgers Univ.)
- Initiating or strengthening academic collaboration with Israeli scientists (University of Chicago, UC Irvine, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada)
- Launching an endowed fund for study abroad and exchange programs in Israel (Brown University)
- Offering an Israel Studies program (Univ. of Washington, UC Berkeley, American Univ., others)
- Offering internships in Israel (MIT)
- Awarding an honorary degree to an Israeli scholar (Cambridge)
- Sponsoring, endorsing, and promoting Israel-focused fair or festival on campus (Tech and Innovation Fair at George Washington U., Entrepreneurship Fair at Stanford, Israeli Independence Day Carnival at MIT, “Israel Diversity Week” at Antioch Univ. Seattle, “Israel Peace Week” at Arizona State)
- Requiring faculty, staff, and student-government leaders to attend training “to recognize and address anti‐Semitic incidents” (wording from a letter from the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, p.6), or more general anti-bias training
- Organizing high-profile visits of university faculty or administration officials to Israel (Northwestern Univ., Pitzer College, deans of Canadian business schools), or encouraging faculty members to participate in academic trips to Israel (Faculty Fellowship Summer Institute in Israel, healthcare-professionals mission to explore medical and humanitarian issues)
- Hosting and honoring visiting Israeli academics or government officials (Queens U., Canada)
- Providing official university or academic department sponsorship for an Israeli or pro-Israel speaker, film, library collection, cultural event, etc.
See also: American-Israeli Academic Collaboration Soars Despite Israel Boycott Efforts on Campus by Yair Rosenberg, Tablet, December 7, 2016 (Full report: U.S.-Israel Academic Collaboration by Dr. Daphne Getz et al., Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, December 2016)
Other suggestions are welcome and actively solicited! Please add your ideas or examples (with links, if possible) in the Comments section below, or send them directly to me.