We salute the ASA boycott
The historic vote by the American Studies Association in December to honor the Palestinian call for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel has helped to bring discussion of Israeli apartheid into the mainstream of political debate in the U.S. for the first time in decades.
Furthermore, the ASA's bold action has inspired allies of the Palestinian struggle to stand with them in the face of the predictable backlash from defenders of Israeli apartheid. Here, we reprint a statement by Jews for Palestinian Right of Return in solidarity with the ASA boycott resolution.
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return endorse ASA boycott of Israeli academic institutions
WE SALUTE the American Studies Association's courageous endorsement of the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli academic institutions, which are leading accomplices in more than six decades of ethnic cleansing, colonization, war crimes and apartheid.
As Jews, we refuse to remain silent as a so-called "Jewish state," armed by the U.S. and its allies, commits these injustices with impunity in our name.
Contrary to baseless charges of "anti-Semitism," BDS resembles the boycotts that "singled out" similarly racist regimes in Jim Crow United States and apartheid South Africa.
Applying the same standards to apartheid Israel, BDS demands nothing more--nor less--than freedom and justice throughout all of historic Palestine, by calling for:
-- An end to Israeli military occupation of the 1967 territories
-- Full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel
-- Right of return for Palestinian refugees, as affirmed by UN resolution 194
We call on Jews of conscience everywhere to honor our own proud heritage of resistance to oppression and injustice by standing with the Palestinian people, BDS, the ASA and the growing international movement in support of these fundamental human rights.
Partial list of initial signers
(List in formation; affiliations listed for identification only. Add your name here.)
- Avigail Abarbanel, psychotherapist, activist, writer; Inverness, Scotland
- Gabriel Ash, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; Switzerland
- Prof. Jonathan Beller, Humanities and Media Studies; Director, Graduate Program in Media Studies, Pratt Institute; Brooklyn
- Prof. Steve Brier, historian; New York
- Eitan Bronstein Aparicio; Tel Aviv
- Nora Barrows-Friedman, journalist; Oakland
- Max Blumenthal, journalist and author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel
- Daniel Boyarin, Professor of Talmudic Culture, UC Berkeley
- Lenni Brenner, author of Zionism in the Age of the Dictators
- Estee Chandler, Community Organizer; Los Angeles
- Mike Cushman, Convener, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (UK)
- Eron Davidson, award-winning filmmaker, Roadmap to Apartheid
- Warren Davis, labor and political activist; Philadelphia, Penn.
- Hedy Epstein, Nazi Holocaust survivor and human rights activist; St. Louis, Mo.
- Samuel Farber, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Brooklyn College, CUNY
- Joel Finkel, Jewish Voices for Peace; Chicago
- Prof. Cynthia Franklin, Co-Editor, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, University of Hawai'i
- Lee Gargaliano, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; USA
- Dr. Terri Ginsberg, film and media scholar; New York
- Sherna Berger Gluck, emerita faculty, California State University, Long Beach; founding member, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Israel Divestment Campaign
- Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence; Berkeley, Calif.
- Hector Grad, Prof. of Social Anthropology, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
- Ira Grupper, former National Co-Chair, New Jewish Agenda (1989-1993)
- Jeff Halper, Director, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
- Stanley Heller, Host, "The Struggle" Video News, TSVN
- Shir Hever, Jewish Voice for Just Peace; Germany
- Tikva Honig-Parnass, former member of the Zionist armed forces (1948); author of False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine
- Adam Horowitz, Co-Editor, Mondoweiss
- Selma James, Global Women's Strike; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-UK
- Jake Javanshir, Independent Jewish Voices; Toronto
- Emily Katz Kishawi, Jewish Anti Zionist Network; San Francisco
- Sara Kershnar, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-International
- David Klein, Organizing Committee, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
- Toby Kramer, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-US
- David Letwin, activist and teacher, Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
- Michael Letwin, Former president, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325; Organizing Committee, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
- Dr. Les Levidow, Open University; UK
- Brooke Lober, PhD candidate, Gender and Women's Studies, University of Arizona
- Antony Loewenstein, Australian journalist and author
- Jennifer Loewenstein, Faculty Associate, Middle East Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Samantha Liapes, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
- Barbara Lubin, Executive Director, Middle East Children's Alliance; Oakland, Calif.
- Prof. David Makofsky, Research Anthropologist; People's Republic of China
- Mike Marqusee, author of If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew
- Thomas Mayer, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado at Boulder
- Linda Milazzo, writer, activist, educator; Los Angeles
- Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action-Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART)
- Prof. Bertell Ollman, Dept. of Politics, New York University
- Prof. Ilan Pappé, Israeli historian and socialist activist
- Miko Peled, writer, activist, author of The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine
- Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Sakharov Prize laureate; Jerusalem
- Karen Pomer, granddaughter of Henri B. van Leeuwen, Dutch anti-Zionist leader and Bergen-Belsen survivor
- Roland Rance, Jews Against Zionism, London
- Michael Ratner, President Emeritus, Center for Constitutional Rights (for ID purposes only); New York
- Ruben Rosenberg Colorni, Journalist, The News Junkie Post, Activist--Youth for Palestine; The Hague
- Lillian Rosengarten, activist for Palestinian liberation and a bi-national Israel/Palestinian State; New York
- Prof. Jonathan Rosenhead, London School of Economics
- Ilana Rossoff, community organizer; New Jersey
- Cheryl Rubenberg, retired associate professor of Middle East politics at Florida International University; Miami, Fla.
- Josh Ruebner, Author of Shattered Hopes: Obama's Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace
- Margot Salom, Just Peace for Palestine; Brisbane
- Yom Shamash, Independent Jewish Voices; Vancouver
- Tali Shapiro, Boycott from Within; Israel
- Sid Shniad, Independent Jewish Voices; Vancouver
- Jonatan Stanczak, Managing Director, The Freedom Theatre
- Marsha Steinberg, BDS-LA for Justice in Palestine
- Prof. Miriam Swenson, educational psychology
- Steve Terry, criminal defense attorney; Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Sam Weinstein, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-Labor
- Abraham Weizfeld, Administrative Secretary, Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians
- Marcy Winograd, former congressional candidate, Los Angeles
- Bekah Wolf, UC Hastings College of Law Student; Co-founder, Palestine Solidarity Project
- Sherry Wolf, Associate Editor, International Socialist Review
- Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg, Non-Executive Director, Pluto Books Ltd.; London
