Cabrera expresses opposition to Israeli academia boycott

The American Studies Association voted to ask all members to boycott Israeli conferences and other academic activities (photo by John Irwin).

George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera recently joined a multitude of other university administrators in the Washington D.C. region in opposition to the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel.

The boycott, according to the resolution published by the members of the ASA, targets, opposes “Israeli State institutions that violate Palestinian academic freedom” but does not affect the academic freedom of individuals. The resolution specifically asks its members to refrain from traveling to Israeli academic institutions as well as to not establish any affiliations with Israeli academia.

In a post on his website on January 7th, Cabrera wrote, “Several colleagues have asked what I think about the American Studies Association’s resolution to boycott Israeli universities. My short answer: it is a terrible idea.”           

He went on to reiterate points made in a previous blog post from December, which called for the university’s commitment to engagement with, “with all peoples, with their civilizations, with their respective religions, with their hopes and dreams, and with their sorrows and suffering, even when doing so can put us in between peoples in conflict.” The older post was in response to protests at the university’s decision to invite Israeli businesswoman-philanthropist to speak at the 2013 winter commencement.

“Universities exist to build bridges of understanding, not to blow them up,” Cabrera told the Washington Post. “Scholars seek truth by engaging not with those who share their views but with those who do not.”