One of the most important battlefields of the 21st century is not wet and muddy, does not involve explosives or fighter planes, and is not even a cyberwar. I'm talking about the war waged with political boycotts.
Boycotts are not new. A child is ostracized on the school playground, ethnic groups are treated like pariahs, and, now, the academic boycott is shot like a missile at Israeli academic institutions. The State of Israel must fortify our front lines and carry out counterattacks if we want to prevent real damage and preserve the international reputation of Israeli academia.
The American Studies Association recently announced that it was joining an academic boycott of Israel due to what it deems Israel's violation of human rights. This decision flies in the face of the principle of academic freedom.
Israeli institutions of higher learning promulgate diverse views. They rest of the credo that all views should be heard, examined and analyzed in the context of freedom of expression and debate. An academic boycott prevents scholars from expressing themselves and being heard for illegitimate reasons that have nothing to do with them personally.
An academic boycott sends the message that debate, scholarship and learning are contingent on the political climate and not on standards of academic excellence. This is despite the fact that a university is meant to be a place where different worlds and world views come together. It is no accident that the word "university" derives from the same Latin root as the word universe.
As students, we cannot remain oblivious to this provocative decision. We must take action and fight to preserve the academy as a meeting place for diverse world views and fields of knowledge. This fundamental principle must remain inviolate or we will all suffer. Without international cooperation among scientists and scholars, we cannot cope with the challenges that we all face, from developing drugs against illnesses to discovering alternative energy sources to formulating laws and finding solutions to day-to-day problems. International academic cooperation must continue because it is the wellspring of future scientific discovery.
The Israeli government must join forces with students all over the country to win this battle. Even if the battle seems lost when it comes to the American Studies Association, it is far from over. We must persevere in our efforts to preserve international cooperation for the sake our academic future, for the next generation of Israeli children, and for all of humanity, which will benefit from academic breakthroughs made in Israel.
Uri Reshtik is chairman of the Israel Student Union.
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