B’nai B’rith International is outraged over the American Studies Association’s (ASA) vote to boycott Israeli academic institutions because of the Jewish state’s supposed human rights violations against Palestinians. The ASA is the United States’ oldest scholarly organization whose stated mission is promoting the study of American history and culture.

Nearly two-thirds of the ASA’s members who voted on the matter endorsed the boycott.

In yet another attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state, Israel is the first and only country against which the ASA has enacted a boycott. Israel’s universities are widely known for their openness and environment of academic freedom. Therefore it is even more unfathomable that the ASA is not focusing its efforts on the long list of countries which inhibit academic freedom and have long records of human rights abuse.