Israel’s Association of University Heads (VERA) urged the
American Anthropological Association (AAA) on Monday to backtrack on its decision to support a proposal raised by
Palestinian organizations to boycott Israeli universities, asking the academic
group not to assist the boycott movement.
“The
proposal presents a distorted picture of the reality in Israel,” a letter
sent by VERA said. “Israeli universities are open to all students, both
Jews and Arabs, and there is full equality among all students and researchers.
The research and academic discourse in Israel operate according to the
principles of academic freedom in an unbiased manner, free of political or
ideological tendencies.
“It is
both ironic and absurd that specifically those supporting such boycotts are
using politics in an attempt to incite and introduce hatred and racism into the
Israeli academia.”
