PSU President slaps down Israel boycott

January 16, 2014

In unusually sharp language, Portland State University (PSU) President Wim Wiewel issued a firm rejection of the American Studies Association’s proposed academic boycott of Israel. With what could only be described as a slap-down, Wiewel asserted “the ASA action has encouraged me to strengthen my pursuit of academic exchanges between Portland State University and Israeli institutions”. The PSU President went on to note “In the case of Israel, while reasonable people can certainly debate the merits of any number of specific policies and programs, the totality of the practices and beliefs of the country does not even come close to meriting a boycott.”

the ASA action has encouraged me to strengthen my pursuit of academic exchanges between Portland State University and Israeli institutions.

PSU boasts the second-largest overall undergraduate and graduate enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, boasting nearly 30,000 enrolled students. They join over 200 institutions of higher learning that have publicly rejected the academic boycott of the Jewish state. Perhaps even more significant, not one educational institution nationwide (not even Nada Elia’s Antioch or Rachel Corrie’s Evergreen) has publicly endorsed or embraced the boycott.