Anthropologists Join Academic Boycott of Israel
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Hundreds of anthropologists, some of them from top American universities, called for an academic boycott of Israel to condemn the regime’s crimes against Palestinians.
Over 500 anthropologists signed a petition to publicly join the boycott, while another 77 enrolled anonymously.
The campaign was announced by the American Studies Association in February.
The signatories are boycotting Israeli academic institutions that, as they say, are complicit in the violation of the rights of Palestinian people, adding they would not collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions.
The signatories oppose "the ongoing Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, including the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem (al-Quds)."
They said that the recent Israeli 50-day war on the besieged Gaza Strip is "only the latest reminder that the world’s governments and mainstream media do not hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law."
The anthropologists also demanded that Israel recognize the fundamental rights of the Palestinian Bedouins to full equality, Press TV reported.
Over 500 Middle East studies scholars and librarians called for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions over what they called Tel Aviv’s atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, more than 250 anthropologists signed another petition endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to boycott Israeli academic institutions in protest at Israel’s systematic human rights violations against the Palestinians.
Israel unleashed aerial attacks on Gaza in early July and later expanded its military campaign with a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory. Over 2,130 Palestinians lost their lives and some 11,000 were injured. Gaza Health officials say the victims included 578 children and nearly 260 women.
