US author praises academic boycott of Israel

An American author and assistant professor at Bluefield State College has praised a recent move by US academic associations to boycott Israel for it “oppression” and “cruel” treatment of Palestinians.

A group of American scholars has joined two other organizations in boycotting Israel’s academic institutions, indicating that a movement to isolate the Israel that is gaining momentum in Europe has also hit the US.

The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association and the American Studies Association approved the academic boycott of Israel this week to protest its treatment of Palestinians.

In April, the Association for Asian American Studies, which has about 800 members, also supported an academic boycott of Israel. The movement to cut off ties with Israeli academic institutions dates back a decade.

The reason for the US boycott “is because of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its continuing oppression of the Palestinian people and their right to self determination,” Colin S. Cavell told Press TV on Wednesday.

The Israeli occupation “deliberately hurts the Palestinians, it stunts their education because it prevents Palestinians boys and girls from getting an education at the secondary and college level and subjects them to constant fear and imprisonment as well as numerous incursions of bombings and deaths that occur because of this occupation,” Cavell said. “The occupation is cruel; the occupation is against international law.”

Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.