Israel Law Center Threatens to Sue ASA Over Boycott

In a letter to the academic organization sent out on Thursday, the ILC threatened to bring suit for violation of both international, federal and state laws, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The letter cited various New York state laws which make it unlawful “for any person to boycott or blacklist, or to refuse to buy from, sell to or trade with, or otherwise discriminate against any person, because of the race, creed, color, national origin.”

It also mentioned Article 1.1 of the international Anti-Racism Convention, ratified by the U.S., which prohibits discrimination of the kind practiced by the boycotters of Israel.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of ILC, said, “It is quite simple, the law in the United States prohibits discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic, faith, ethnicity, gender or disability.

“The ASA boycott which targets Israelis because they are Israelis and Jews is illegal. We commend those professors and academic institutions who have distanced themselves from this blinkered and hateful boycott,” she added.

In recent weeks, over 100 American universities have condemned the ASA for joining the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Futher, the ILC pointed out that BDS has been branded by the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center as not merely anti-Israel, but also anti-Semitic.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the January 10th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.