MICHIGAN — The National Lawyers Guild and other organizations calling for human rights and for the rule of law in Palestine and Israel on Thursday urged academic institutions to reaffirm their commitment to free and open campus debate. 

The plea for free expression, including the right to call for human rights boycotts, was prompted by a series of repressive responses to the American Studies Association’s recent resolution to adopt a boycott against state-funded Israeli educational institutions. These institutions provide research and training used to maintain Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

Official discrimination against particular viewpoints violates longstanding First Amendment free speech rights. Administrative usurpation of a faculty’s right to decide whether to maintain a departmental association with a scholarly association violates the core values of academic freedom that school officials claim to be defending. This includes the right to engage in prior debate before making a decision. Faculty are entitled to take public positions, individually and as associations, on matters of public concern.. The severing of official ties with a scholarly association because it took a controversial position on a matter of public concern chills campus speech and debate according to the groups. 

Over the last few years the debate over the Palestine Israeli conflict taken center stage on college campuses across the country.