November 28, 2018 — Los Angeles
AJC Los Angeles condemns the motion passed by Pitzer College faculty members to end the school’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa in Israel.
The faculty also voted to oppose the Pitzer College Board of Trustees’ decision to invalidate a university BDS resolution, which passed in April 2017.
“The attempt to end the Pitzer College study abroad program in Haifa is an attack on academic freedom,” said Siamak Kordestani, Assistant Director of AJC Los Angeles. “The job of university faculty includes providing as many opportunities for education and research as possible – not to politicize academia. The study abroad program should continue. It is particularly outrageous to boycott academic institutions in Israel – the only country in the Middle East that safeguards free speech, an independent judiciary, and the civil rights of minorities and the LGBT community.”
