Today’s Top Stories
1. Two professors filed a lawsuit against the American Studies Association over its support for BDS. Professors Simon Bronner and Michael Rockland took to The Hill to explain why.
We now fear what will happen to academic programming in American studies. We see how the ASA’s anti-Israel boycott has alienated our students. Few of our students and fellow faculty members attend ASA meetings any longer . . .
The reason for specifying a purpose in the charter of a non-profit entity, such as a church or academic organization, is to make members or donors feel secure that their contributions will be used for that purpose, and not later hijacked for an altogether different one. Just as it would be wrong to take control of a church, temple, or mosque, and use its resources to promote another faith, it is wrong to take a scholarly organization such as the ASA and turn into a political organization aimed at “social change”. We dedicated our time and effort to the American Studies Association in order to build a scholarly organization, not to provide a platform for those who are interested in making foreign policy pronouncements. In addition to betraying us and our efforts, the anti-Israel warriors running the ASA have created a distraction at substantial cost to the ASA in terms of membership and lost revenue. They have also exposed our group to ridicule.
2. Iran today announced it successfully tested a ballistic missile two weeks ago. The missile’s 2000 km range makes it capable of reaching Israel.
Under a nuclear deal signed last year between world powers and Iran, ballistic missile tests are not forbidden outright, but are “not consistent” with a United Nations Security Council resolution from July 2015, US officials say.
Earlier this year, Iran tested a missile on which the words “Israel must be wiped out” were provocatively written.
3. Israel’s nuclear whistleblower, Mordechai Vanunu, was indicted on charges of breaking the terms of his release for telling an Israel’s Channel 2 News “classified information that was cut out by censors” last September.
Vanunu, who worked as technician at the Dimona nuclear power plant, spent 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear program to Britain’s Sunday Times in 1986. Under the terms of his release from prison in 2004, Vanunu is not allowed to have contact with foreigners or leave the country, among other restrictions.
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Commentary/Analysis
• Deputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes responded to criticism of his New York Times Magazine profile. He denies misleading anyone about the nature of the nuclear deal but doesn’t offer any real apology to the press corps.
See also Ariel Ben Solomon (What’s behind the distorted media view of the Mideast?) and Jack Shafer (How Obama manipulates the news).
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Eyal Zisser: Hamas: Provoking despite distress
– Khaled Abu Toameh: Iran’s plans to control a Palestinian state
– Avi Issacharoff: In Gaza, deadly flames expose a very fragile standoff with Israel
– Asaf Romirowski: BDS equals economic warfare
– Linda Zecher: Keeping ‘Mein Kampf’ in print
Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA Ed Yourdon with additions by HonestReporting; gavel CC BY Brian Turner; Rhodes via YouTube/Miami Herald;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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