Can Universities Reform Themselves?
Academic boycotts are likely to have other impacts as well. The academic world has been aiming at self-governance and trying to minimize outside interference. The many distortions in the academic and administrative fields raise doubt as to whether universities are capable of reforming themselves. Boycott campaigns add another strong argument for external intervention in the academic world. Many politicians condemned the 2002 British anti- Israeli boycott campaign and a few French imitations of it. In 2006, the Report of the UK All-Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism concluded that “calls to boycott contact with academics working in Israel are an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange.4 Damaging Columbia University’s Image How effective even small outside groups can be in damaging the image of major academic institutions was demonstrated at Columbia University. Although there were many complaints about the ongoing intimidation of pro-Israeli students by teachers in it
