After the American Studies Association (ASA) announced a boycott of Israeli universities and academia, many organizations and political groups were quick to speak out against the decision.
Maryland House of Delegates member Benjamin Kramer from the 19th District in Montgomery County wrote a letter to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to formally share his concerns about the ASA’s move, calling it a “blatant anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist boycott.”
According to the letter, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County has said it will end its’ affiliation with the ASA, but Kramer asked the governor to insure that in the future no state money goes to organizations that take part in boycotts or sanctions against Israel.
“Anti-Semitism is alive and well and has most recently manifested itself in the fraudulent rhetoric espoused in the boycott language articulated by the ASA,” Kramer wrote. — Eric Hal Schwartz
