UMass Amherst Bans Anti-Israel BDS Policy at Upcoming Conference

AMHERST, Massachusetts — The University of Massachusetts Amherst announced Wednesday that it will not allow an anti-Israel boycott policy at an upcoming academic conference. This decision, praised by a Jewish legal advocacy group, could set a significant precedent against anti-Zionist activities on campuses.

The annual conference is organized by the Coalition of Women in German (WiG), a group focused on feminist German literature. It is scheduled to take place in November at UMass Amherst, in partnership with the university. Earlier this year, WiG adopted a resolution supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

The resolution stated that WiG would not engage in collaboration with organizations or scholars receiving funding from Israeli institutions. “WiG will refrain from any form of academic and cultural cooperation with Israeli institutions,” the resolution declared, encouraging other organizations within German studies to adopt similar restrictions.

In response, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, an advocacy group, wrote to the university last week. It argued that the BDS policy would effectively prevent Israeli scholars from participating in the conference, violating UMass Amherst’s anti-discrimination policy. The letter noted, “The policy’s intent, purpose, and effect are to deny Israelis the same access and opportunities that WiG offers to citizens of every other country.”

UMass Amherst has a clear policy against discrimination based on national origin, which aligns with federal civil rights laws prohibiting such discrimination at federal-funded institutions.

Upon discovering the BDS policy, UMass Amherst began a legal review, concluding that the exclusionary nature of the policy conflicted with university standards. A university spokesperson said, “No academic event should be exclusionary, and the university will not sponsor any event violating its policies.”

The university mandated the Coalition of Women in German to suspend its BDS rules limiting attendance to members only and to clarify on its website that all participants are welcome. The coalition has provided assurances that it will comply with these conditions.

Kenneth Marcus, president of the Brandeis Center, called the university’s decision an “important precedent” for other educational institutions in handling organizations that support BDS policies.

“University anti-discrimination policies exist for a reason, and external events cannot evade these protections,” Marcus stated. UMass Amherst, located in central Massachusetts, is the largest campus in the University of Massachusetts system, serving around 23,000 undergraduate students.