In the matter of the American Studies Association's just-ratified boycott of Israeli academic institutions, one must be thankful that the organization's president, Curtis Marez, is something of a dolt. What did Marez -- an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California at San Diego -- do to earn this designation? He failed to challenge the allegation that he was leading an effort to scapegoat Jews. Savvier scapegoaters know how indispensably important it is to deny singling out the world's one Jewish country for discriminatory treatment simply because it is Jewish. When asked "Why Israel?" they are ready with an answer: "Because Israel is a uniquely evil country."
Marez, an earnest but unskilled propagandist, failed this very basic test. When New York Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena asked him why Israel, alone among the countries of the world, was chosen for excoriation and isolation -- the ASA has heretofore boycotted no other country -- Marez "did not dispute that many nations, including many of Israel's neighbors, are generally judged to have human rights records that are worse than Israel's, or comparable." Marez then compounded his error by telling Perez-Pena, in his organization's defense, that "one has to start somewhere."
