BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President
Dr. Rachel Brenner (University of Wisconsin) brenner@wisc.edu

Vice-President
Dr. Aviva Halamish (The Open University of Israel) avivaha@openu.ac.il

Elected Members, 2005-2007:
Dr. Shaul Gabbay (University of Denver) sgabbay@du.edu
Dr. Menachem Hofnung (Hebrew University) msmh@mscc.huji.ac.il
Dr. Adriana Kemp (Tel Aviv University) akemp@post.tau.ac.il
Dr. Ze'ev Khanin (Bar-Ilan University) khaninz@mail.biu.ac.il
Dr. Peter Medding (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) mspeter@pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il
Dr. Arie Naor (Ben Gurion University) anaor@som.bgu.ac.il
Dr. Margalit Shilo (Bar-Ilan University) msshilo@mscc.huji.ac.il
Dr. Ilan Troen (Ben-Gurion U. and Brandeis) troen@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
Dr. Ronald Zweig (New York University) rz11@nyu.edu

Elected Members, 2007-2009:
Dr. Gad Barzilai, U. of Washington gbarzil@u.washington.edu   
Dr. Ariel Feldestein, Sapir Ariel@sapir.ac.il
Dr. Yael Feldman, New York University yf1@nyu.edu
Dr. Sylvie Foigel-Bijaoui, Beit Berl Academic College ibii@netvision.net.il
Dr. Roby Nathanson, Macro - The Center for Political Economics roby@macro.org.il
Dr. Nadav Shelef, U. of Wisconsin shelef@wisc.edu
Dr. Walid Shomaly, Palestine Center for Research and Cultural Dialogue walidshomaly@yahoo.com
Dr. Howard Wachtel, American U. wachtel@american.edu
Dr. Yael Zerubavel, Rutgers University yaelzeru@rci.rutgers.edu

Immediate Past Presidents:
Dr. Alan Dowty (University of Notre Dame) alan@dowty.org
Dr. Joel Migdal (University of Washington) migdal@u.washington.edu
Dr. Gershon Shafir (University of California, San Diego) gshafir@ucsd.edu
Dr. Hanna Herzog (Tel Aviv University) hherzog@pist.tau.ac.il

Ex Officio:
Dr. Russell A. Stone (Administrative Officer) rstone@american.edu
Dr. Robert O. Freedman (Secretary/Treasurer) rofreedman@comcast.net
Dr. Ilan Peleg (Editor, Israel Studies Forum) pelegi@lafayette.edu
Dr. Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg (Associate Editor for Book Reviews) le3a@andrew.cmu.edu
Dr. Dov Waxman (Associate Editor for Review Essays) Dov_Waxman@baruch.cuny.edu

Board Resolutions

2007 AIS Board Meeting

1.  Proposed British University and College Union Boycott

The Association for Israel Studies expresses opposition to the efforts made by members of the University and College Union in Great Britain to impose a boycott on Israeli universities and academics.  In this, we join with the Middle East Studies Association and other academic organizations around the world. The proposed action by the University and College Union would violate the cardinal principle that controversies and disagreements should be approached with deliberation, dialogue and exploration, not with punitive measures such as silencing and boycotting. The health of the academy and of society itself relies on adherence to this principle.  We urge all AIS members to engage with their British colleagues who will be deliberating on this question in order to ensure they adhere to the hallowed principles of academic freedom and that they recognize the crucial contributions made by Israeli academics to illuminate all the painful and difficult dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

 

2.  Atmosphere on American College Campuses

The Association for Israel Studies deplores the atmosphere created on many American college campuses associated with organized academic vigilantism and intimidation.  The foundation of our Association is the commitment to study Israel and Israeli society from scholarly and scientific perspectives, unconstrained and undistorted by ideological or political allegiances or litmus tests of political acceptability.  These deplorable activities directly contradict this mission by instilling fear and suspiciousness among both students and faculty.

 

3.  Impediments to Palestinian and Israeli Higher Education

The Association for Israel Studies calls upon Israeli authorities to permit Palestinian university students’ movement so that they can continue their education.  The Association calls upon Palestinian authorities to do everything in their power to terminate indiscriminate attacks that impede the conduct of research and study in Israeli universities and colleges, including Sapir College in Sderot.