ABSTRACT
The Israel/Palestine conflict has proven to be intense and intractable not only in the Middle East but also on the American campus. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement against Israel began in 2004 but became a major force on American campuses only when the American Studies Association endorsed it in 2014. Since then, BDS supporters have promoted a range of boycotts, including the shutting down of study-abroad programs in Israel, which have strained the concept of academic freedom. I examine how responses to BDS have mimetically involved boycotting the boycotters—notably in the anti-BDS laws implemented in 35 states. The result is a “boycott syndrome” extending across academe.
