Dive Brief:

• A group has formed to combat academic boycotts and blacklists against scholars on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• More than 50 professors from around the country have endorsed the effort.
• The group, called the Third Narrative’s Academic Advisory Council, says it was created with the idea that academic freedom and open intellectual exchange is essential to finding a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israel conflict.

Dive Insight:

The initiative was launched under the Third Narrative, a progressive Jewish group favoring alternatives to the extreme views supporting or criticizing Israel on the Palestinian issue. The new group is a response to the escalating boycotts, blacklisting, and defunding actions, which are sometimes launched as counterattacks to other boycotts, on both sides of the conflict.