N. Bruce Duthu

Overview

Duthu is a professor of Native American Studies and the associate dean of the Faculty for International Studies and Interdisciplinary Programs at Dartmouth University (Dartmouth).

Controversial Appointment as Dean

One article, published on May 8, 2017, reported that, "The appointment also has renewed fear within the campus pro-Israel community given Dartmouth's anti-Semitic past."

Another article, published on May 8, 2017 echoed those concerns, reporting that, "Critics of the Duthu appointment view Hanlon’s decision as the latest chapter in the school’s history of anti-Semitism."

Despite the criticism, the chair of Dartmouth College’s Jewish studies program Susannah Haschel called Duthu a "great friend" of her program. She also mentioned that Duthu had supported a number of programs with Israel in the past. The outgoing editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Review Sandor Farkas called Duthu’s support for programs to do with Israel and simultaneous support for BDS “weird.”

Following the controversy, Duthu released a statement, published on May 19, 2017, disavowing academic boycotts. Farkas expressed mixed feelings toward it, saying, "While I find it honest and satisfactory, it is quite lackluster and seems like the work of the college PR department."

Support for the Academic Boycott of Israel

On December 15, 2013, Duthu and his colleagues authored the Declaration of Support for the Boycott of Israeli Institutions by the Council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. The document accused Israel of employing "legal structures… that systematically discriminate against Palestinians and other Indigenous peoples."

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

Social Media and Weblinks

University Website: https://home.dartmouth.edu/faculty-directory/n-bruce-duthu