RAMAT GAN, Israel, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The Shurat Hadin civil rights organization threatened Thursday to sue the American Studies Association for boycotting Israel and Israeli universities.
The ASA voted to boycott Israeli universities in December to protest the country's treatment of Palestinians.
In a letter sent to the ASA Thursday, Shurat Hadin called ASA's boycott anti-Semitic.
"It is quite simple, the law in the United States prohibits discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic, faith, ethnicity, sexuality or disability," Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said.
The letter cites New York state laws against discrimination and an article of the international Anti-Racism Convention, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"As of Jan. 8, 2013, over 100 college presidents have gone on record as opposing the ASA boycott and at least five universities have withdrawn or plan to withdraw as institutional members of the association," the letter states.
