Boycotts Betray the Ethos of Science

I have spent my career in academic science and believe that merit and objectivity are essential guarantors of the scientific enterprise. Boycotts pose the greatest threat. Today, they are being used to target Israel, but, in reality, they are aimed at the heart of science. A recent trip to Israel to confer with fellow academics brings to mind an earlier period and reasons to eschew boycotts.

In 2018, I was asked by the Egyptian Fulbright program to review applications from students in biomedical technology seeking to study in the U.S. By itself, this request was not strange, I am a professor of biomedical engineering. But I am also an American Jew who was a Fulbright Scholar in Israel. (READ MORE: Boycotts Aren’t Enough)

I was in Israel shortly after Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were deposed by coups in Egypt. It was an unstable time there and the U.S. State Department was advising Americans and Jews not to visit. Whatever my feelings about current or past Egyptian governments or their modes of succession, I agreed to review applications. I did so fairly, and to the best of my ability — just as I would have for any organization requesting help in my area(s) of expertise. But given the circumstances, my curiosity was piqued.

I subsequently met the director of Fulbright-Israel at an event. I was still curious about the strange request from the Egyptians, whose government is not always favorably disposed to Israelis or Jews. “Not strange at all, Evan,” she replied. “I gave them your name.”

The Israeli referred the Egyptians to me because we all belong to one community. The bonds within the Fulbright community are particularly strong. But all scientists belong to a community of scientists and there is an implicit contract between each of us and the whole. The political situation between countries may be fraught, but scientists must be able to call upon their counterparts in other countries for discipline-specific help.

Whatever expertise I have achieved, it has come over a lifetime of interactions with other scientists. They mentored me, encouraged me, evaluated me, and challenged me. They have even improved on my work. At least some part of my knowledge and expertise is a communal achievement. I owe it to the community to share it when asked.

Scientists in one country or faction cannot withhold their expertise whenever they choose based on personal or political whims. If they do, the entire scientific enterprise collapses. Once scientists and scientific organizations withhold their expertise, memberships, or access to forums, as organized acts of political sabotage, the validity of all science and science-based decision-making is impugned. We descend into the world of Democratic vs. Republican science, White vs. Black science, Gay vs. Straight science. There is sad precedent for this. The Nazis corrupted every profession to achieve dastardly political ends. Many Nazi physicists were complicit. They even denigrated Einstein’s Theory of Relativity as “Jewish Physics.” The Nazi scientists were driven by racial hatred and professional jealousy. Would anyone reasonably expect the rest of their efforts to be untainted?

Science derives its power and authority from its objectivity. The weight of a mole of oxygen is fixed, the earth’s gravitational constant is not a matter of political opinion. Findings must be evaluated objectively and duties must be discharged without discrimination. Science and science-based decision-making must be apolitical, lest they be dismissed by large segments of the populace as partisan propaganda.

Unfortunately, many scientists in the U.S. and elsewhere are betraying their obligations to our community. They are boycotting their colleagues in Israel. This, despite knowing full well that those Israelis merit consideration and respect. Boycotters are refusing to review manuscripts submitted to journals and refusing to review professional dossiers of Israeli academics awaiting promotion. Scientific societies are denying Israeli academics access to conferences and to professional networks. Like the Nazis before them, many of these boycotts and refusals are driven by ethnic hatred and professional jealousy. But even well-meaning, if naïve, boycotters are risking destruction of the entire scientific enterprise.

Boycotts of Israeli or any scientists are anathema to the academic ethos of free exchange of information from all valid sources and objective evaluation of said information. In a world where all science is just another form of political point-scoring, it becomes impossible to “argue based on science.” No more sound reasons to vaccinate children, or stop smoking, or drive the speed limit. Virology, cardiology, and engineering become just matters of politics. Mathematics and physics no longer obey physical laws. No need to curb carbon emissions based on scientific articles claiming the earth is warming. Why should we if journals choose which scientists are getting published according to their politics, religion, or nationality rather than their data and methods? Ergo, all scientific publications are untrustworthy. Welcome to a world of unending conspiracy theories and chaos. (READ MORE: Science Uprising)

Boycotts of scientists undermine the objectivity that is the foundation of a science-based, reason-based, and data-based society. They open the flood gates to all manner of ethnic and racial discrimination. And worse, boycotts that exclude Israeli academics (who hold informed opinions from left to right) deprive us all of knowledgeable and thoughtful perspectives that could help to inform our own views and decisions about Israel and its surrounds. In 2018, neither the Egyptians nor Israelis ever considered letting politics get in the way of their collective desire for qualified and objective evaluations. And neither did I.

Evan D Morris, PhD is a Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, and Biomedical Engineering at Yale. In early 2024, he co-organized a mission of 25 Yale academics to Israel to initiate new collaborations with their Israeli colleagues.

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