At the time of its founding, USACBI issued a press release stating: “We believe that non-violent external pressure on Israel, in the form of an academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel, can help bring an end to the ongoing massacres of civilians and an end [to] the occupation of Gaza and Palestine.” According to USACBI activist David Lloyd, a professor of English at the University of Southern California, the term “Palestine” refers specifically to the West Bank land occupied by Israel since the 1967 war.