Members of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) seeking to boycott the Jewish state as part of the discriminative BDS movement failed on Tuesday, as a boycott resolution was narrowly shot down by the organization. The resolution banning collaborations with all Israeli universities and research institutions was defeated by 2,423 votes against as opposed to 2,384 votes…
3 thoughts on “American Anthropologists reject BDS”
Comments are closed.
The Anti-Defamation League issued the following statement:
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called the rejection of a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions by the membership of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) “an important milestone in the effort to counter the BDS movement and in support of academic freedom.”
“The AAA is the largest American academic association to consider a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, so the decision by its membership to reject this discriminatory and extreme measure is an important marker,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Other academic associations should take note of how divisive this effort to delegitimize and demonize Israeli academia contradicted the very value of open exchange cherished by educators and academics. This was not about changing any specific Israeli policy. It was a bigoted and ham-handed attempt to indict any academic simply on the basis of their nationality.
“Importantly, the anthropologists made clear to their colleagues how an academic boycott would directly and unfairly harm Israeli anthropologists and anthropology students, and how it would violate sacrosanct values of academic freedom,” Mr. Greenblatt said. “This is an important milestone in the effort to counter the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and in support of academic freedom.”
ADL commended two groups, the ADIP (Anthropologists for Dialogue for Israel/Palestine) and Against Anthro Boycott, for educating and mobilizing their colleagues against this resolution.
A little over half of the AAA membership participated in the online voting with 2,423 voting against the academic boycott 2,384 in support. The AAA annual meeting in November 2015 voted in favor of placing a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions on the organization’s spring 2016 election ballot, in a move ADL referred to as a “misguided attack” on academic freedom. The issue was first raised at the annual conference in 2013, which was followed by a “study visit” by the AAA Task Force on Engagement with Israel / Palestine in 2014 and subsequent report which recommended boycott.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) issued the following statement:
JC praised the American Anthropological Association (AAA) for rejecting a proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The boycott resolution, recommended by a vote at the group’s annual meeting in Denver in November 2015, was formally rejected by the AAA’s full membership in an online vote that concluded May 31. The vote result was announced today.
“We appreciate the determined efforts of AAA members who are dedicated to academic freedom and the exchange of ideas and rejected this one-sided, counterproductive, and dangerous resolution,” said AJC Assistant Executive Director Daniel Elbaum.
“Increased collaboration with Israeli institutions should be an American academic priority,” said Elbaum. “Boycotting the academic institutions of one of the Middle East’s only democracies shouldn’t even be a subject to debate, certainly not in academia.”
Significant academic organizations, notably the American Association of University Professors, and hundreds of university administrators, have steadfastly rejected the idea of academic boycotts of Israel.
The Israel Action Network issued the following statement: After two months of online voting, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) membership voted against the ratification of a resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, with 2,423 voting against the resolution and 2,384 in support.
“Each time an organization dedicated to the free flow of ideas rejects the idea to boycott, divest or sanction Israel the world gets one step closer to a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians,” said David Sherman chair of the Israel Action Network (IAN), an initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America created to counter assaults on Israel’s legitimacy. “We applaud the membership for opposing this punitive measure.”