Dear NAS historians,
On January 5th, 2020, the American Historical Association (AHA) will hold a business meeting as part of its annual conference, which will include debate over two controversial Israel-related resolutions.
If passed, these resolutions would
- call on Israel to stop denying entry to foreign nationals seeking to promote educational development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and
- call on the United States Department of State to contest Israel’s denials of entry of U.S. academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities,
among other demands.
Although they fall short of adopting the full agenda of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement that has been gaining currency in academic circles, these resolutions suffer from the same double standards, factual inaccuracies, tendentiousness, and the politicization of academic organizations typical of earlier resolutions rejected by the AHA. The National Association of Scholars strongly opposes the BDS movement; our stance is outlined in the following articles:
BDS: Boycotting Academic Freedom
Singling Out Israel: Why We Oppose the Boycott
This is not the first time that an academic association has voted on Israel-related resolutions. The Modern Language Association (MLA), American Studies Association (ASA), and the American Anthropological Association (AAA) are among the many that have done so in the past several years. A full list, including the votes’ results, can be found here.
If you are a member of the AHA, the NAS encourages you to attend the AHA’s annual conference in New York, January 3-6, 2020 and, if you see fit, to oppose the proposed resolutions. These resolutions will be discussed at the AHA business meeting on January 5th from 5:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Further information about the resolutions, and arguments against them, can be found in the following documents, courtesy of NAS board member Jay Bergman:
Arguments vs. The Israel-Centered Resolutions At The Jan. 5, 2020 AHA Business Meeting
Academic Freedom and Educational Opportunity Worldwide: A White Paper from the Alliance for Academic Freedom
Two Flawed Resolutions: Errors, Misrepresentations, and Omissions in the Resolutions Before the AHA
Sincerely,
The National Association of Scholars
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