25 July 2023; MEMO: The membership of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has voted to endorse a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions, the association said on Monday.
"An all-member referendum took place by electronic ballot between 15 June and 14 July," explained the AAA said. It noted that 2,016 members, or 71 per cent, supported the resolution, while 835 members, 29 per cent, opposed it.
"This was indeed a contentious issue, and our differences may have sparked fierce debate, but we have made a collective decision and it is now our duty to forge ahead, united in our commitment to advancing scholarly knowledge, finding solutions to human and social problems, and serving as a guardian of human rights," said AAA President Ramona Perez. "The AAA's referendum policies and procedures have been followed closely and without exception, and the outcome will carry the full weight of authorisation by the AAA's membership."
The resolution voted for stated that, "The Israeli state operates an apartheid regime from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including the internationally recognised state of Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank." It also pointed out that, "The 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the 1998 Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court (ICC) define apartheid as a crime against humanity."
The AAA pledged to continue the boycott "until such time as these [academic] institutions end their complicity in violating Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law."
