American Anthropological Association Votes by 71% to Boycott Complicit Israeli Universities

As Palestinians we warmly welcome the historic vote of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) membership to support our call to boycott Israeli academic institutions complicit in Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.

The 12,000 member strong AAA voted by a margin of 71% in favor of the boycott motion. The AAA's Middle East Section had previously voted 157-11 on a similar motion. The AAA is now the largest academic association to endorse the Palestinian call to boycott complicit Israeli universities.

We thank the many AAA members who worked tirelessly to ensure the association was on record as refusing ties with Israeli universities complicit in Israel’s crimes against us. We thank those who took the time to learn from and listen to Indigenous Palestinian voices.

The AAA membership vote to boycott complicit Israeli universities is wholly consistent with the association’s stated commitment to anti-racism, equality, human rights and social justice and furthers the drive to decolonize anthropology and academia in general.

Israeli universities are actively involved in developing the weapons systems that kill and maim us, in colonizing our lands with their campuses, and in elaborating the policies that force us to live under apartheid and the justifications for their continued implementation.

The AAA joins the American Studies Association, the Middle East Studies Association, the Canadian Society for Socialist Studies and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, among others, in supporting the Palestinian call to boycott complicit Israeli universities.

On the heels of this landmark victory, we urge academics worldwide to work to include their academic societies, unions, university departments on the growing list of scholarly organizations taking a stand of effective solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality.