Historians Against the War gathering signatures for new resolution to AHA on alleged violations of academic freedom in Israel

by Van Gosse

Van Gosse, an historian at Franklin and Marshall, is a member of the Steering Committee of Historians Against the War (HAW).

HNN Related Links

●  Historians Against the War (HAW) call out critics for falsely claiming the group backed a boycott of Israel
●  Quotes: What historians are saying about controversy at the AHA about Israel
●  "The radical historians lose again" Ron Radosh in the Weekly Standard
●  AHA Decides NOT to Debate Resolutions Critical of Israel
●  Alliance for Academic Freedom, “Why We Oppose the Resolutions Critical of Israel”
● Spirited Argument Breaks Out at Roundtable on Resolutions Critical of Israel
● Resolution on Protecting the Right to Education in Palestine-Israel
● Resolution on Academic Freedom of U.S. Citizens Visiting Israel and Palestine

Dear members and supporters of HAW,

This fall, HAW will submit another resolution regarding Israel's violations of academic freedom to the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, to be held in Atlanta on the first weekend of 2016.

We are starting much earlier than last year's campaign. Our goals right now are to publicize our new AHA resolution widely, and gather maximum signatures from AHA members prior to the November 1 deadline for submission.

The first step is an ad in the September Perspectives (the AHA newsletter, which goes to 15,000 people) with the resolution and initial signers, accompanied by public dissemination, via a weblink, of a comprehensive brochure documenting Israeli violations of academic freedom. The brochure is well-advanced, and will be finalized before the ad appears.

We have two major deadlines to meet:

August 7 is the deadline for placing our new resolution (attached, and carefully vetted by our Advisory Group of leading scholars) in the September Perspectives, which will recruit many more signers;

November 1 is the deadline for submitting the resolution to the AHA. Submission by that date will ensure discussion and a vote at the Business Meeting on January 9.

Here is what we are asking from you.

1. If you are a current member of the AHA, will you be an initial signer, with your name and institutional affiliation listed in the September Perspectives?

2. Whether or not you are a current AHA member, will you contribute money to place the ad in Perspectives? A half-page is $829 plus a $75 design fee; if we raise an additional $300, we can afford a full page.

We need to collect both signatures and money in time to submit by the August 7 deadline. Please write back as soon as possible if you are a current AHA member and wish to sign the resolution. If you can make a contribution, please go to http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/donations.html, to send money via PayPal (it has instructions for sending a check, if needed, but please send an email to me at van.gosse@fandm.edu, so I know it's coming).

Thank you for your support,

Van Gosse

for the Palestine-Israel Working Group of Historians Against the War

PS. With MARHO: The Radical Historians Organization, we also have an excellent roundtable scheduled for the same day as the Business Meeting, which will be in the program, with Judith Tucker of Georgetown, and Nancy Gallagher and Sherene Seikaly of UC-Santa Barbara.

Read entire article at Historians Against the War (HAW)