Critics of the proposed resolution critical of Israel say historians need to face reality

A group of historians who will be traveling to a convention in Atlanta next week, where they will present a resolution condemning Israel, are going to get a taste of their own medicine along the way.

The 126 scholars are members of the American Historical Association, which will be holding its annual meeting from January 7-10 at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel.

Their proposed resolution charges that “Israel’s restrictions on the movement of faculty, staff and visitors in the West Bank impede instruction at Palestinian institutions of higher learning.”

Israel’s policies, these 126 historians assert, constitute a violation of “the Right to Education,” as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The resolution they will ask AHA members to support is a one-sided, unremitting condemnation of Israel, lacking any acknowledgment that the Israeli authorities might have reasons for security checkpoints or other anti-terrorism measures.

In an ironic twist, however, the sponsors of the anti-Israel resolution are about to have their own travels impeded by a different group of security authorities. ...