Resolution Censuring Israeli Violations of Academic Freedom Debated by American Historical Association

The American Historical Association (AHA) will consider a resolution on “Protecting the Right to Education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” at its Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia (http://www.historians.org/annual-meeting/business-meeting/resolution-to-be-considered-at-the-january-2016-business-meeting).  Debate and voting will take place at the Business Meeting from 4:45 to 6 pm on Saturday, January 9, in Grand Ballroom A of the Hilton Atlanta (Second Floor). 

126 members of the association signed the resolution, including many leading historians. Professor Barbara Weinstein of New York University, AHA President in 2007, stated “It is entirely appropriate for our professional association to consider this issue. We are addressing serious and ongoing violations of academic freedom by a close U.S. ally.”

Immediately prior to the Business Meeting, MARHO: The Radical Historians' Organization is sponsoring a roundtable on “Violations of Academic Freedom in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” from 2:30 to 4:30 PM in International Ballroom 4 of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis (International Level), with Salim Tamari of the Institute for Palestine Studies, Professor Leena Dallasheh of Humboldt State University, and Tom Ricks, an independent scholar who researches Palestinian higher education.

The resolution was sponsored by Historians Against the War (www.historiansagainstwar.org), founded at the January 2003 AHA meeting to oppose the pending invasion of Iraq.  Since then it has campaigned against a militaristic foreign policy via publications, public speaking, teach-ins, and several national conferences.  HAW has gathered substantial evidence to support the charges of Israeli government violations of the right to education in the territories it controls, which can be found at http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/aha16/.