BDS Movement — Academic Association Says No to It, in a Refreshing Change of Pace

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) voted yesterday against a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. In recent years, these types of resolutions have been passed by three academic associations — none of which represent fields of study related to Israel — so the AAA’s decision is a welcome counterpoint to a worrying trend.

Such resolutions are advanced as endorsements of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Among the defining features of BDS are the labeling of Israel as an apartheid state, the notion that its existence is an insidious instance of colonialism, and an unyielding belief in the Palestinian right of return. Academic associations that endorse BDS tend do so as part of a post-colonial impulse.

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Theodore Kupfer

Theodore Kupfer is an associate editor of City Journal.

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The American Anthropological Association (AAA) voted yesterday against a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. In recent years, these types of resolutions have been passed by three academic associations — none of which represent fields of study related to Israel — so the AAA’s decision is a welcome counterpoint to a worrying trend.

Such resolutions are advanced as endorsements of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Among the defining features of BDS are the labeling of Israel as an apartheid state, the notion that its existence is an insidious instance of colonialism, and an unyielding belief in the Palestinian right of return. Academic associations that endorse BDS tend do so as part of a post-colonial impulse.