The
resolution was narrowly defeated by 2,423 votes against and 2,384 votes in
favor.
In
a massive blow to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction movement, the American
Anthropological Association voted to reject a resolution for the academic
boycott of Israel, it was announced Tuesday.
The
resolution, which sought to officially adopt a boycott to refrain from formal
collaborations with Israeli academic institutions – not including
collaborations with individual academics – was narrowly defeated by 2,423 votes
against and 2,384 votes in favor.
The
full body of the association, comprising some 10,000 members, was encouraged to
vote on the resolution over the course of the past six weeks.
The
association reported that 51 percent of its eligible members voted, the largest
turnout in the organization’s history.
“The membership has spoken and we hear
them,” said Alisse Waterston, American Anthropological Association’s president.
“We appreciate this was a difficult vote on
an important and contentious issue. I’m especially proud that our members
participated in knowledgeable, thoughtful, respectful debate throughout the
process, and that AAA offers a model for informed engagement on difficult subjects,”
she said.
She
added: “Now is the time for us to come together as an association steadfastly
committed to advancing scholarly knowledge, to finding solutions to human and
social problems, to giving voice to the under-served and to serving as a
guardian of human rights.”
Prof.
Peretz Lavie, president of the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology and
head of the Association of University Heads in Israel said this was a
“significant achievement” for Israeli universities.
“Thanks to the combined and persistent
struggle with the Israeli Anthropological Association we were able to prevent
the approval decision,” he said.
“The universities in Israel are determined
more than ever to continue to spread the message of Israeli research throughout
the world for the sake of the development of science, the promotion of humanity
and society,” he added.
The
heads of Israeli universities had waged a massive campaign against the BDS
resolution in recent months, penning a letter to the American Anthropological
Association’s president, calling on her to reconsider the vote for the motion.
In
addition, the university heads enlisted the help of their US counterparts to
counter the calls for an academic boycott.
