The Critical Urban Anthropological Association (CUAA) strongly supports the following boycott resolution. As a section whose members have expertise on the pernicious and long-lasting effects of colonization, occupation, and state violence, we stand in support with our Palestinian colleagues and with all people living in occupied territories.
A Message to Anthropologists from our Palestinian Colleagues
Between June 15th – July 14th, you will be voting on whether the American Anthropological Association should adopt a boycott resolution in support of Palestinians living in a system that human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, alongside Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, have characterized as apartheid.
We Must Vote for the Resolution
Voting in favor of boycott means you have listened to Palestinian civil society, including Palestinian academics, who have called for the boycott of institutions complicit in Israeli apartheid and violations of international law. In his moving essay, Palestinian anthropologist Rami Salameh explains why a vote for boycott is a “message of hope” and a lifeline for “a promise of justice.” Voting in favor of the boycott means you have heeded what Rami and his colleagues are requesting: a show of solidarity and a refusal of systemic Israeli violence and oppression.
Learn More and Act
Our Palestinian colleagues’ call for BDS is one reason to vote in favor of the AAA’s academic boycott of Israeli institutions. If you’d like to read more about why this boycott is necessary, effective, and important, please visit our website: anthroboycott.org. Read what your colleagues who are knowledgeable about the situation have to say. You can read about some of the latest attacks on Palestinian academic freedom here in a statement from our Palestinian anthropologist colleagues.
The time for action is now!
Here is a google form that members can use to submit questions to which anthropologists with regional expertise (and legal experts knowledgeable about BDS-related laws) will respond: https://forms.gle/ByFCtSynMSRG3J597 .