David Palumbo-Liu’s  “Not so Much anti-Boycott as Pro-Israel” [symploke 23.1-2 (2015)] is comprehensive critique of The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel, edited by Cary Nelson and Gabriel Noah Brahm.

Academic Boycott Debates: Palumbo-Liu vs Nelson and Brahm

For more information and discussion of the resolution to endorse the Palestinian call to boycott Israeli academic institutions, please check our new website, which is open to public viewing and regularly updated with news, links and blog-posts, and our Facebook page. Like us there!

https://mlaboycott.wordpress.com/…[Read more]

This November, the business meeting of the American Anthropological Association overwhelmingly voted–by a margin of 86%–to send a resolution to endorse the Palestinian Call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions to the full membership for a…[Read more]

The French organization AURDIP (Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine) has recently released the report of a delegation to Palestine of 8 academics from 5 European countries.  The full report on conditions for Palestinian scholars, teachers and students under occupation and blockade is available he…[Read more]

This brief essay by Talal Asad gives a very economical account of the rationale and necessity of academic boycott:

Talal Asad: Why do I support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement?

For anyone who doubts the apartheid nature of the Israeli occupation, this documentation from the respected Israeli Human Rights organization B’Tselem makes for disturbing viewing and reading.  http://www.btselem.org/hebron/20150401_separation_fence_in_hebron

In discussions of the boycott’s potential impact on “academic freedom”, one thing that is consistently ignored is the impact of occupation and colonization on Palestinian academics and students.  This report outlines some of the conditions in which they struggle to maintain the basic functions of a university.  As it remarks, “The grim realities e…[Read more]

Joining the Executive Committees of the West Asian Literatures Discussion Group, the Arabic Literature Division’s , and the Division on Marxism, Literature, and Society, the MLA’s Division on Ethnic Studies in Language and Literature Executive Committee has voted to support the resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. MLA Members for J…[Read more]

The Arabic Literature Division’s Executive Committee has unanimously voted to endorse the resolution presented to the MLA Delegate Assembly to boycott Israeli academic and governmental institutions.

The Executive Committee of the West Asian Literatures Discussion Group has unanimously voted to endorse the draft resolution in favor of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The Executive Committee of the Division on Marxism, Literature, and Society is happy to announce that it has unanimously endorsed the resolution on the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions.

In the wake of the Delegate Assembly’s discussion of the  boycott of Israeli academic institutions at MLA 2015, a DA member sent the following important queries regarding the scope and practice of the boycott.  We reply to her questions here.  Given the length of the document, it is also posted in the documents section of this forum si…[Read more]

Not wishing to beat a dead horse, let me just say that of course I stand by my account of the Delegate Assembly meeting and the rejection that its fourth straw poll affirmed of any form of retaliation against scholars and students who speak out in support of Palestinian rights or in criticism of Israel and its policies. As others have made clear…[Read more]

Invitation to BDS Working Group: first meeting at MLA 2015, Jan 9 2:30-5:00

If you would like to work actively over the next two years towards gathering support for the MLA resolution to endorse the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, please contact David Lloyd (david.lloyd@ucr.edu) or Rebecca Comay…[Read more]

Contrary to claims made on the MLA Commons site Scholarship, Censorship, Exclusion, that “Those who would impose a sectarian political platform on the MLA will harm it and weaken its ability to act on behalf of the profession”, the MLA already has a long-standing and honorable record of speaking out on political issues and passing resolutions a…[Read more]