Colorado (QNN)- Thousands of academics from all over the world have voted to endorse a boycott of ‘Israel’ resolution.
The academics are members of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), which has more than 2,800 members from all over the world, including 33 in ‘Israel’.
The highest concentration is in the US. It also has a long list of institutional members, including departments at renowned universities such as Brandeis and Columbia.
The membership passed the resolution at the 2021 MESA Members Meeting on December 2, 2021, and passed it in a referendum vote on March 22, 2022.
The resolution “endorses the Palestinian call for solidarity in the form of boycotts, divestment and sanctions.”
The resolution also calls for the extension of an academic boycott to Israeli institutions.
“These institutions are complicit in Israel’s violations of human rights..”
“..and international law through their provision of direct assistance to the Israeli military and intelligence establishments.”
Moreover, it goes on to point out that the boycott will not target individual students or scholars.
It reiterates the right of individual MESA members to choose whether they wish to participate in an academic boycott or not.
“Since Palestinian civil society first called on the international community to engage in boycotts, divestment and sanctions..”
“..in order to pressure Israel to end its military occupation and other rights violations..”
“..our members have been engaged in thoughtful discussions about what it means to participate in academic boycotts.
They also noted they discussed other ways of “showing solidarity with fellow scholars whose lives and livelihoods are under attack.”
Of those voting on the resolution, 80 percent backed it, reported the Times of Israel.
Now, the group’s board of directors are tasked with finding ways to “give effect to the spirit and intent of this resolution.”
