AJC, AEN Urge American Historical Association to Reject Biased Anti-Israel Resolution

American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Academic Engagement Network (AEN) today urged members of the American Historical Association (AHA) Council to veto a "misguided resolution, which grossly undermines the rules of causal inference to advance a near-obsessive anti-Israel narrative that casts the Jewish state as a uniquely malevolent aggressor."

While the "Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide " was endorsed by AHA membership during its recent annual meeting in New York City, the AHA Council has the power to issue an acceptance, nonconcurrence, or veto of the measure when it next meets in the coming weeks.

In their letter urging the AHA's elected council to veto the measure, AJC CEO Ted Deutch, AJC Director of Academic Affairs Dr. Sara Coodin, AEN Executive Director Dr. Miriam Elman, and AEN Advisory Board Chair Mark G. Yudof state, "Too often this past academic year, we have seen academic associations issue ill-conceived proclamations and advance similar hastily crafted resolutions that ignore basic facts, sidestep historical context, and deny the lived experiences, traumas, and suffering of Israelis on and since October 7th. What is very clear is that even easily discredited resolutions, when supported by a vocal cadre of an organization's members, can produce a chilling effect on reasoned debate, as well as a toxic atmosphere that silences dissenting voices. They can also create a hostile and unwelcoming environment for scholars and students who identify as Zionists and those with strong personal, academic, and professional ties to Israel."

AJC and AEN have also made an appeal to the members of the AHA should the Council accept the resolution and send it to the broader group for ratification: "[W]e hope that more AHA members will consider their responsibility to the profession and to standards of evidence and argument, which demand that statements with baked-in inaccuracies, such as this one, be rejected out of hand", and "encourage the AHA to use this moment as an opportunity to recommit itself to intellectual inclusivity and open academic inquiry, and to creating a vibrant space that all historians could be proud to call their professional home."

The full text of the letter can be found here.

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC's mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org .

The Academic Engagement Network (AEN) is a national educational organization that mobilizes networks of university faculty and administrators to counter antisemitism, oppose the denigration of Jewish and Zionist identities, promote academic freedom, and advance education about Israel. AEN envisions a world where American higher education welcomes, respects, and supports the expression of Jewish identity and robust discourse about Israel. For more, please visit www.academicengagement.org .

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