A 2009 demonstration in London calling for a boycott of Israel. The AAA voted down a BDS resolution. Photo: Claudia Gabriela Marques Vieira via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The American Anthropological Association (AAA) narrowly voted against a resolution to boycott collaboration with Israeli academic institutions, the AAA announced on Tuesday.

The boycott resolution was opposed by 2,423 AAA members and supported by 2,384.

“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,” AAA President Alisse Waterston said.

Waterston said that a general “consensus within the AAA remains and that is that there are serious human rights problems that exist in Israel/Palestine as a result of Israeli state policy, practices, and the occupation, and that AAA must take a course of action.”

The 10,000-member association said that 51 percent of its membership voted on the boycott measure during a six-week period, marking the highest voter turnout for any resolution in AAA history.