An outbreak of sanity at the MLA

Map of Israel, the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), the Golan Heights, and portions of neighbouring countries. Also United Nations deployment areas in countries adjoining Israel or Israeli-held territory, as of January 2004. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Resolution on Israel fails to win a majority vote:

http://chronicle.com/article/Controversial-MLA-Resolution/146925/?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

Here's what the resolution said:

Resolution 2014-1 (not ratified)
Whereas Israel has denied academics of Palestinian ethnicity entry into the West Bank;
Whereas these restrictions violate international conventions on an occupying power’s obligation to protect the right to education;
Whereas the United States Department of State acknowledges on its Web site that Israel restricts the movements of American citizens of Palestinian descent;
Whereas the denials have disrupted instruction, research, and planning at Palestinian universities;
Whereas the denials have restricted the academic freedom of scholars and teachers who are United States citizens;
Be it resolved that the MLA urge the United States Department of State to contest Israel’s denials of entry to the West Bank by United States academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities.

http://news.commons.mla.org/ 

Until the day that Palestinians concede that Israel has the right to exist, we must accord Israel the right to behave as a democracy at war, which means the safety of its people trumps the academic freedom we would otherwise insist upon for these professors.

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