Palestine Legal to ASA: Allow Faculty to Vote on Resolution to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions

Monday, August 10th, 2026 — Today, Palestine Legal sent a legal letter on behalf of Sociologists for Palestine (S4P) to urge the American Sociological Association (ASA) to uphold its ethical and governing obligations by allowing membership to amend their bylaws, and codify their right to vote on a proposed resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions.

The letter acknowledges that the Council is faced with proposed bylaw changes that would resolve potential ambiguities around the meaning and scope of public policy positions and actions that ASA members may vote on. This ambiguity came to light after the leadership blocked S4P's proposed resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions, claiming that the implementation of the resolution touched on various operational activities.

S4P's proposed boycott resolution builds on the work of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), which originally called for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions in 2004 and has continually updated its call since then. The primary goal of PACBI has always been to bring Israeli institutions that participate in the denial of basic human rights of Palestinians into compliance with international law. Israeli universities themselves participate in the denial of Palestinians' rights to higher education and academic freedom and have systematically denied Palestinians in Gaza access to their own universities in the West Bank.

The letter warns that ASA would be acting counter to the principles of academic freedom and the associational freedom of their members by refusing to allow them to vote on partaking in an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. Furthermore, ASA would be abridging members' ability to use their academic freedom in a manner that promotes the rights of others—in this case the decision not to collectively academically collaborate with academic institutions complicit in ongoing human rights violations.

The letter also responds to claims made by pro-Israel lobby groups the Anti-Defamation League and Academic Engagement Network in a prior legal letter to Council that academic boycotts are "selective, unfair, counterproductive, and damaging to the free exchange of ideas." On the contrary, we believe that S4P's protest and organizing work around this subject represent the health and vitality of ASA -- that through internal debate, disagreement, and organized action, members can partake in shaping the future of the Association and the field of Sociology by exercising their rights to change it.

Read our full letter to ASA here.

To members of the ASA, you can show your support by signing Sociologists for Palestine’s statement pledging to boycott the 2026 ASA Meeting.