Geographers for Justice in Palestine

Reminder -- the AAG "webinar" concerning our BDS petition begins today at 12pm ET (about 2 hours from now). Log in to your AAG account and then click the link below to access the member portal and the Zoom link.

www.aag.org/events/aag-m...

On October 3, AAG will release an authoritative history of member organization which will try to diminsh the existence or importance of this history. While not all of these resolutions passed and while none of them were without AAG council organization, they clearly demonstrate a decades-long democratic undercurrent in our organization which we recognize as a lineage to be resuscitated.

we anticipate that AAG's "authoritative history" will attempt to diminish the importance and meaning of a history of member-driven advocacy within the organization. though not every member vote was successful, we think it's important to note member opinion *was* important enough to be consulted - !!

a graphic describes that "At certain points, the council would decide to consult members via a mail ballot. Under prior bylaws, the council could also be forced to recall their decisions by member petition and vote. This process was considered archaic in the 1990s due to the internet, but the bylaw changes instituted clearly diminished the vibrancy of member participation and democracy in our organization."

we think it's particularly important to remember and recover this vibrant history -- BDS efforts are by no means unprecedented

A graphic shows a portion of "An open letter to members of the association" concerning the Equal Rights Amendment boycott. The graphic highlights the position taken that “Even a decision to hold oneself above the fray in some ivory tower is a profoundly political act, a vote to uphold the status quo, whatever that may happen to be.”

the graphic highlights a portion of the reporting concerning the resolution against US funding of contra insurgency against Nicaragua.

The graphic highlights the resolution against nuclear proliferation and war. An excerpt is highlighted describing that “Geographers, whose professional objectives include understanding the nature and implications of human interaction with all aspects of their global environment, have a special responsibility to express urgent warning of the risks to humanity inherent in the present course of world events.”

some of these past efforts include resolutions to boycot states that had not passed the Equal Rights Amendment, to take a position against US funding of contras in Nicaragua, and against nuclear war.

What is the history of member-driven change in the AAG? (hint: there have indeed been previous member votes in AAG, and some were even on "troubling world events"!). The graphic shows the AAG newsletter heading and describes following posts as "a look into the AAG archives"

What is the history of member-driven change in the AAG?

Our archival research has shown that member-driven political activity has been common in AAG's history, including struggles around the Equal Rights Amendment; the US funding of contras in Nicaragua; and nuclear proliferation and war.

"Western institutions marshalled all...academic and digital repression against grassroots witnessing, unsuccessfully so far...the latest functions of a “geographic violence” that requires the myth of absolute distance between the West and the Other to obscure the proximity of colonial warfare."

Intervention—“On Grassroots Witnessing: Gaza as the Terrain of Epistemic Intifada” - Antipode Online Patrick Anthony (Uppsala University) and Ghada Dimashk (American University of Beirut) Baba, when will we study astronomy in school? … I want to learn about the moon and stars. (Banias, age 9, quoted ...

Intervention — "On Grassroots Witnessing: Gaza as the Terrain of Epistemic Intifada" by Patrick Anthony (Uppsala University) and Ghada Dimashk (American University of Beirut) antipodeonline.org/2025/09/24/o...

much more detail and sourcing for these posts is available on the FAQ sections of our website www.geog4pal.org/boycott/

Geographers in the United States have faced retribution for their political stances on Palestine. In March 2025, Ranjani Srinivasan, a graduate student at Columbia University, was one of the first forced to leave the United States after the federal government revoked her student visa, preventing Srinivasan from presenting her research at the AAG meeting in Detroit. In account of these events, Srinivasan does not call for quietism but instead that “we must exert maximum pressure on Columbia and other universities to protect international students from these arbitrary state actions.” While these actions are of the most egregious kind, they also continue a pattern.

Palestinian-Canadian geographer Ghazi-Walid Falah was arrested by Israeli police while conducting fieldwork in Northern Galilee in 2006. Falah wrote that he was arrested “because I was Ghazi-Walid Falah, the Palestinian geographer known to Shabak, a scholar who has consistently refused to adhere to writing the geography of Israel/Palestine as defined by the Israeli geography guild. I was arrested for my scholarship, seized in the very topography of what I study.” An international campaign to support Falah was organized online – demonstrating the need for more robust forms of protection of academic freedom to this day.

meanwhile, geographers in the United States have faced immense backlash, extending a historic experience that Palestinian geographers have long faced in our discipline and when conducting fieldwork

The Israeli assault on Gaza has completely demolished normal university life, to the point that UN experts have described a “pattern of attacks on schools, universities, teachers, and students in the Gaza Strip” constitutes “scholasticide”: “the systemic obliteration of education through the arrest, detention or killing of teachers, students and staff, and the destruction of educational infrastructure.” Israel has destroyed Gaza’s twelve universities, several of which had geography programs, including Alaqsa University, Al Azhar University, and the Islamic University of Gaza.

Students in the West Bank face worsening learning environments. At Birzeit University in Ramallah, over 140 students were arrested or detained between October 2023 and May 2024. Our geography colleagues at Birzeit University tell us that it is rare to be able to hold a full week of classes. This continues a pattern of decades of increasing infringement upon everyday life in the West Bank. Nonetheless, as McGahern notes, such university spaces in the West Bank still serve as “spaces of hope” worth protecting for many students, academics, and community members.

it is clear that Israel has committed scholasticide in Gaza at universities with geography departments, while restrictions of all kinds have continued and escalated at universities in the West Bank

How have geographers, geography departments, and geographic thought been affected by Israel?

Geographers/AAG members: I just sent my emails to my regional councilor, the Exec Committee, & Nat Councilors demanding that the organization uphold democratic processes & allow a vote on BDS. We *urgently* need members to email councilors ahead of this Friday Sept 12.

geog4pal.netlify.app/news/

reminder -- this event on BDS strategy in academic associations is tomorrow! be sure to register in advance

A "Save the Date" flyer inviting you to a conversation on boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) across the academy, featuring speakers from the American Association of Geographers, the American Sociological Association, and the American Historical Association. the event is September 9 at 12pm eastern time. you can register for the webinar at linktr.ee/geog4pal

please join us next week for an online event with colleagues in other disciplines who have worked to bring BDS resolutions to votes within their academic associations!

you can register here -- and also find a link to our new instagram page!

linktr.ee/geog4pal

A "Save the Date" flyer inviting you to a conversation on boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) across the academy, featuring speakers from the American Association of Geographers, the American Sociological Association, and the American Historical Association. the event is September 9 at 12pm eastern time. you can register for the webinar at linktr.ee/geog4pal

please join us next week for an online event with colleagues in other disciplines who have worked to bring BDS resolutions to votes within their academic associations!

Newsletter #2 is being drafted now, and will include a save-the-date for an upcoming webinar with academics who have campaigned for BDS resolutions in other disciplinary organizations. sign up now to receive the details soon! geog4pal.org/join/

Please sign up if you have not already done so

A website tab describing "What is the history of member-driven change within the AAG? What can we learn from these processes?" Our archival research has shown that member-driven political activity was quite common in the AAG’s history. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was fairly common for AAG members to circulate resolutions, and members cast votes on these resolutions by mail-in ballot. These included resolutions on support for the Equal Rights Amendment (1978) and against nuclear war (1986). Interestingly for our campaign, the AAG briefly ratified the position that it would affirmatively boycott any state which had not passed the ERA, a move that council understood as participation in “economic sanctions” (AAG newsletter 1978 issue 10). Even earlier, in 1969 the AAG convention was moved from Chicago to Ann Arbor in protest of the actions that took place during the 1968 Democratic Party convention.

in advance of the upcoming "special meeting," we've updated our website with three extensive "FAQ" pages concerning the academic boycott of Israel, the grounds for BDS in AAG, and addressing potential concerns. we've learned a lot on, for instance, the history of member-driven change in AAG.

Communication from AAG Geographers for Justice in Palestine

if you did not receive this email, we have put the text on our website here

geog4pal.org/communication/

FAQ Geographers for Justice in Palestine

this and more can be found under the "FAQ" tab at the top of our website geog4pal.org/bds-and-aag/

A website tab describing "What is the history of member-driven change within the AAG? What can we learn from these processes?" Our archival research has shown that member-driven political activity was quite common in the AAG’s history. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was fairly common for AAG members to circulate resolutions, and members cast votes on these resolutions by mail-in ballot. These included resolutions on support for the Equal Rights Amendment (1978) and against nuclear war (1986). Interestingly for our campaign, the AAG briefly ratified the position that it would affirmatively boycott any state which had not passed the ERA, a move that council understood as participation in “economic sanctions” (AAG newsletter 1978 issue 10). Even earlier, in 1969 the AAG convention was moved from Chicago to Ann Arbor in protest of the actions that took place during the 1968 Democratic Party convention.

in advance of the upcoming "special meeting," we've updated our website with three extensive "FAQ" pages concerning the academic boycott of Israel, the grounds for BDS in AAG, and addressing potential concerns. we've learned a lot on, for instance, the history of member-driven change in AAG.

AAG for BDS Geographers for Justice in Palestine

we have a new listserv, and have just sent a very important campaign update to our members--sign up below with a non-institutional email address!

geog4pal.org/join/

we are aware of recent communication from the AAG about a "special meeting." aspects of this process have been concerning, to say the least -- we'll have an update with context and action steps soon!

BDS@20: Redefining international solidarity and galvanizing global people power toward Palestinian liberation We owe it to every single Palestinian, especially our people in Gaza, to reaffirm our unbreakable commitment to march on until Israel’s regime of oppression is dismantled.

On the 20th anniversary of the BDS movement, we have much to share, but we’ll highlight only 20 of the most inspiring impacts the movement has achieved, or contributed to, in coalition with and active participation of our cherished global partners and allies.

#BDS20

loom.ly/CySQBZg

Solidarity with Palestine and Commitment to PACBI Guidelines Motion Passed at the Annual General Meeting of the Geographical Society of Ireland (GSI) May 9th, 2025. Proposer: Criostóir King Seconders: Jack Edmunds-Bergin, Rebecca Vining Motion Text: This AGM...

Earlier this month, the Geographical Society of Ireland passed a resolution "Solidarity with Palestine ​& Commitment to PACBI Guidelines." You can read the resolution below:

www.geographicalsocietyireland.ie/solidarity-w...

By a vote of 69-4, the members of the Black Geographies Specialty Group of the AAG stand in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle, encouraging all geographers to amplify their commitments to justice. For the full statement, visit: tinyurl.com/bgsgsolidarity

YouTube video by Trinity Social Justice Institute Conjuncture: Hashem Abushama - Palestine is the Barricade

Incredibly proud of this conversation with Hashem Abushama. We discuss Fanon, Stuart Hall, and Palestine as the barricade against rising fascism in the current conjuncture. Watch or listen to Conjuncture:

YouTube:
youtu.be/QEpCKNUzWHc

Podcast:
creators.spotify.com/pod/show/tri...

Happy May Day!

YouTube video by Trinity Social Justice Institute Conjuncture: Hashem Abushama - Palestine is the Barricade

Happy May Day! I'm pleased to share @cheatherton.bsky.social's interview with Hashem Abu Shama (Oxford) for the new episode of Conjuncture. This season co-sponsored by @antipodeonline.bsky.social: youtu.be/QEpCKNUzWHc. 1/2