[News] American Historical Association condemns Israeli scholasticide in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/american-historical-association-condemns-israeli-scholastici>
American Historical Association condemns Israeli scholasticide in Gaza
Al Mayadeen English
January 8, 2025
------------------------------

The American Historical Association, the country's leading body of
historians, voted to condemn the Israeli aggression on Gaza's education
system.
[image: 30f57c5c-51df-40a5-85f6-a935f52e711f.jpg]

   - Palestinians search for the remains of their relatives killed in an
   Israeli bombardment of a school in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on
   Thursday, October 10, 2024. (*AP*)

The American Historical Association (AHA), the largest professional
organization of historians in the United States, passed a resolution on
Sunday condemning the Israeli occupation's military actions in Gaza,
describing the widespread destruction of educational infrastructure,
archives, and libraries as scholasticide
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/between-scholasticide-and-genocide---israel--rendering-gaza>
.

The resolution was approved during the AHA's annual meeting in Manhattan,
attended by nearly 4,000 of its 10,000 members. The measure passed by a
vote of 428 to 88, following intense debate. Some senior leaders of the
association had reportedly opposed the resolution.

On Monday, the resolution advanced to the AHA's elected council, which has
the authority to endorse, veto, or decline to act on it. A decision to
defer would send the measure to the full membership for ratification within
90 days. Executive Director James Grossman stated that the council engaged
in "vigorous discussion" but postponed its decision until its next meeting
in the coming weeks.

The resolution, introduced by Historians for Peace and Democracy, calls for
a permanent ceasefire
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-ceasefire-talks-progress--but-key-obstacles-persist--re>
and urges the formation of a committee to assist in rebuilding Gaza's
educational infrastructure.

The resolution argues that the Israeli military campaign has "obliterated
Gaza's education system," claiming the destruction of 80% of schools, all
12 universities, and numerous cultural institutions, including archives and
museums. These actions, it states, jeopardize the future study of
Palestinian history
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--killed-over-100-scholars--academics-in-war-on-gaza>.
The resolution cites a United Nations report from April 2024, which
characterized the Israeli occupation's attacks as "scholasticide".
Schools, children suffering

Barbara Weinstein, a former AHA president and professor of Latin American
history at New York University, supported the resolution. She highlighted
the organization's history of opposing military actions, including the Iraq
and Ukraine wars.

"Not only is this a protest against an attack on Gaza that has killed many
people and destroyed many buildings, it's a protest against the erasure of
their memory. And for historians, the erasure of people's memories is the
erasure of the people," Weinstein stated after the vote.

Schools in Gaza
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/un--30--of-schools-in-gaza-directly-bombed-by-iof>
 have been closed for over a year due to the outbreak of war. The ongoing
Israeli aggression has severely impacted educational infrastructure in
Gaza, with 76% of schools in the Strip suffering direct damage from
targeted attacks, as per a report by the Global Education Cluster.

Amid the genocide, many children in Gaza are caught up in their families'
daily struggle for survival. They walk barefoot on dirt roads to transport
water from distribution points to their families residing in tent cities,
which are overcrowded with Palestinians forcibly displaced from their
homes. Others line up at charity kitchens with containers to collect food,
*AP *reported.
Future of Gaza at risk

Humanitarian workers warn that the prolonged lack of education poses a
serious risk of long-term harm to Gaza’s children.

Tess Ingram, regional spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations agency
for children, said, “The longer a child is out of school, the more they are
at risk of dropping out permanently and not returning.”

Gaza’s 625,000 school-age children
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/39-000-gaza-high-school-students-miss-exams--450-killed-amid>
 have already lost nearly a full year of education. It remains uncertain
when they will be able to return to school, as the ceasefire negotiations
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exclusive---resistance-source--philadelphi-main-obstacle-to>
 reached an impasse which is due to the occupation's continued refusal to
withdraw from the area during the first phase of the agreement.

Approximately 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been
forcibly displaced from their homes. They are now living in expansive tent
camps that lack basic water and sanitation facilities or in UN and
government schools that have been repurposed as shelters.
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