We want to share the news of our victories at the recent American Historical Association meeting in Chicago. On Jan. 10, 2026, the AHA Business Meeting passed the Resolution in Solidarity with Gaza by a vote of 282 to 76 and the Resolution Opposing Attacks on Core Principles of Education by a vote of 245 to 62. Barbara Weinstein, HPAD, and Abdel Razzaq Takriti, a member of the Palestinian Historians Group (PHG), gave powerful speeches in favor of the Gaza resolution. Ellen Schrecker, HPAD and Sherene Seikaly, PHG, spoke forcefully for the academic freedom and free speech resolution. This success was the result of the ongoing collaboration among Historians for Peace and Democracy, the Palestinian Historians Group and Historians for Palestine and months of mobilization before the 2026 AHA conference and at the meeting.
Our victory was short lived, however, for on Jan. 11 the AHA council vetoed both resolutions. In a statement on the AHA website, the Council said both resolutions fell “outside the scope of American Historical Association’s chartered mission.” Yet, according to the Guiding Principles on Taking a Public Stance, “the AHA has the responsibility to take public stands” in a variety of situations, including “when public or private authorities in the United States or elsewhere threaten the preservation of or free access to historical sources.” The AHA leadership said approving the resolutions would result in “institutional risk” but did not specify what sort of risks they feared, how they had been assessed, or who was determining them. The AHA further said the resolutions would have “implications for the discipline and the organization,” but again failed to specify of what sort. Nonetheless, we remain committed to extending solidarity to Palestinian historians and educators in Gaza and to denouncing allegations of antisemitism on college campuses when they are used to restrict criticism of Israel.
This year’s veto follows the veto of the Scholasticide Resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of members at the January 2025 AHA business meeting. It follows the Council’s refusal to put this year’s resolutions on the business meeting’s agenda, after AHA staff accepted them as they met all the requirements outlined in the bylaws. Only when two-thirds of those attending the business meeting approved a motion by HPAD’s Patrick Manning, a former AHA President, to suspend the rules, was discussion and passage of the Gaza and the Core Principles of Education resolutions allowed. The votes at the well-attended 2026 business meeting reflected the democratic will of the AHA membership. If the Council doubted that, it should have sent the resolutions to the full membership for a vote.
Despite this setback, Historians for Peace and Democracy will continue to work within the AHA to make our professional organization more democratic, transparent, inclusive, and willing to respond to the challenges of our time. The energy and enthusiasm of the working historians at the Business Meeting convince us that conscience-driven activism in the historical profession will flourish. We believe our efforts are part of a broader struggle being undertaken within other disciplinary organizations and academic groups to take a strong stand against political repression.
In solidarity,
Historians for Peace and Democracy
PHG member and Swarthmore historian Ahmad Shokr assisting Ellen Schrecker.