Editing Modern Language Association (section)

=== Proposed academic boycott of Israel ===
On January 7, 2017, the MLA rejected a proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions in a 113–79 vote during its annual meeting in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schuessler|first1=Jennifer|date=7 January 2017 |title=Modern Language Association Moves to Reject Academic Boycott of Israel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/arts/mla-reject-academic-boycott-of-israel.html?_r=1|website=New York Times|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> Activists within the association had since 2014 pushed for such a boycott because they believed Israel was guilty of human rights violations and should be subjected to a boycott similarly to how South Africa was boycotted by the [[Anti-Apartheid Movement]]. The inspiration for the boycott came from the [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions]] (BDS) movement which is a global movement that calls for comprehensive boycotts of Israel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Resolution|url=https://mlaboycott.wordpress.com/resolution/|website=MLA Members for Justice in Palestine|date=15 November 2015 |access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> 

The activists calling themselves ''MLA Members for Justice in Palestine'' presented a resolution in December 2016 calling for a boycott. The call to boycott received support from scholars such as [[Judith Butler]] and novelist [[Viet Thanh Nguyen]], but also opposition from scholars such as [[Cary Nelson]] and historian [[Kenneth Waltzer]] as well as a group calling itself ''MLA Members for Scholars Rights.''<ref name="bds2017mla">{{cite web | title=Why was BDS beaten at the MLA conference? | website=BDS Movement | date=January 16, 2017 | url=https://bdsmovement.net/news/why-was-bds-beaten-mla-conference | access-date=August 21, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Speyer|first1=Lea|title=Prominent Scholars Slam Modern Language Association for Entertaining 'Shameful' BDS Resolution, Politicizing Academia|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/01/03/prominent-scholars-slam-modern-language-association-for-entertaining-shameful-bds-resolution-politicizing-academia/|website=Algemeiner|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> A group of Israeli scholars sent videotaped messages stating Israeli universities are multicultural and calling the BDS campaign one of harassment and slander.<ref>{{cite web|title=Resolution| website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XV54KQFTEQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/2XV54KQFTEQ| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On the other side of the debate, another group of Israeli scholars came out in support of the boycott, arguing that "the Israel-led campaign against the boycott of Israeli academic institutions rallies around the claim that if adapted it will hurt progressive Israeli scholars. Campaigners use this tactic to divert attention from the plight of the entire Palestinian population living under Israel's elaborate system of colonial repression and injustice to a manufactured victimization of Israeli academics. This is a manipulative inversion of victimhood."<ref name="bds2017mla"/> 

In a strongly worded letter, the pro-Israeli [[Brandeis Center]] threatened to sue MLA if the resolution was adopted. In the letter addressed to the association's President [[Kwame Anthony Appiah]] and Executive Director Rosemary G. Feal, the center claimed that the resolution was ''[[ultra vires]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=LDB to MLA: Drop Ultra Vires Boycott Resolution|url=https://brandeiscenter.com/ldb-to-mla-drop-ultra-vires-boycott-resolution/|website=Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law|date=20 December 2016 |access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Speyer|first1=Lea|date=3 January 2017 |title=Prominent Scholars Slam Modern Language Association for Entertaining 'Shameful' BDS Resolution, Politicizing Academia|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/01/03/prominent-scholars-slam-modern-language-association-for-entertaining-shameful-bds-resolution-politicizing-academia/|website=[[Algemeiner Journal|Algemeiner]] |access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> That is, that it would take the association in a direction that went beyond its original mission. Supporters of the boycott argued that it was not ''ultra vires'' because the Association had in the past been engaged in human rights issues.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Palumbo-Liu|first1=David|date=27 December 2016 |title=Brandeis Center Threatens Lawsuit Against Academic Organization for Supporting Call for Palestinian Rights|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-palumboliu/brandeis-center-threatens_b_13861048.html|website=Huffington Post|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref>

At the 2025 annual meeting in New Orleans, the MLA executive council blocked a member vote on a resolution endorsing BDS and acknowledging [[Palestinian genocide accusation]] and [[scholasticide]], prompting protest and campaign for members to lapse membership in the organization. The executive council released a statement in advance stating that while they are "appalled by the continued attack on Gaza," a BDS resolution would present "legal and fiduciary" challenges.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilkins |first=Brett |last2=Rosane |first2=Olivia |date=January 12, 2025 |title=MLA Members for Palestine Protest Denial of BDS Vote at National Assembly |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/mla-bds |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=[[Common Dreams]] |language=en}}</ref>