ByMATHILDA HELLER

The International Sociological Association has suspended the collective membership of the Israeli Sociological Society, a significant win for the BDS movement and its push for the boycott of Israeli institutions.

The suspension is part of the ISA’s broader position of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its “stance against genocide.”

The ISA was founded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization as a nonprofit dedicated to the field of sociology and social sciences. It leads the field, alongside the International Institute of Sociology.

In a statement on Sunday, the ISA reaffirmed that it has no institutional relationships with Israeli public institutions. It added that it regretted not taking a clear position condemning the situation in Gaza and that the suspension of the Israeli Sociological Society “reflects the extraordinary gravity of the current situation.”

It comes ahead of the convening of the Fifth Sociological Forum of the International Sociological Association, scheduled to be held at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, from July 6-11.

A PRO-PALESTINIAN protest against the war in Gaza takes place on the sidelines of a NATO summit, in The Hague, last week. The war has inflamed European public opinion, but defense cooperation with Israel continues, says the writer.
A PRO-PALESTINIAN protest against the war in Gaza takes place on the sidelines of a NATO summit, in The Hague, last week. The war has inflamed European public opinion, but defense cooperation with Israel continues, says the writer. (credit: THILO SCHMUELGEN/REUTERS)

TSunday’s decision seemingly came as a result of significant pressure from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel as well as the international BDS movement, both of which have since praised the suspension.

Solidarity with Iranian scholars 

Just a few days prior, on June 26, the ISA released a statement of solidarity with Iranian scholars, allegedly in response to a “formal request from the Iranian Sociological Association.

The ISA said it felt “deep concern over the escalating military aggression carried out by the governments of Israel and the United States against Iran, which has affected the lives of ordinary citizens of Iran” and “represents a violation of international law.”

The ISA has released additional statements in the past accusing Israel of “indiscriminate bombing,” being a “settler-colonial and apartheid regime,” and epistemicide and scholasticide.

Despite briefly mentioning “the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis,” the ISA did not mention who carried out the killings.