SEM Campaign
The 2026 SEM general election ballot will include two key items in addition to the usual Board and Council positions up for election. These are:
A new constitutional amendment (Article XV) that would establish a formal process for member referenda on resolutions of ethical, political, financial, and/or institutional concern in SEM.
The most recent version of MS4P’s resolution (May 2026) in support of PACBI entitled “Resolution to Boycott, Disclose, and Divest from Entities that Enable Apartheid and Crimes Against Humanity in Solidarity with Palestinian Society.”
Each of these items will be voted on independently, and each requires a two-thirds vote in favor to pass, as per Article VIII of the SEM Constitution and the by-laws established in the newly proposed Article XV.
Please ensure your SEM membership is active in time for the general elections in summer 2026 and vote YES for Article XV and MS4P’s resolution!
Talk to your friends about our campaign and tell them why you are voting YES. Join MS4P to ensure we win!
Here is a detailed timeline of events related to our campaign so far (adapted, in part, from correspondence from SEM President Michael Iyanaga):
SEM 2023 Annual Meeting ( October 19-22 in Ottawa, Canada): Indigenous speakers express solidarity with Palestine and are harassed out of SEM.
Fall 2023: The Ceasefire Collective forms following October 7th and drafts an open letter entitled “Ethnomusicologists in Support of a Ceasefire.“ The Collective sends the letter to the Board, President, and Executive Director of SEM in November 2023. As of 12 June 2026, the letter has over 450 signatures.
Spring 2024: Society for Arab Music Research (SAMR) co-chairs meet with the SEM Board to discuss SEM and the ceasefire call. SAMR and the Ceasefire Collective host fundraisers for Palestinian musicians and educators facing displacement and genocide. SAMR prepares an educational resource on Palestinian music and culture.
Fall/Summer 2024: SAMR and the Ceasefire Collective officially join forces to advance a BDS campaign in SEM: MS4P is born. Many SEM members become organizers with MS4P and join the campaign. MS4P drafts the original version of our resolution in support of PACBI.
23 January 2025: MS4P submits the original version of our resolution to the SEM Council and Board. The resolution makes the following core demands of SEM:
withdraw its investments in any Israeli institutions and/or international institutions or companies complicit in the ongoing violation of Palestinian human and civil rights, and annually disclose its financial investments to the membership;
boycott Israeli academic institutions until such time as these institutions end their complicity in violating Palestinian rights as stipulated by international law;
ensure and communicate that this boycott pertains only to Israeli academic institutions, and not to individual scholars or students.
Initial Council Vote (March 2025): After months of negotiations, the Council voted in favor of bringing our resolution to a general membership vote. Of the 28 participants (out of 42 Council members total), 26 voted in favor (93%) and 2 voted against the resolution. According to the SEM‘s Constitution, the results of this Council vote alone were enough to advance our resolution to a general membership vote.
Board review (early 2025): However, the SEM Board puts a halt to this process due to its determination that the Constitution does not specify a formal process for bringing such resolutions forward. The Board requests MS4P to reformulating our original resolution into an SEM Bylaws amendment proposal, which follows an established constitutional process. Both the Board and Council are to vote on whether or not to bring this reformatted proposal to a general membership vote.
July 2025 votes: Thus, after reformulating our original proposal and two more months of negotiations, the Board and Council voted in July on our SEM Bylaws amendment proposal in July. Of the 6 Board members who participated, 2 voted in favor, 2 voted against, and 4 abstained. Of the 36 Council members who participated (out of 42 Council members total), 33 voted in favor (92%), 1 voted against, and 2 abstained. Following the SEM Constitution, the Council vote is binding to bring the Bylaws amendment proposal to the general membership for a vote during SEM general elections in summer 2026.
SEM 2025 Annual Meeting (23–26 October in Atlanta, Georgia): The Bylaws amendment proposal and the associated MS4P resolution in support of PACBI is presented by MS4P and discussed during the President’s roundtable session. Member feedback is collected.
Spring 2026: MS4P revises the Bylaws amendment proposal and associated MS4P resolution in response to feedback around divestment concerns and to make it more inclusive.
Following consultations: The Board identifies the need for a formal constitutional mechanism governing member referenda. The Board proposes Article XV to address this need.
SEM 2026 general elections: The membership will vote on (1) a new constitutional amendment (Article XV) establishing a referenda process and (2) an amended version of the original resolution.
