It has been a major pillar of the case made by opponents of the boycott that even institutional boycotts violate the academic freedom of individual scholars->http://commons.mla.org/groups/scholarship-censorship-exclusion/forum/topic/academic-boycott-subverts-academic-freedom/]. Yet it was precisely that argument that the Delegate Assembly rejected, as its straw poll revealed. While opponents repeated again and again the mantra that it is impossible to distinguish the individual from the institution, boycott proponents pointed out that we daily make the distinction between officials who represent an institution and scholars who are conducting their own research, even when the same person may play both roles. They pointed out that [PACBI guidelines safeguard, with exceptional care, the academic freedom of Israeli scholars who directly or indirectly benefit from Palestinian oppression and dispossession, to the extent of affirming their right to teach and research, travel, publish and participate in conferences with institutional subsidies.