15.02.24
Editorial Note
Last month, pro-Palestinian scholars launched multiple campaigns circulating on the internet. One was titled “Scholars’ Call Launches International Campaign for Ceasefire in Palestine.” The campaigners announced that in Palestine, the New Year’s and Christmas festivities were canceled this year. A large group of International scholars signed another statement, “All I want for the holidays is a ceasefire,” endorsed by high-profile intellectuals and scientists. The statement gathered almost 3,500 academic signatures within 48 hours.
The calls cited several renowned scholars, including Palestinian Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University, who declared, “All people of conscience should demand an immediate halt to this genocidal war.” Anti-Israel Israeli historian Avi Shlaim of Oxford University stated, “Israel is committing multiple war crimes on a daily basis. It needs to be stopped immediately.” The Palestinian Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University’s prominent laws of war theorist, also signed the petition. Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor at UC Berkeley, stated, “The time is now to end this violence and to demand freedom and justice for Palestine.”
The petition “All I want for the holidays is a ceasefire,” was organized by Scholars Against the War in Palestine (SAWP). This campaign coordinated cross-disciplinary transnational actions and education, bringing together Indigenous, African American, Jewish, Arab, and other scholars. Endorsed by leading figures in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, STEM, and Medicine from the US, Canada, Britain, and South Africa, SAWP is the largest of its kind to date. The group states that it was inspired by Palestinian civil rights organizations and higher educational institutions and urged academics to take action to stop the war.
SAWP makes the following demands: “- Immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire; – End the siege of Gaza;- Defend the Palestinian right to education; – End the military occupation of all Palestinian lands; – Dismantle the apartheid system; – Implement the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the rights of self determination and return.”
The McGill Daily, an independent student newspaper at McGill University, Canada, took the accusations even further. Titled “Scholasticide in Gaza,” the article introduced the term “scholasticide” to the readers. It said, “in the wake of Israel’s recent bombing of Gaza’s last standing university.” According to the article, the concept of “scholasticide” first appeared in 2009 in The Guardian and The New York Times where it said, “A new word emerged from the carnage in Gaza this week: ‘scholasticide’ – the systematic destruction by Israeli forces of centers of education dear to Palestinian society, as the ministry of education was bombed, the infrastructure of teaching destroyed, and schools across the Gaza strip targeted for attack by the air, sea and ground offensives.”
The McGill Daily claims that “Palestinian scholars and global educators alike witnessed the destruction of the last standing university in Gaza as Al-Israa University was blown up by Israeli forces. Over the last couple of months, Israeli soldiers occupied the university campus and turned it into a military base camp. Alongside the buildings affected by the blast, over 3000 rare artifacts were destroyed in a national museum established by the university.” Birzeit University, located in the West Bank, reaffirmed, “It’s all a part of the Israeli occupation’s goal to make Gaza uninhabitable; a continuation of the genocide being carried out in Gaza Strip.”
According to McGill Daily, for decades, “schools in Gaza have been targeted by Israeli attacks, in addition to cultural institutions elsewhere such as the 1982 looting of the Palestinian Research Centre in Beirut and the accompanying destruction of historical archives. Furthermore, centers of education replacing previously destroyed institutions have also been targeted, such as attacks in 2009 on the UN-established school in the Jabaliya refugee camp. In light of Israel’s recent assault on Gaza,”
Academics across the world and prompted the petition by SAWP. Where scholars from institutes across Israel, such as Anat Matar, an Israeli philosopher and activist, have also joined.
Another petition, “Scholars for Palestine UK: Urgent Call to End the War on Palestine,” was organized by Arab and Palestinian scholars in British universities. “we issue this call in support of colleagues under attack in Palestine and the recent Unified Call for Justice and Freedom issued by Palestinian Higher Education institutions.” They endorse and welcome the launch of the SAWP, and the call for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire. “We urge all academics in British universities to join us in opposing the targeted destruction of Palestinian universities in Gaza and the relentless assault on the wider Palestinian academic community.”
They stated, “We stand opposed to Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian human rights and academic freedom, including the ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza.” British institutions and university pension funds invest millions of pounds in companies implicated in Israel’s military occupation, colonialism, and apartheid. This financial entanglement and the collaboration with arms companies that profit from the very onslaught against the Palestinian people raises critical questions about the role of our higher education institutions in perpetuating systems of oppression. In the face of this complicity, staff and students have organized ‘walk outs’, teach-ins, and protests, whilst students’ unions and staff trade unions have expressed their solidarity with Palestinians both locally and nationally. This activism within our academic communities illustrates a commitment to ethical conduct and a refusal to be passive enablers of injustice. We must continue and escalate these actions.”
The Arab and Palestinian academics call on all academics in Britain to join their campaign. They put forward a long list of demands, urging scholars to “Step up the pressure to end the war on Gaza and join the international movement calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire. End complicity in the arms trade: Work to uncover if your university has investments, contracts or cooperation agreements with weapons companies supplying Israel and organize to cancel them. Support the call for the USS and other university pension funds to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. Stand up for the Palestinian right to education: Speak out against the destruction of the educational sector and restrictions on academic freedom in Palestine. Organize your institutions to take a stand. Demand an end to limitations on travel, research, and expression for Palestinian scholars and students. Advocate for the removal of barriers, such as checkpoints and travel restrictions, that impede academics’ and students’ ability to attend classes, participate in research, and engage in academic activities. Support the right of international scholars to visit and collaborate with colleagues in Palestine. Build academic links with Palestinian universities and academics: Establish initiatives to foster collaborative research initiatives to combat the international isolation of Palestinian higher education. Promote exchanges, joint projects, scholarship programs, and partnerships that contribute positively to the Palestinian educational sector. Don’t cross the Palestinian picket line: Support and adhere to academic boycotts aimed at institutions complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights. Refrain from participating in collaborations, conferences, or partnerships with institutions that support or contribute to the occupation. Defend freedom of expression: Resist any attempts to stigmatize or silence staff and students at British universities engaged in research, speech, and actions on Palestine.”
The pro-Palestinian activists conveniently forget to mention the background of the war in Gaza. Hamas, a brutal terror group, took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 when it
murdered more than a hundred PLO officials and expelled the rest of the representatives of the Palestinian Authority. Having become the sole ruler of Gaza, Hamas created a harsh dictatorship and stole untold millions of dollars from international donations. At the same time, it imposed an onerous system of taxes and fees on the impoverished population. Both streams of revenue were used to build some 500 km of underground tunnels under public buildings, including hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, and even private buildings. By embedding in populated areas, Hamas turned civilians into human shields, a tactic that the Geneva Conventions condemn.
The rest of the money was diverted to support the lavish lifestyle of Hamas leaders in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza, the “Beverly Hills” of Gaza, and abroad. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau Hamas, is a billionaire, and there are more than 70 millionaires among the leadership.
All along, Hamas engaged in terror attacks against Israel, kidnappings, killings of soldiers and civilians, and periodic missile attacks that paralyzed civilian life in Israel. Unwilling to cause civilian casualties in Gaza, the IDF responded with targeted bombing when civilians were warned ahead of time to leave the targeted Hamas sites. Encouraged by the Israeli restraint, Hamas launched a bloody attack on October 7, 2023, the largest killing of Jews since the Holocaust. The Nukhba Force, the elite unit of the terror group, had also borrowed the Nazi methods of decapitation, burning of civilians, including babies, and mass rape, among others.
The various petitions quoted above did not mention, let alone condemn, the Hamas atrocities. By refraining from doing so, the scholars are essentially condoning and even supporting terrorism against Israelis.
REFERENCES
https://spectrejournal.com/scholars-against-the-war-on-palestine
Scholars Against the War on Palestine
A CALL FOR A CEASEFIRE
SCHOLARS AGAINST THE WAR ON PALESTINE
January 19, 2024
This call is issued by Scholars Against the War on Palestine (SAWP), a transnational cross-disciplinary coalition of scholars, working to advance the Palestinian call “to take urgent action to stop Israel’s current war and genocide in Gaza.”
Permanent Ceasefire Now!
Christmas and holiday festivities in Palestine were canceled this year in solidarity with Gaza. Heads of Churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the city synonymous with the birthplace of Jesus, canceled all festive celebrations as Palestinians collectively mourn the loss of thousands of lives–the result of Israel’s genocidal war.
In the first ten weeks of war, Israel dropped in excess of 25,000 bombs–the equivalent of two nuclear bombs–on 2.2. million besieged Palestinians in Gaza. It has done so with unwavering support from the United States and other western nations. The bombardment has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, including more than 8,000 children, and millions are facing starvation and dehydration as food, electricity, and water has been cut off. More than 1.1 million people have been forcefully displaced internally, and much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been carpet-bombed, destroying hospitals, schools, universities, residential units, bakeries, religious sites, archives, and government buildings and facilities.
Permanent Ceasefire Now!
Israel has waged a full scale war on Palestinian educational institutions. In Gaza, eleven out of fourteen universities are completely destroyed including the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), Al-Azhar University, and the North Gaza branch of Al-Quds Open University. Israeli airstrikes targeted and killed renowned Palestinian intellectuals including, Sufyan Tayeh, world-leading scientist and President of IUG, and the prominent poet and English literature professor Refaat Alareer of IUG. Israeli bombs have destroyed over 239 government schools and 50 United Nations Refugee Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. Thousands of students, staff, and educators have been killed and more than 88,000 students in Gaza have been deprived at their right to education.
This holiday season, we stand with Palestinians everywhere in calling for
(1) an immediate and permanent ceasefire;
(2) the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza;
(3) ending Israel’s siege on Gaza;
(4) ending attacks on educational and health institutions in Palestine.
Please use the following link to sign our latest statement: https://scholarsagainstwar.org/statement/holidayceasefire/
SCHOLARS AGAINST THE WAR ON PALESTINE
Scholars Against the War on Palestine (SAWP) is a transnational coalition which brings together faculty, researchers, and graduate students to end the war on Palestine. SAWP aims to unite the academic sector by heeding the Palestinian call from higher education institutions and PACBI urging academics across the world to take action to stop the current Israeli war on Palestinians in Gaza
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Scholasticide in Gaza
An introduction to the term “scholasticide” in the wake of Israel’s recent bombing of Gaza’s last standing university
- by Ainslie Yang
- February 12, 2024
On January 17, Palestinian scholars and global educators alike witnessed the destruction of the last standing university in Gaza as Al-Israa University was blown up by Israeli forces. Over the last couple of months, Israeli soldiers occupied the university campus and turned it into a military base camp. Alongside the buildings affected by the blast, over 3000 rare artifacts were destroyed in a national museum established by the university. The incident, captured on drone footage, joins the ongoing list of public buildings destroyed over the last three months of conflict in Gaza.
Birzeit University, located in the West Bank, has publicly replied to the bombing, saying the institution “reaffirms the fact that this crime is part of the Israeli occupation’s onslaught against the Palestinians. It’s all a part of the Israeli occupation’s goal to make Gaza uninhabitable; a continuation of the genocide being carried out in Gaza Strip.”
The toll of educational institutes in Gaza either destroyed or severely damaged by Israeli attacks has reached over 350 schools and numerous public libraries. This latest attack on the educational and cultural institutes of Gaza has reinvigorated discussions surrounding the term “scholasticide.”
The concept of scholasticide first appeared in 2009, in response to attacks by the Israeli military against the Ministry of Education and multiple schools in Gaza. The Guardian has defined scholasticide as “the systematic destruction by Israeli forces of centres of education dear to Palestinian society.” For decades, schools in Gaza have been targeted by Israeli attacks, in addition to cultural institutions elsewhere such as the 1982 looting of the Palestinian Research Centre in Beirut and the accompanying destruction of historical archives. Furthermore, centres of education replacing previously destroyed institutions have also been targeted, such as attacks in 2009 on the UN-established school in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
In light of Israel’s recent assault on Gaza, the idea of scholasticide has been supported by academics by three of Israel’s actions: the devastation of educational infrastructure, the continuous military assault on universities and schools, and the persecution of Palestinian scholars and dissenting scholars at Israeli universities. The first and second actions have spoken for themselves over the course of the war since October, with the sheer amount of destruction across Gaza and the future of education remaining bleak for Palestinian children. Furthermore, many prominent Palestinian scholars were recently killed by Israeli strikes or offensives. The scientist, researcher and president of the Islamic University of Gaza, Sufyan Tayeh, specializing in theoretical physics and applied mathematics, was murdered along with his family in December. Similarly, the renowned professor, writer, and poet Refaat Alareer was killed in air strikes in Gaza in the same month. Alareer was well known for writing about his Gazan experience, leaving behind the emotional poem “If I Die,” shortly before the airstrike that killed him and six members of his family. Their deaths, alongside the combined efforts to reduce educational infrastructure in Gaza to rubble, have outraged academics across the world and prompted the petition Scholars Against the War on Palestine (SAWP). Scholars from institutes across Israel, such as Anat Matar, an Israeli philosopher and activist, have joined the petition, along with a wide range of signatories from Stanford to the University of Amsterdam.
One such signatory of both the SAWP petition and the open letter “Support SSMU and the Palestine Solidarity Policy” published by the Daily in April 2022 is Michelle Hartman. A professor of Arabic literature at the McGill Institute of Islamic Studies, Professor Hartman, has been deeply involved in the Palestinian cause for over a decade.
“If the concept of scholasticide works to stop what is happening in Palestine, then I am all for it. We at universities around the world must respond to the systematic destruction of Palestinian education as loudly and forcefully as possible,” she stated in an email to the Daily. “This is a comprehensive project to completely decimate physical infrastructure — bombarding schools and universities in Gaza — while deliberately targeting Palestinian professors and students for harassment, detention, and murder.”
The final element supporting the idea of scholasticide is the importance of academia in Palestinian culture and society. In 2009, TheGuardian wrote that “Palestinians are among the most thoroughly educated people in the world…[and have] put a singular emphasis on learning.” In the same article, Dr. Karma Nabulsi, a Professor of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University, stated that for many Palestinians, “education is the most important thing – it is part of the family life, part of your identity, and part of the rebellion.” The resilience of Palestinian culture and education is showcased by the country’s extremely high literacy rates. With a literacy rate of 97.7 per cent, Palestine ranks above countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Turkey. This achievement is a testament to the Palestinian commitment to education regardless of ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises. Prof. Hartman continues along this vein.
“As scholars and as students, we must remind the world that the lives, thoughts, and work of our Palestinian peers are as worthy as our own. This is not because academia is more important than other spheres or academics are more important than other people. But education is a central value in Palestinian society and the attack on education is meant to destroy not only buildings but the aspirations, hope, and spirit of a people,” she wrote. “In an iconic poem, Mahmoud Darwish asks the colonizer, “Why not memorize a little poetry to stop the slaughter?” We must listen to him, and other Palestinians, and defend their right to exist and thrive—the future poets, alongside everyone else.”
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Scholars’ Call Launches International Campaign for Ceasefire in Palestine
January 4, 2024
While New Year’s and Christmas festivities were cancelled in Palestine this year, thousands of scholars around the world spoke out by signing the “All I want for the holidays is a ceasefire” statement. Issued on the Saturday before Christmas and endorsed by high-profile intellectuals and scientists, the statement gathered more than 3,400 academic signatures within 48 hours. The call for signatures is closed today.
“All people of conscience should demand an immediate halt to this genocidal war,” declares Rashid Khalidi (Columbia University). “Israel is committing multiple war crimes on a daily basis. It needs to be stopped immediately,” states eminent Israeli historian Avi Shlaim (Oxford).
Signatories to the statement include esteemed philosopher Cornel R. West, Fields Medalist mathematician David Mumford, acclaimed writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, prominent laws of war theorist Karma Nabulsi, and distinguished theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli.
“Solidarity, including on the part of medical scholars and other academics, is essential for saving lives and charting a pathway for freedom,” says renowned surgeon Prof. Ghassan Abu-Sittah.
“All I want for the holidays is a ceasefire” is organized by Scholars Against the War in Palestine (SAWP). The campaign coordinates cross-disciplinary transnational actions and education, bringing together Indigenous, African American, Jewish, Arab and other scholars. It is endorsed by leading figures in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, STEM, and Medicine from the US, Canada, Britain, and South Africa.
“Scholars Against the War on Palestine’s approach is exactly what is needed now,” says Nancy Fraser, Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research. SAWP is the largest global outcry from scholars to date, inspired by calls from Palestinian civil rights organizations and higher educational institutions for academics to take action to stop the war.
SAWP makes the following demands:
– Immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire;
– End the siege of Gaza; – Defend the Palestinian right to education;
– End the military occupation of all Palestinian lands;
– Dismantle the apartheid system;
– Implement the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the rights of self determination and return.
Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor at UC Berkeley states, “The time is now to end this violence and to demand freedom and justice for Palestine.”
To see the international statement go to: scholarsagainstwar.org/statement/
For further information contact: Sue Ferguson (Canada): 713-581-0147; David McNally (US): 832-617-3702; and/or email us at: info@scholarsagainstwar.org
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https://www.scholarsforpalestine.org
Scholars for Palestine UK: Urgent Call to End the War on Palestine
As Arab and Palestinian scholars in British universities, we issue this call in support of colleagues under attack in Palestine and the recent Unified Call for Justice and Freedom issued by Palestinian Higher Education institutions. We endorse and welcome the launch of the Scholars Against the War on Palestine (SAWP), and the call for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire.
We urge all academics in British universities to join us in opposing the targeted destruction of Palestinian universities in Gaza and the relentless assault on the wider Palestinian academic community. We stand opposed to Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian human rights and academic freedom, including the ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza; military raids, armed attacks, and arbitrary arrest and detention of Palestinian students and staff at West Bank universities; and threats of suspension, expulsion, personal attacks and violence against Palestinians in Israeli universities.
The systematic assault on the educational sector in Palestine is one dimension of Israel’s campaign against Palestinian civic and social infrastructure. It is part of an historic and ongoing project of ethnic cleansing and fragmentation that denies the Palestinian people their inalienable rights, including millions of Palestinians who are prevented from returning to their homeland. Israel’s attack on Palestinian education contributes to a system of displacement and dispossession by attacking the cultural and intellectual life of the Palestinian people, by preventing them from living, thriving, studying, and teaching on their ancestral lands and excluding them from free and equal participation in the international academic community. As scholars, we vehemently oppose these actions, recognising that education is not only a fundamental human right but a crucial pillar for the preservation of identity, heritage, and civic life.
British universities are directly complicit in the active destruction of Palestinian universities and the ongoing obstruction of access to education. British institutions and university pension funds invest millions of pounds in companies implicated in Israel’s military occupation, colonialism, and apartheid. This financial entanglement and the collaboration with arms companies that profit from the very onslaught against the Palestinian people raises critical questions about the role of our higher education institutions in perpetuating systems of oppression.
In the face of this complicity, staff and students have organised ‘walk outs’, teach-ins, and protests, whilst students’ unions and staff trade unions have expressed their solidarity with Palestinians both locally and nationally. This activism within our academic communities illustrates a commitment to ethical conduct and a refusal to be passive enablers of injustice. We must continue and escalate these actions.
We draw inspiration from the long tradition of international solidarity in British higher education institutions, exemplified by the scholars, students and staff who campaigned against Apartheid in South Africa, championed the fight against racism in Britain, and took the ethical stand against war, from Vietnam to Iraq. This legacy fuels our conviction that as scholars, we must heed the call for action issued by our Palestinian colleagues. At this critical moment, we urge our colleagues in Britain to join us in responding to this call, and collectively affirm our commitment to realising our shared universal principles of justice and the unwavering pursuit of a world free from oppression and violence.
An active stance by British academics against these ongoing attacks is all the more urgent given Britain’s historic colonial and continuing material and political complicity in the dispossession of the Palestinian people. As such, we call on all academics in Britain to join our campaign and:
Step up the pressure to end the war on Gaza and join the international movement calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire.
End complicity in the arms trade: Work to uncover if your university has investments, contracts or cooperation agreements with weapons companies supplying Israel and organise to cancel them. Support the call for the USS and other university pension funds to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.
Stand up for the Palestinian right to education : Speak out against the destruction of the educational sector and restrictions on academic freedom in Palestine. Organise your institutions to take a stand. Demand an end to limitations on travel, research, and expression for Palestinian scholars and students. Advocate for the removal of barriers, such as checkpoints and travel restrictions, that impede academics’ and students’ ability to attend classes, participate in research, and engage in academic activities. Support the right of international scholars to visit and collaborate with colleagues in Palestine.
Build academic links with Palestinian universities and academics: Establish initiatives to foster collaborative research initiatives to combat the international isolation of Palestinian higher education. Promote exchanges, joint projects, scholarship programmes and partnerships that contribute positively to the Palestinian educational sector.
Don’t cross the Palestinian picket line: Support and adhere to academic boycotts aimed at institutions complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights. Refrain from participating in collaborations, conferences, or partnerships with institutions that support or contribute to the occupation.
Defend freedom of expression: Resist any attempts to stigmatise or silence staff and students at British universities engaged in research, speech, and actions on Palestine.
E-mail: Scholarsforpal@proton.me
israel-academia-monitor.com 