IAM objectives: To collect information about Israel which relates to, inter alia, activities, publications and presentations of Israeli academics. To monitor their academic activities and publications. Activities for academic freedom and scientific resonance of institutions of higher learning and to prevent abuse of the academic platform for foreign interests. Activities for academic ethics.
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is the European Union program for doctoral studies and postdoctoral training. It is named after Marie Curie, a Polish and naturalized French physicist and chemist who researched radioactivity. The fund provides financial support to researchers for excellent research, boosting jobs, growth, and investments in Europe and beyond.
Little did the MSCA know that many recipients of their grants try to harm universities.
On July 22, 2021, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECC Palestine) published a letter by 160 beneficiaries of EU research funding, MSCA, and ERC fellows. The letter urged the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture to prohibit the disbursement of European research funds to Israeli institutions, which the letter identified as “complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights.”
In particular, the letter urges the EU Commission “to amend Horizon 2020 policy guidelines on the participation of Israeli entities to exclude all Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and all EU Research Framework Programmes until they abide by international law and human rights and cease their collaboration and systematic complicity in Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”
The letter urges the EU Commission to use their leverage to address “Israel’s brutal military assault” and Israel’s “human rights violations.”
The letter claims that Israel is a “heavily militarized state and an occupying power under international law, and the Palestinians who are an occupied, stateless people under a settler-colonial and apartheid regime.” Therefore, the European Commission and its institutions should “cease any complicity in Israel’s existing regime of injustice oppressing Palestinians.”
The reasons are “The complicity of Israeli academic institutions in Israel’s structural violence perpetrated against Palestinians across historic Palestine has been broadly and systematically documented.” Furthermore, “Given the evidence of the relationship between Israeli academic institutions and the systematic state practices of settler colonialism, and the crimes of apartheid and persecution, which have escalated again in Israel’s latest round of violence, we urge you to exercise your leverage and ensure the relationship with Israel’s academic institutions is based on respect for international law and human rights.”
Among the signatories are some Israelis. Neve Gordon, formerly from Ben Gurion University, now at Queen Mary University of London (UK), is a notorious anti-Israel activist who called for the boycott of Israel on the pages of the LA Times in 2009; Professor Haim Yacobi, University College London (UK), is a political activist with the NGO Zochrot, which promotes the “return” of Palestinian refugees from the West Bank and Gaza into Israel; Professor Eyal Weizman, Goldsmiths University of London (UK), is another notorious anti-Israel activist, who recently put up an exhibition that detailed the environmental effects of Israel’s military action in Gaza and the West Bank, but did not mention the effect of the Gaza missiles which targeted Israel.
Among other signatories are three high profile anti-Israel activists: Professor Niko Besnier, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), who was a member of the AAA Task Force Engagement on Israel-Palestine, in 2015, which recommended a boycott of Israel; Siggie Vertommen, a Post-doc, Ghent University (Belgium), who, as a post-doc at King’s College London, was accused of producing anti-Semitic work, as reported by IAM; Omar Jabary Salamanca, researcher, Ghent University (Belgium), who, in 2011, delivered a talk “The Case for Boycotting Israel” at Ghent University.
Being one-sided, the letter fails to report the violations of Palestinian human rights by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, including the recent Palestinian Authority raiding and killing dissidents.
Interestingly, the various Iranian media outlets promote the letter.
The signatories claim to “take seriously our mandate to generate equitable, responsible and inclusive scientific knowledge.” However, the group reflects the pernicious politicization of the academe where pro-Palestinian activists have managed to invade numerous professional associations, turning them into platforms that tarnish and delegitimize the State of Israel. In doing so, they slide into anti-Semitism as described by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which the European Commission already adopted.
160 academics, past and current recipients of prestigious European Union research funding, urge the EU to exclude all Israeli academic institutions complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law and Palestinian human rights from its research funding and programmes.
Signatories commend existing EU prohibition of funding for illegal Israeli settlement entities, but call for complicity to be the determining factor for exclusion rather than solely geographic location.
The letter urges the EU to ensure fulfillment of its mandate to generate equitable, responsible and inclusive scientific knowledge via effective measures
The initiative is part of growing global trend of scholars taking a stand against complicity with Israeli academic institutions and for Palestinian rights
160 academics from 21 countries urge the EU to exclude all Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law and Palestinian human rights from its taxpayer-funded research programmes. The academics are past and current recipients of some of the most prestigious European Union research funding programmes, including the European Research Council and the Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship.
This marks the first international initiative of EU funding recipients calling on EU institutions to stop funding complicit Israeli academic institutions until they cease their well-documented and systematic complicity in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
The letter was launched following Israel’s recent escalation of violence against Palestinians in Jerusalem, Gaza, the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory and in present-day Israel. The signatories recognize Israel’s latest round of violence as part of its “decades-long campaign of repression” against “Palestinians who are an occupied, stateless people under a settler-colonial and apartheid regime.”
The academics praise the EU’s existing policy which, in line with the EU’s mandate to generate equitable, responsible and inclusive scientific knowledge, prohibits the allocation of research funds to Israeli entities situated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), or for research carried out there. The EU Commission has recently reiterated that research and innovation activities funded by the EU must comply with ethical principles and be in conformity with international law, though this has not been the case on several occasions.
The signatories, regardless, urge the EU to extend “the prohibition of European research funds to include Israeli institutions complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights, regardless of where they are situated.”
The signatories further note and provide evidence of “the relationship between Israeli academic institutions and the systematic state practices of settler colonialism, and the crimes of apartheid and persecution.”
The letter stresses the “emerging consensus among some of the most prominent human rights organisations,” including Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem, that the violations and war crimes (including the crime of apartheid) perpetrated by Israel are part of a single regime from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The signatories urge the EU to exercise its “leverage and ensure the relationship with Israel’s academic institutions is based on respect for international law and human rights.”
They call on the EU “to amend Horizon 2020 policy guidelines on the participation of Israeli entities to exclude all Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and all EU Research Framework Programmes until they abide by international law and human rights and cease their collaboration and systematic complicity in Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”
The initiative is part of a growing global trend of scholars taking a stand against complicity with Israeli academic institutions and in solidarity with Palestinian rights. In recent weeks, nearly 350 academic departments, programs, unions and associations and over 23,000 university faculty, staff and students have endorsed statements in support of Palestinian rights, most committing to or calling for accountability measures to end complicity in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. ==============================================================================
Dear European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture, We, a group of concerned fellows and alumni of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, European Research Council, and other EU research funding, write to urge you to use your leverage to address the human rights violations that have occurred in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Israel in recent weeks, and to actively dissuade such violence from resuming. We acknowledge that the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, announced on 21st May 2021, has brought a necessary respite from 11 days of Israel’s brutal military assault. Nevertheless 254 people have been killed: 242 Palestinians in Gaza, among them 66 children, and 12 Israelis. The effects of Israel’s attacks on media and health facilities are grave. Amnesty International has denounced Israel’s targeting of residential buildings in Gaza, “in some cases killing entire families – including children” that “may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.” The UN reports 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza, many of whom are already refugees from prior expulsions by Israel. Israel’s military strikes have destroyed clean water and electricity infrastructure, and severely damaged health facilities like the Hamad hospital, further preventing emergency care for the nearly 2,000 Palestinians wounded. The residential tower hosting offices of Associated Press and Al-Jazeera in Gaza were razed to the ground by precision Israeli missiles, hindering journalists’ abilities to cover Israel’s attacks on Gaza. This is only Israel’s most recent violent attack on Gaza. Its 14-year illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip has not been addressed by the ceasefire. Since April, Israel has arrested and/or detained at least 1,800 Palestinians, including hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel. These arrests are a repressive measure against legitimate protests carried out by Palestinians, in solidarity with civilians targeted by Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Over the last months, Israel has escalated its policies of forced expulsions in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, culminating in a military police attack on worshipers inside the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the last days of Ramadan. Israel’s ongoing arrests and displacements are part of its decades-long campaign of repression, expulsions, unequal residency rights, and discriminatory planning policies that have persisted despite multiple ceasefires. These policies are promoted by extremist settler movements and rubber-stamped by a political and judicial system that the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, recently described as meeting the international definition of “apartheid” from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean sea. In addition, the transfer of civilians of the occupying state into a militarily occupied territory constitutes a war crime according to the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which EU states have ratified. We stand in solidarity and grief with all families who lost their loved ones, no matter their provenance: one victim is already too great a loss. However, portraying the historic and ongoing violence as a “conflict” between equally powerful parties is misleading. There is a stark difference between Israel, a heavily militarized state and an occupying power under international law, and the Palestinians who are an occupied, stateless people under a settler-colonial and apartheid regime. That is why we believe it is crucial for key political actors like the European Commission and its institutions to act accordingly and cease any complicity in Israel’s existing regime of injustice oppressing Palestinians-. As scholars and researchers who are current and past beneficiaries of EU research funding, MSCA and ERC fellows and alumni and have benefited from generous EU investment in our research, we take seriously our mandate to generate equitable, responsible and inclusive scientific knowledge. The European Commission has already taken a principled position and its funding guidelines for Horizon 2020 prohibit the allocation of funds to Israeli entities situated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, or for research carried out there. As the EU Commission recently reiterated: “Article 19 of the Horizon 2020 Framework Regulation provides that all the research and innovation activities carried out under Horizon 2020 must comply with ethical principles and relevant national, Union and international legislation…” The necessary provisions have been made in EU legislation and its implementing rules to “ensure the respect of positions and commitments in conformity with international law on the non-recognition by the EU of Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967”. This is a principled position, in line with international law and the respect of human rights. Israeli entities located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and built on Palestinian land are structurally involved in the perpetration of war crimes and human rights abuses. However, we believe that, given the emerging consensus among some of the most prominent human rights organisations, the crux of the problem goes beyond the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It would be important to extend the prohibition of European research funds to include Israeli institutions complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights, regardless of where they are situated. Indeed, the complicity of Israeli academic institutions in Israel’s structural violence perpetrated against Palestinians across historic Palestine has been broadly and systematically documented. Allow us to provide some examples: 1. Israeli universities, irrespective of their location, are structurally involved in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights, as clearly demonstrated in this report. 2. The military doctrines and weaponry utilised in Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights are developed in top Israeli universities, as reported here, 3. Israeli universities have multiple partnerships with and scholarships sponsored by Israeli weapons manufacturers and numerous joint academic programs with the Israeli military. 4. Hebrew University is partially built on land illegally expropriated from Palestinian owners and hosts an Israeli military base on campus. 5. Israeli universities perpetrate forms of institutional racism against their Palestinian students and violate their rights to academic freedom and freedom of expression. 6. The knowledge production of Israeli universities supports and rationalises practices of ethnic cleansing, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 7. Some of the most prominent ethicists working in Israeli universities develop the “moral” justifications for the killing of civilians and the perpetration of war crimes. 8. Israeli universities collaborate regularly with settlement institutions and have involved these institutions in EU research programs in which they participate, in violation of EU guidelines. Given the evidence of the relationship between Israeli academic institutions and the systematic state practices of settler colonialism, and the crimes of apartheid and persecution, which have escalated again in Israel’s latest round of violence, we urge you to exercise your leverage and ensure the relationship with Israel’s academic institutions is based on respect for international law and human rights. As current and past beneficiaries of EU research funding, we urge you to amend Horizon 2020 policy guidelines on the participation of Israeli entities to exclude all Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and all EU Research Framework Programmes until they abide by international law and human rights and cease their collaboration and systematic complicity in Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.
Yours, The 160 Signatories attached below 1 Samer Abdelnour Senior Lecturer at University of Edinburgh (UK) 2 Lilith Acadia Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University (Taiwan) 3 Luigi Achilli Researcher, European University Institute (Italy) 4 Ahmet Akkaya Independent Researcher (Belgium) 5 Nida Alahmad Lecturer, University of Edinburgh (UK) 6 Walaa Alqaisiya PhD, London School of Economics, London (UK) 7 Lorenzo Alunni MSC Fellow, EHESS, Paris (France) 8 Diego Andreucci Postdoc, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) 9 Miriyam Aouragh Reader, University of Westminster (UK) 10 Marta Araujo Senior Researcher, University of Coimbra (Portugal) 11 Karel Arnaut Associate Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 12 Nishat Awan Senior Researcher, Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) 13 Stefania Barca Senior Researcher, University of Coimbra (Portugal) 14 Marie Beauchamps Independent writer and researcher (Netherlands) 15 Maria J Beltran Muñoz Lecturer, Pablo de Olavide University (Spain) 16 Berenice Bento Professor, University of Brasília (Brazil) 17 MatteoBenussi MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 18 Niko Besnier Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 19 Benedetta Bessi MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 20 Brenna Bhandar Associate Professor, University of British Columbia Canada) 21 Susan Blackwell Lecturer, University of Utrecht (Netherlands) 22 Tamar Blickstein MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 23 Camillo Boano Professor, UCL, London (UK) 24 Xavier Bonal Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 25 Sarah Bracke Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 26 Eva Brems Professor, Ghent University (Belgium) 27 Rita Calvario Postdoc, University of Coimbra (Portugal) 28 MatteoCapasso MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 29 Giovanni Capellini Professor, University of Roma Tre (Italy) 30 Giovanni Carbone Professor, University of Milan (Italy) 31 Gabriel Catren Researcher, National Centre for Scientific Research (France) 32 Millicent Churcher MSC Fellow, Free Universiy of Berlin (Germany) 33 Linda Clarke Professor, University of Westminster London (UK) 34 Olga Cojocaru Researcher, Centre of Migration Research Warsaw (Poland) 35 Eileen Connolly Retired Professor, Dublin City University (Ireland) 36 MatteoCosci MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 37 Massimiliano CovielloResearcher, Link Campus University of Rome (Italy) 38 Costanza Curro Postdoc, University of Helsinki (Finland) 39 Petr Daněk Senior Lecturer, Masaryk University (Czech Republic) 40 Romina De Angelis Researcher, UCL London (UK) 41 Silvia De Bianchi ERC grant holder, University of Barcelona (Spain) 42 Chiara De Cesari Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 43 Valerie De Craene Post-doc, Ghent University (Belgium) 44 KatrienDe Graeve Associate Professor, Ghent University (Belgium) 45 Marco Demichelis Senior Researcher, IUAV University of Venice (Italy) 46 Marco Di Branco MSC Fellow, University La Sapienza of Rome (Italy) 47 Cesare Di Feliciantonio Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) 48 John Doyle Professor, Dublin City University (Ireland) 49 Sinéad D’Silva Researcher, University of Lisbon (Portugal) 50 Constance Dupuis Researcher, Erasmus University of Rotterdam (Netherlands) 51 Sergio Durante Professor, University of Padua (Italy) 52 Dian Ekowati Senior Researcher Officer CIFO (Indonesia) 53 Jan Engelen Professor Emeritus, University of Leuven (Belgium) 54 Irmak Ertor Assistant professor, University of Barcelona (Spain) 55 Nur Aiman Fadel PhD ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 56 Layal Ftouni Assistant Professor, Utrecht University (Nethelrands) 57 Pablo Garcia Researcher, University of Leiden (Netherlands) 58 Maziyar Ghiabi MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 59 Cristiano Gianolla Researcher, University of Coimbra (Portugal) 60 Emanuela Girei Lecturer, University of Sheffield (UK) 61 Eduardo Gómez-Sánchez Professor, University of Valladolid (Spain) 62 Neve Gordon Professor, Queen Mary University of London (UK) 63 Xavier Guignard PhD Candidate, University of Paris-1 (France) 64 Michael Harris Emeritus Researcher, Institute of Mathematics of Jussieu, Paris (France) 65 Alex Henley MSC Fellow, University of Oxford (UK) 66 Livia Holden Director of Research, Paris Nanterre University (France) 67 Ilenia Iengo PhD Candidate, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) 68 Omar Jabary Salamanca Researcher, Ghent University (Belgium) 69 Thibaut Jaulin Researcher, Sciences Po University of Paris (France) 70 Emil G. Howard Joffé Senior Researcher, University of Cambridge (UK) 71 Georgios Kallis Professor, University of Barcelona (Spain) 72 Shivani Kaul PhD Candidate, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 73 Christian Kesteloot Emeritus Professor, University of Leuven (Belgium) 74 VK Kolinjivadi Post-doc, University of Antwerp (Belgium) 75 Antti Kupiainen Professor, University of Helsinki (Finland) 76 Michele Lancione Professor, University of Turin (Italy) 77 Madeleine Le Bourdon Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London (UK) 78 Maria Jose Lera Associate Professor, University of Seville (Spain) 79 Les Levidow Senior Researcher, Open University (UK) 80 Chrisoula Lionis Researcher, University of Manchester (UK) 81 RaquelMachaqueiro Post-doc, Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal) 82 Marianne Maeckelbergh Professor, University of Leiden (Netherlands) 83 Pieter Maeseele Professor, University of Antwerp (Belgium) 84 Cephas Mandizvidza Senior Researcher, Scientific Research Development Centre (Zimbabwe) 85 Sabrina Marchetti Associate Professor, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 86 Emma Martin Diaz Professor, University of Seville (Spain) 87 Alice Massari Researcher, University of Florence (Italy) 88 Francesca Mazzilli MSC Fellow, University of Bergen (Norway) 89 Richard McNeil-Willson Research Associate, EU University Institute (Italy) 90 Bruno Meeus Post-doc, University of Leuven (Belgium) 91 Laura Mentini PhD Candidate, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) 92 Julie Metta PhD Candidate, University of Leuven (Belgium) 93 Nina Isabella Moeller Associate Professor, Coventry University (UK) 94 Rahman Momeni Researcher, University of Nottingham (UK) 95 Annelies Moors Emeritus Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 96 Clément Mouhot Professor, University of Cambridge (UK) 97 Frank Moulaert Emeritus Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 98 Muhammad Umair Researcher, Mukati Technical University of Denmark 99 Vjosa Musliu Assistant Professor, Free University of Brussels (Belgium) 100 Yael Navaro Professor, University of Cambridge (UK) 101 Aysha Navest PhD University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 102 Azadeh Nematy Junior Fellow, University Bielefeld (Germany) 103 Idesbald Nicaise Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 104 Elana Ochse Associate Professor, University of Turin (Italy) 105 Ruud Oeters Emeritus Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 106 Michelle Pace Professor, Roskilde University (Netherlands) 107 Polly Pallister-WilkinsAssociate Professor, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 108 Mario Pansera ERC grantee, University of Vigo (Spain) 109 Christopher Parker Associate Professor, Ghent University (Belgium) 110 Esther Peeren Professor University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 111 Alfonso Perez Researcher, Pompeu Fabra University (Spain) 112 Nicola Perugini Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh (UK) 113 Sean Phelan MSC Fellow, University of Antwerp (Belgium) 114 Daniela Pioppi Associate Professor, University of Naples (Italy) 115 Andrea Pollio MSC Fellow, Polytechnic University of Turin (Italy) 116 Stefano Portelli Researcher, University of Leicester (UK) 117 Caitlin Procter Professor, European University Institute (Italy) 118 Mauro Puddu MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 119 Sabrina Puddu MSC Fellow, Leuven University (Belgium) 120 Raija-Leena Punmäki Professor, Tampere University (Finland) 121 Carlo Alberto Redi Professor, University of Pavia (Italy) 122 Hilary Rose Emeritus Professor, University of Bradford (UK) 123 Steven Rose Emeritus Professor, Open University (UK) 124 Jonathan RosenheadEmeritus Professor, London School of Economics (UK) 125 Anna Rosinska MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 126 Catherine RottenbergAssociate Professor, University of Nottingham (UK) 127 Sahar Saeidnia Post-doc, Free University of Brussels (Belgium) 128 Salah Eddine Salhi Researcher, University of Abou Bakr Belkaïd (Algeria) 129 Francesca Savoldi Post-doc, University of Lisbon (Portugal) 130 Todd Sekuler Post-Doc, Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany) 131 Paula Sequeiros Associate Researcher, University of Coimbra (Spain) 132 Jonathan Silver Researcher, University of Sheffield (UK) 133 Maria Ainara Sistiaga Gutierrez Post-doc, University of Copenhagen (Denmark) 134 Thomas Smith Assistant Professor, Masaryk University (Czech Republic) 135 Joana Sousa Researcher, University of Coimbra (Spain) 136 AngeloStefanini Researcher, University of Bologna (Italy) 137 Mikki Stelder Postdoc, University of British Columbia (Canada) 138 Andy Stirling Professor, University of Sussex (UK) 139 Erik Swyngedouw Professor, University of Manchester (UK) 140 Lewis Turner Lecturer, Newcastle University (UK) 141 Barbara Van Dyck Associate Professor, Coventry University (UK) 142 Gert Van Hecken Assistant Professor, University of Antwerp (Belgium) 143 Geert Van Hootegem Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 144 Geertrui Van Overwalle Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 145 Dirk Vandermeulen Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 146 Diana Vela Almeida Researcher, University of Science and Technology (Norway) 147 Giorgos Velegrakis Researcher, University of,hens (Greece) 148 Jef Verhoeven Emeritus Professor, Leuven University (Belgium) 149 Siggie Vertommen Post-doc, Ghent University (Belgium) 150 Foteini Vervelidou Postdoc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston (USA) 151 Lorenzo Vianelli Post-doc, University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) 152 Gordon Walker Professor, Lancaster University (UK) 153 Eyal Weizman Professor, Goldsmiths University of London (UK) 154 Susanne Wessendorf Professor, Coventry University (UK) 155 Kalpana Wilson Lecturer, Birkbeck University of London (UK) 156 Bilge Yabanci MSC Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) 157 Haim Yacobi Professor, University College London (UK) 158 Alexandra Zavos Researcher, Panteion University (Greece) 159 Dina Zbeidy Researcher, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) 160 Francesco Zucconi Researcher, IUAV University of Venice (Italy)
The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) was founded in 1986 as a network of European committees, organisations, NGOs and international solidarity movements, dedicated to the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and justice. ECCP is based in Brussels and has a legal status as a non-profit organisation under Belgian law.
ECCP in its work is trying to challenge EU complicity with Israel’s ongoing violations of International Law and Palestinian rights. We are coordinating political actions, grassroots campaigns and debates at the European level, highlighting the ways in which the EU, despite its many verbal condemnations, continues to fund Israeli companies and institutions that are directly involved in the maintenance of the Israeli regime of apartheid, colonialism and occupation.
ECCP OBJECTIVES:
ECCP supports a ‘rights-based approach’ (focusing on the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people) as opposed to a ‘solution-based approach’.
a) The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination as enshrined in international law and relevant UN resolutions
b) An end to the 1967 occupation of all Arab lands, particularly the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, and its associated regime
c) The right of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
d) Respect, protection and promotion of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes as stipulated in UN Resolution 194
e) The unconditional release of all Palestinian prisoners
Israel has not properly addressed the accusations of apartheid and the calls for punishment. The distortion of the truth and outright lies that have been spread are easily refutable.
The “Declaration on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid in Historic Palestine” is a case in point. The document represents an initiative by Ahmed Abbes, a Tunisian French mathematician from the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, a long-time anti-Israel activist, had assisted with the project.
The following statements comprise the Declaration:
1- Israel has subjected the Palestinian people for 73 years to an ongoing catastrophe, known as the Nakba, a process that included massive displacement, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity;
2- Israel has established an apartheid regime on the entire territory of historic Palestine and directed toward the whole of the deliberately fragmented Palestinian people; Israel itself no longer seeks to hide its apartheid character, claiming Jewish supremacy and exclusive Jewish rights of self-determination in all of historic Palestine through the adoption in 2018 by the Knesset of a new Basic Law;
3-The apartheid character of Israel has been confirmed and exhaustively documented by widely respected human rights organizations, Adalah, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and in the UN ESCWA academic study that stresses the importance of defining Israeli apartheid as extending to people rather than limited to space, [“Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” UN ESCWA, 2017];
4- Israel periodically unleashes massive violence with devastating impacts on Palestinian civilian society, particularly against the population of Gaza, which endures widespread devastation, collective trauma, and many deaths and casualties, aggravated by being kept under an inhuman and unlawful blockade for over 14 years, and throughout the humanitarian emergency brought about by the COVID pandemic;
5- Western powers have facilitated and even subsidized for more than seven decades this Israeli system of colonization, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid, and continue to do so diplomatically, economically, and even militarily.
However, there are answers to this egregious declaration:
1- Prior to 1948, the Palestinian Arabs had no intention of co-existing with the Jews and occasionally responded with massacres (1920, 1921, 1929, 1936-9) The Palestinian leader, Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, collaborated with Hitler and helped round up Jews in Bosnia in 1941. He hoped that the Germans would conquer Palestine and set up extermination camps like in Europe. When, in 1947, the United Nations offered the Partition Plan, the Palestinians rejected it and, with the help of the Arab States, invaded the fledgling state of Israel. They had the misfortune of losing the 1948 war and, like other losing belligerents, had to live with the consequences.
2- The accusation that Israel is an apartheid regime is misguided. In Israel itself, there are Palestinian Israelis who enjoy democratic freedom. The rest of the Palestinians who live under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas – both non-democratic entities – had enjoyed fewer rights than the compatriots in Israel. In fact, Hamas runs a brutal dictatorship in the Gaza Strip, and, recently, the Abbas government in the West Bank had cracked the whip against critics.
3-The apartheid accusations by the human rights organizations such as Adalah, B’Tselem, and Human Rights Watch have been based on falsified information obtained from the same sources. As for the 2017 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) report, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked ESCWA to remove the report from its website as it was published without consultation with the U.N. secretariat. Therefore, Rima Khalaf, the UN Under-Secretary-General, and ESCWA Executive Secretary, resigned. The United States Mission to the U.N. published Ambassador Nikki Haley’s response to the resignation of Khalaf: “When someone issues a false and defamatory report in the name of the UN, it is appropriate that the person resign. UN agencies must do a better job of eliminating false and biased work, and I applaud the Secretary General’s decision to distance his good office from it.” Worth noting that the ESCWA comprises 20 Arab States: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, among them the worse enemies of Israel. Most of these states are not democratic and violate their citizens’ human rights far worse than Israel.
4- Contrary to the assumption that “Israel periodically unleashes massive violence with devastating impacts on Palestinian civilian society,” it is the Palestinian society that periodically unleashes massive violent attacks against Israel. The recent war that Gaza started and the revelation of underground tunnels from Gaza into the heart of Israeli villages prove the extent of the belligerence of the Palestinians. Israel has the right to protect itself from such aggressions. Blaming Israel for the Gaza blockade for over 14 years is wrong. Egypt has blocked Gaza too for committing acts of terrorism on Egyptian soil. Following a terrorist attack from Gaza that killed 31 Egyptian soldiers in 2014, Egypt started expanding the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt. As for mentioning the COVID pandemic, it cannot be blamed on Israel.
5- No Western or other states would have accepted terrorist and missile attacks targeting its people. Israel’s reactions were moderate, aiming at the Palestinian militant groups while avoiding harming the civilian population.
The signers of this document include some Israeli academics, Hagit Borer, Neve Gordon, Haim Bresheeth, Adi Ophir, Anat Matar, Emmanuel Farjoun. They request “the establishment of a democratic constitutional arrangement.” While Israel is a democratic state, Palestine is not.
The Palestinian people are responsible for their mismanagement. Israeli academics, activists, and others should stop pretending they are unaware of Palestinian misconduct. It behooves the Tunisian French mathematician and the large group of signers to pressure the Palestinians to become democratic, peace-loving, and respectful of human rights.
Over 900 scholars, artists and intellectuals from more than 45 countries have signed the following declaration calling for the dismantling of the apartheid regime set up on the territory of historic Palestine and the establishment of a democratic constitutional arrangement that grants all its inhabitants equal rights and duties. The signatories include many distinguished figures, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire, the Nobel Chemistry Laureate George Smith, academics with legal expertise Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, John Dugard and Richard Falk, scholars Étienne Balibar, Hagit Borer, Ivar Ekeland, Suad Joseph, Edgar Morin, Jacques Rancière, Roshdi Rashed and Gayatri Spivak, health researcher Sir Iain Chalmers, composer Brian Eno, musician Roger Waters, author Ahdaf Soueif, economist and former Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Sir Richard Jolly, former Vice President European Parliament Luisa Morgantini, South African politician and veteran anti-apartheid leader Ronnie Kasrils and Canadian peace activist and former national leader of the Green Party of Canada Joan Russow.
Declaration on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid in Historic Palestine
Whereas:
1- Israel has subjected the Palestinian people for 73 years to an ongoing catastrophe, known as the Nakba, a process that included massive displacement, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity;
2- Israel has established an apartheid regime on the entire territory of historic Palestine and directed toward the whole of the deliberately fragmented Palestinian people; Israel itself no longer seeks to hide its apartheid character, claiming Jewish supremacy and exclusive Jewish rights of self-determination in all of historic Palestine through the adoption in 2018 by the Knesset of a new Basic Law;
4- Israel periodically unleashes massive violence with devastating impacts on Palestinian civilian society, particularly against the population of Gaza, which endures widespread devastation, collective trauma, and many deaths and casualties, aggravated by being kept under an inhuman and unlawful blockade for over 14 years, and throughout the humanitarian emergency brought about by the COVID pandemic;
5- Western powers have facilitated and even subsidized for more than seven decades this Israeli system of colonization, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid, and continue to do so diplomatically, economically, and even militarily.
ii- The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid which stipulates in Article I that ’apartheid is a crime against humanity and that inhuman acts resulting from the policies and practices of apartheid and similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination, as defined in article II of the Convention, are crimes violating the principles of international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and constituting a serious threat to international peace and security.’ The States Parties to this Convention undertake in accordance with Article IV: _ “(a) To adopt any legislative or other measures necessary to suppress as well as to prevent any encouragement of the crime of apartheid and similar segregationist policies or their manifestations and to punish persons guilty of that crime; _ “(b) To adopt legislative, judicial and administrative measures to prosecute, bring to trial and punish in accordance with their jurisdiction persons responsible for, or accused of, the acts defined in article II of the present Convention, whether or not such persons reside in the territory of the State in which the acts are committed or are nationals of that State or of some other State or are stateless persons.”
The endorsers of this document:
A- Declare their categorical rejection of the apartheid regime set up on the territory of historic Palestine and imposed on the Palestinian people as a whole, including refugees and exiles wherever they might be in the world.
B- Call for the immediate dismantling of this apartheid regime and the establishment of a democratic constitutional arrangement that grants and implements on all the inhabitants of this land equal rights and duties, regardless of their racial, ethnic, and religious identities, or gender preferences, and which respects and enforces international law and human conventions, and in particular gives priority to the long deferred right of return of Palestinian refugees expelled from their towns and villages during the creation of the State of Israel, and subsequently.
C- Urge their governments to cease immediately their complicity with Israel’s apartheid regime, to join in the effort to call for the dismantling of apartheid structures and their replacement by an egalitarian democratic governance that treats everyone subject to its authority in accordance with their rights and with full respect for their humanity, and to make this transition in a manner sensitive to the right of self-determination enjoyed by both peoples presently inhabiting historic Palestine.
D- Call for the establishment of a National Commission of Peace, Reconciliation, and Accountability to accompany the transition from apartheid Israel to a governing process sensitive to human rights and democratic principles and practices. In the interim, until such a process is underway, issue a call for the International Criminal Court to launch a formal investigation of Israeli political leaders and security personnel guilty of perpetuating the crime of apartheid.
* Academics, artists and intellectuals can endorse this declaration by completing this form.
* Endorsed by 969 academics, artists and intellectuals on July 17, 2021 (click here for the full list), including
Ahmed Abbes, mathematician, Director of research in Paris, France
Sinan Antoon, New York University, United States
John Avery, Writer, Denmark
Bertrand Badie, Sciences Po Paris, France
Étienne Balibar, Anniversary Chair of Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University London, United Kingdom
Anthony Barnett, Writer, United Kingdom
Edmond Baudoin, Auteur de bandes dessinées, France
Jacob Berger, Filmmaker, Switzerland
George Bisharat, UC Hastings College of the Law/Professor, musician, United States
Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of Public International Law, University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Hagit Borer, Professor, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Council of Elders of the ICCA Consortium, Switzerland
Bruno Boussagol, Metteur en scène, France
Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, UC Berkeley, United States
Anouar Brahem, Musician, Composer, Tunisia
Rony Brauman, Physician, writer, former president of Médecins Sans Frontières, France
Victoria Brittain, Writer and journalist, United Kingdom
Iain Chalmers, Editor, James Lind Library, United Kingdom
Hafidha Chekir, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Al Manar University, Tunis; Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights, Tunisia
Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, Professeure émérite de droit public et de sciences politiques, Université Paris-Diderot, France
David Comedi, National University of Tucumán and National Research Council, Argentina
Jean-Paul Cruse, Écrivain indépendant, France
Laurent Cugny, Professeur, Sorbonne Université, France
Eric David, Emeritus Professor of International Law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Canada
Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, Professeure émérite à l’Université de Paris, France
Herman De Ley, Emeritus Professor, Ghent University, Belgium
Raymond Deane, Composer, author, Ireland
John Dugard, University of Leiden, Netherlands
Ivar Ekeland, Professor emeritus of mathematics and former President, University of Paris-Dauphine, France
Brian Eno, Artist/Composer, United Kingdom
Adolfo Esquivel, Premio Nobel de la Paz 1980 (Nobel Peace Prize 1980), Argentina
Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University, United States
Emmanuel Farjoun, Emeritus Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Jan Fermon, Avocat. Secrétaire général Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates, Belgium
Pierre Galand, Ancien professeur des Universités à l’U.L.B., Belgique
Domenico Gallo, Chamber President in Supreme Court of Cassazione, Italy
Irene Gendzier, Prof Emeritus in the Dept Political Science, Boston University, United States
Catherine Goldstein, Director of Research, Paris, France
Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Nacira Guénif, Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis, France
Sondra Hale, Professor Emerita, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University, United States
Marc Hedrich, Cour d’appel de Caen, France
Fredrik S. Heffermehl, Writer, Norway
Judith Herrin, King’s College London, United Kingdom
Christiane Hessel-Chabry, Présidente d’honneur de l’association EJE (Gaza), France
Shir Hever, Political Economist, Germany
Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Abdeen Jabara, Attorney, past president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, United States
Richard Jolly, Emeritus Fellow, IDS, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor, University of California, Davis, United States
Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
Ronnie Kasrils, Former government minister, South Africa
Assaf Kfoury, Computer Science Department, Boston University, United States
Rima Khalaf, Former Executive Secretary of UN ESCWA, Jordan
Daniel Kupferstein, Film director, France
Patrick Le Hyaric, Président du groupe L’Humanité. Député européen 2004 -2014, France
Ronit Lentin, Trinity College Dublin Ireland (retired associate professor), Ireland
Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond, Emeritus professor, University of Nice, France
David Lloyd, University of California Riverside, United States
Brinton Lykes, Professor & Co-Director, Boston College Center for Human Rights & International Justice, United States
Moshé Machover, Mathematician, KCL, United Kingdom
Kate Macintosh, Architect, United Kingdom
Mairead Maguire, Nobel peace laureate, Ireland
Mohamed Fadhel Mahfoudh, President of the National Order of Lawyers of Tunisia from 2013 to 2016 and as such received the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, Tunisia
Dick Marty, Dr. Jur. Dr. H.c., former Chair of the Committee of Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Switzerland
Gustave Massiah, Ancien enseignant à l’école d’architecture de paris la villette, France
Georg Meggle, Philosopher, Prof. em. at University of Leipzig, Germany
Georges Menahem, Director of research in Economics and Sociology, CNRS, MSH Paris-Nord, France
Luisa Morgantini, Former Vice President European Parliament, Italy
Edgar Morin, Directeur de recherches émérite au CNRS, France
Chantal Mouffe, Professor emeritus University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Véronique Nahoum-Grappe, Anthropologue, France
Safa Nasser, Academician, Palestine
Jan Oberg, DrHc, peace and future researcher, Transnational Foundation, Sweden
Joseph Oesterlé, Emeritus professor, Sorbonne University, France
Adi Ophir, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University; Visiting Professor, The Cogut Institute for the Humanities and the center for Middle East Studies, Brown Universities, United States
Norman Paech, Professor emeritus University of Hamburg, Germany
Karine Parrot, Professeure de droit à l’Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France
John Pilger, journalist, film-maker, author, United Kingdom
Ghislain Poissonnier, Magistrate, France
Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy, Al-Haq, Palestine
Prabir Purkayastha, Editor, Newsclick.in, India
Jacques Rancière, Professeur émérite, Université Paris 8, France
Roshdi Rashed, CNRS/Université de Paris, France
Bernard Ravenel, Historian, France
Steven Rose, Emeritus Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at the Open University and Gresham College, London, United Kingdom
Hilary Rose, Professor Emerita Sociology University of Bradfor, United Kingdom
Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, United States
Alice Rothchild, MD, retired, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School, United States
Joan Russow, Researcher, Global Compliance Research Project, Canada
Richard Seaford, Emeritus Professor, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Leila Shahid, Former Ambassador of Palestine, Palestine
Eyal Sivan, Filmmaker – Essayist, France
John Smith, Filmmaker, Emeritus Professor of Fine Art, University of East London, United Kingdom
George Smith, Emeritus Professor, University of Missouri; 2018 Nobel Chemistry Laureate, United States
Gayatri Spivak, Columbia University, United States
Jonathan Steele, Author and journalist, United Kingdom
Annick Suzor-Weiner, Professor emeritus, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Salim Tamari, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Birzeit University, Palestine
Virginia Tilley, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, United States
Salim Vally, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Roger Waters, Musician, United Kingdom
Thomas G. Weiss, The CUNY Graduate Center, United States
Robert Wintemute, Professor of Human Rights Law, King’s College London, United Kingdom
John Womack jr, Harvard University, United States
* Institutional affiliations are given only for identification purposes* The full list of signatories is available here.* Academics, artists and intellectuals can endorse this declaration by completing this form.
Alain Bihr, Honorary professor of sociology, University of Bourgnogne-Franche-Comté, France
Sirma Bilge, Professor, Université de Montréal, Canada
Julie Billaud, Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland
Amahl Bishara, Tufts University, United States
George Bisharat, UC Hastings College of the Law/Professor, musician, United States
Beatriz Bissio Staricco, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Chris Blacktop, Registered Mental Health Nurse, United Kingdom
Susan Blackwell, Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands
Jacob Blakesley, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Javier Blanco, Lawyer, Spain
Olga Blazevits, Researcher, Italy
Elizabeth Block, Potter & singer, Canada
Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of Public International Law, University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
François Bohy, Composer, France
Jordi/Jorge Bonells Rodríguez, Écrivain – Professeur émérite, Université de Toulon, France
Véronique Bontemps, anthropologue, CNRS, France
Claire Borel, IRO Université de Montréal, retraitée, Canada
Hagit Borer, Professor, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Council of Elders of the ICCA Consortium, Switzerland
Michiel Bot, Assistant Professor of Law and Humanities, Tilburg University, Netherlands
Steven Botticelli, NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, United States
Sedki Boualem, Ancien diplomate, Algeria
Jean-Pierre Bouché, Molecular Biologist, CNRS (retired), France
Jean-Pierre Boudine, Mathématicien, agrégé, retraité, auteur, France
Mohamed Bouguerra, Retired University professor, France
Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni, Physician, Emeritus Professor of medical genetics, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia
Jean-Claude Bourdin, Professeur émérite de philosophie, Université de Poitiers, France
Youcef Boussaa, Psychiatre des hôpitaux retraité, France
Bruno Boussagol, Metteur en scène, France
Paul Bove, Editor, Writer, United States
Roxane Bovet, Curator/publisher, Switzerland
Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, UC Berkeley, United States
Robert Boyce, Emeritus Reader, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
Patrick Boylan, Associate Professor of English Language & Translation (retired), Roma Tre University, United States
Corinne Brachet, biochemist, engineer, in Paris, France
Michael Bradburn-Ruster, Professor/Poet, United States
Anouar Brahem, Musician, Composer, Tunisia
José A. Brandariz, University of A Coruna, Spain
Rony Brauman, Physician, writer, former president of Médecins Sans Frontières, France
Haim Bresheeth, SOAS, United Kingdom
Jean Bricmont, Retired professor, UClouvain, Belgique
Claude-Hélène Brissac-Féral, Sciences Po Bordeaux, France
Victoria Brittain, Writer and journalist, United Kingdom
Birgit Brock-Utne, Professor, University of Oslo, Norway
Adam Broomberg, Professor, Germany
Bernadette Brooten, Professor Emerita, Brandeis University; Director, Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, United States
Maurice Bruynooghe, KULeuven/Emeritus Professor, Belgium
Michel Bühler, Chanteur, écrivain, Suisse
Erica Burman, Professor of Education, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Claude Calame, Historien, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
Julia Calver, Artist, United Kingdom
Joseph Camilleri, Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Julie Campiche, Musician, composer, Switzerland
Lucas Cantori, Publisher, Suisse
Michel Capron, Professeur émérite de sciences de gestion, Université Paris 8 – Saint-Denis, France
João Caraça, Senior Adviser, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal
Sophie Carapetian, Artist, United Kingdom
Jorge Carneiro, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal
Ana Maria Carrillo-Farga, Historian, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México
Fred Carter, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Cristina Castello, Journaliste et poète franco-argentine ; Colegio Universitario de Periodismo, Argentina
Rinella Cere, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
John Chalcraft, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom
Tannous Chalhoub, Assistant professor, Lebanese University, Canada
Iain Chalmers, Editor, James Lind Library, United Kingdom
Pamela Chamberlain , Activist, United States
Indu Chandrasekhar, Publisher, Tulika Books, New Delhi, India
Claudine Chaouiya, Aix-Marseille University, France
Max Charvolen, Artist, France
Julie Chateauvert, Associate Professor, Innovation, Elisabeth-Bruyere School of Social Innovation, Saint-Paul University, Canada
Kunal Chattopadhyay, Professor of Comparative literature, Jadavpur University, India
Claudia Chaufan, Associate Professor, York University, Canada
Hafidha Chekir, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Al Manar University, Tunis; Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights, Tunisia
Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, Professeure émérite de droit public et de sciences politiques, Université Paris-Diderot, France
André Chenet, Poète, France
Anuradha Chenoy, retired Professor, India
Mohamed Cheriet, University of Quebec’s Ecole de technologie supérieure, Canada
Farida Cheriet, Professor, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada
Lounes Chikhi, Research Director at CNRS, University Toulouse 3, France
Usuf Chikte, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Yves Chilliard, Research Director (retired), INRAE, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Robert Chimambo, Environmental and Climate Justice Activist, Zambia
Larbi Chouikha, Professor, Manouba University, Tunisia
Abd Raouf Chouikha, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, France
Alberto Clarizia, Professor (retired) Università Federico II Napoli, Italy
Pierre Clément, Retraité, Aix-Marseille Université; honoraire Université Lyon1, France
Françoise Clément, Economist, France
Ted Clement-Evans, formerly a Fellow of the RICS, United Kingdom
Darlene Coffman, Retired educator , United States
Laurent Cohen, Translator and activist, Spain
Jack A Cole, Retired New Jersey state police, United States
Elliott Colla, Georgetown University, United States
David Comedi, National University of Tucumán and National Research Council, Argentina
Annie Conter, Professeur Émérite de Génétique, Université Paul Sabatier, France
Portilla Contreras, Universidad de Jaén, Spain
John Cooper, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Modibo Coulibaly, Chargé de recherche, Université des Sciences Techniques et Technologiques de Bamako, Mali
Emma Courtine, Honorary Member of the ICCA Consortium and circus artist, France
Phyllis Creighton, Writer, Toronto, Canada
Marcos Criado, Profesor derecho internacional de la UCR Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Curator, Brazil
Nicki Croghan, Medical interpreter, United States
Robin Huw Crompton, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dominique Crozat, Professor, Paul Valéry Montpellier University, France
Jean-Paul Cruse, Écrivain indépendant, France
Elyse Crystall, Assoc Prof, UNC-Chapel Hill, United States
Laurent Cugny, Professeur, Sorbonne Université, France
Paolo Cuttitta, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France
Philippe Cyroulnik, Art critic and curator, France
Frans Daems, Emeritus professor of linguistics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Jocelyne Dakhlia, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France
Laurent Dauré, Journalist, France
Eric David, Emeritus Professor of International Law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Marc David, Departement Wiskunde, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium
Lawrence Davidson, West Chester University, United States
Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Canada
Dayan-Herzbrun Dayan-Herzbrun , Professeure émérite à l’Université de Paris, France
Nino De Amicis, Professor, Italy
Daniel de Beer, Emeritus Professor, Saint Louis University, Belgium
Lieven de Cauter, Philosopher, KU Leuven, Belgium
Cécile de La Monneraye, Sculptor, France
Herman De Ley, Emeritus Professor, Ghent University, Belgium
Jan De Maeseneer, Emeritus Professor, Ghent University, Belgium
Hugo De Man, Emeritus Professor, Kuleuven, Belgium
Salomé de Unamuno, Retraitée du CNRS, France
Frederiek de Vlaming, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Raymond Deane, Composer, author, Ireland
Cormac Deane, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dublin, Ireland
Pascal Debruyne, Political science, Odisee University College, Belgium
Sharae Deckard, Associate Professor in World Literature, University College Dublin, Ireland
Tom Decorte, Professor, Belgium
Lara Deeb, Professor, Scripps College, United States
Hendrik Deelstra, Emeritus, professor University Antwerp, Belgium
Martine Defais, Molecular biologist CNRS retired, France
Dominique Dehais, ENSA Normandie, France
Jan Dekeyser, Architect & lecturer KU Leuven, Belgium
Adela Del Olmo García, Redactora y traductora, Spain
Antonio Esau Del Rio Castillo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ Nanomaterials Researcher, Italy
Sheila Delany, Simon Fraser University/writer, scholar, professor, Canada
Paul Delmotte, Prof. retraité de l’IHECS, Bruxelles, Belgium
Stéphane Delorme, architecte, France
Jan Delrue, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, architecture, Belgium
Pina Delvaux, Art in boxes, Luxembourg
Tj Demos, Professor, UC Santa Cruz, United States
Christian Depardieu, Galeriste, rédacteur en chef de performarts.net, France
Linval DePass, Drug Development Scientist, United States
Johan Depoortere, Journalist (retired), Belgium
Charles Derber, Professor and author, Boston College, United States
Radhika Desai, Professor, University of Manitonba, Canada
Jack Desbiolles, University of South Australia, Australia
Sudhanva Deshpande, Managing Editor, LeftWord Books, India
Blandine Destremau, Senior researcher, CNRS, France
Manthia Diawara, Professor, New York University, United States
Javier Díaz, Journalist, Spain
James Dickins, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
James Dickins, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Natalya Dinat, Medical Doctor, South Africa
Rabia Djellouli, Professor, CSUN, United States
Elizabeth Dore, Writer, United Kingdom
Laymert dos Santos, State University of Campinas (Retired), Brazil
Antonino Drago, Università Federico II Napoli, Italy
Alexandra Draxler, Retired from UNESCO, France
Michael Jacob Drexler, Bucknell University, United States
Françoise Dreyfus, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
Sufyan Droubi, University of Dundee, United Kingdom
Bruno Drweski, INALCO- Sorbonne Paris Cité, France
Simon du Chaffaut, Université Grenoble Alpes, France
Vincent Dubois, University of Strasbourg, France
Jean-Yves Dubré, Président AFPS49, France
Marie Ducaté, Artiste plasticienne, Marseille, France
John Dugard, University of Leiden, Netherlands
Michael Dunford, Emeritus Professor, University of Sussex, China
Marie-José Durand-Richard, (retired) associate professor, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-St Denis, France
Elizabeth Eastmond, Art Historian, Aotearoa New Zealand
Paul Eid, Université du Québec à Montréal (sociology), Canada
Ivar Ekeland, Professor emeritus of mathematics and former President, University of Paris-Dauphine, France
Nadia El Fani, Filmmaker, Tunisie
Najat El-Khairy, Palestinian Artist preserving Palestinian culture, Canada
Rabab El-Mahdi, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Hoda Elsadda, Professor, Cairo University, Egypt
Julia Elyachar, Assoc. Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University, United States
Philippe Enclos, Maître de conférences en droit privé (retraité), Université de Lille, France
Ron Engel, Professor Emeritus, Meadville/Lombard Theological School, United States
Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, Researcher, Professor, United States
Brian Eno, Artist/Composer, United Kingdom
Griffin Epstein, Professor at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada
Didier Epsztajn, Animateur du blog “entre les lignes entre les mots”, France
Ola Erstad, University of Oslo, Dep. of Education / Professor, Norway
Muhammed İbrahim Ertuğrul, Writer, Turkey
Farid Esack, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Adolfo Esquivel, Premio Nobel de la Paz 1980 (Nobel Peace Prize 1980), Argentina
Chokri Essifi, Writer, Tunisia
Marc Estrin, Novelist; editor, Fomite Press, United States
Susan Etscovitz, Social worker, United States
Phyllis Ewen, Artist, United States
Mohammad Fadel, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Canada
Kamil Fadel, Head of Physics department, Palais de la découverte, Paris, France
Carmelo Faleh-Pérez, Profesor de Derecho Internacional Público en la ULPGC y Asesor jurídico de la Asociación Española para el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos (AEDIDH), Spain
Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University, United States
Mirelle Fanon Mendes France, Chair Frantz Fanon Foundation, France/Martinique
Randa Farah, Associate Professor, Western University, Canada
Emmanuel Farjoun, Emeritus Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Judith Favish, Research associate, South Africa
Gordon Fellman, Brandeis University, United States
Eileen Ferguson, Visual artist, Ireland
Jan Fermon, Avocat. Secrétaire général Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates, Belgium
Sujatha Fernandes, University of Sydney, Australia
Anita Fernandez, Monteuse cinéma, écrivain, France
Ricardo Fernandez, Anthropologist/Archaeologist, United States
Enzo Ferrara, Centro Studi Sereno Regis – CSSR Torino, Italy
Benjamin Ferron, Université Paris-Est, France
Brigitte Fichet, Retraitée, Université de Strasbourg, France
Gary Fields, Professor, University of California, San Diego, United States
Peter Karl Fleissner, Professor, retired, Austria
Angela Flynn, University College Cork, Ireland
Jacques Fontaine, Maître de conférence honoraire en géographie, Université de Besançon, France
Manzar Foroohar, Professor Emerita, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, United States
Reb Fountain , Songwriter, Aotearoa, New Zealand
Enrique Fraga, Maître de conférences, Université de Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France
Marilyn Frankenstein, University of Massachusetts/Boston, (retired) Professor, Quantitative Reasoning in Arguments, United States
Estelle Fredet, Réalisatrice, France
Alan Freeman, Writer, Canada
Steven Friedman, Research Professor University of Johannesburg , South Africa
Samuel Friedman, Research Professor, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, United States
Michele Frigerio, Physicist, CNRS, France
Ruth Fruchtman, Writer and Journalist, Berlin, Germany
Will Furtado, Artist, writer, editor, Germany
Arunima G., Director, Kerala Council for Historical Studies, India
Robert Gaillot, Artiste plasticien, France
Pierre Galand, Ancien professeur des Universités à l’U.L.B., Belgique
Nancy Gallagher, Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Barbara, United States
Eric Gallais, Université Paris-Diderot (Paris-VII), France
Luciana Galliano, Musicologist, Italy
Claire Gallien, Montpellier 3 University / Senior Lecturer, France
Domenico Gallo, Chamber President in Supreme Court of Cassazione, Italy
Mario Gamba, Journalist, Italy
Militza Ganeva, Art restorer, Bulgaria
Pierre-Louis Garcia, Musicien, Professeur au conservatoire de musique de Mantes la jolie, France
Eduardo García, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
Manel Garcia Biel, Sindicalista CCOO, Spain
Fernando García Burillo, Editor, Spain
Marie-Dominique Garnier, Etudes de genre, Université de Paris 8, France
Jean-Luc Gautero, maître de conférences, Université Côte d’Azur, France
Didier Gazagnadou, Professeur d’anthropologie, Université Paris 8, France
Jean Pierre Gazeau, Professeur émérite à l’Université de Paris, France
Mathilde Gelin, Researcher, France
Irene Gendzier, Prof Emeritus in the Dept Political Science, Boston University, United States
Gumpel Georges, Retraité, Partie civile au procès de Klaus Barbie, France
Dina Georgis, Professor at University of Toronto, Canada
Julie Gervais, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
Michel Gevers, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Abbas Ghaddar, University of Virginia, United States
Hassan Ghorbani, LEREPS – Université Toulouse I Capitole, France
Mona Ghosheh, Psychologist, United States
David Gibbs, Professor of History, University of Arizona, United States
Yulia Gilich, University of California, Santa Cruz, United States
Pierre Gillis, Emeritus Professor, University of Mons, Belgium
Terri Ginsberg, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Victor Ginsburgh, Emeritus professor, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Mireille Gleizes, Pianist, Belgium
Jean-Christophe Goddard, Université de Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France
Catherine Goldstein, Director of Research, Paris, France
Sue Goldstein, Artist, Canada
Alicia Gómez, Professor, Spain
Carlos Gomez-Ariza, Universidad de Jaén, Spain
Santiago González, Economist, Comité Solidaridad Causa Árabe, Spain
José González, Professor, Spain
Trevor Goodger-Hill, Writer, poet, Canada
Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Michel Goulard, researcher in statistics, Auzeville, France
Kevin Gould, Concordia University, Canada
Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University, United States
Pierre-Henri Gouyon, Professeur au Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, France
Héctor Grad, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Jean-Guy Greilsamer, Jewish activist against israeli apartheid, France
Julien Grivaux, Sorbonne Université, France
Michel Gros, mathematician, Researcher in Rennes, France
Salah Guemriche, Écrivain, France
Nacira Guénif, Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis, France
Daniel Guerrier, Editor, France
Jeanne Guien, Researcher in social sciences, France
Philippe Guiguet Bologne, Poet, France
Juan José Guirado Fernández, Retired professor, Universidad de Vigo, Spain
Peter Gurney, Professor of Social History, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Rico Gutstein, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Freda Guttman, Visual artist, Canada
Magnus Haavelsrud, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Yassine Hachaichi, Université de Carthage, Tunisia
Pascal Hachet, Psychologist and writer, France
Elaine Hagopian, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Simmons University, United States
Sondra Hale, Professor Emerita, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Wael Hallaq, Columbia University, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities/Painter, United States
Olivier Hamerlynck, Scientist, Belgium
Dalia Hammoudeh, Scientist, United States
Amel Hamza-Chaffai, University of Sfax, Tunisia
Dyala Hamzah, Professor, University of Montreal, Canada
Jeff Handmaker, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lara Harb, Princeton University, United States
Githa Hariharan, Writer, India
Egbert Harmsen, Analyst, researcher and human rights activist, Netherlands
Fatima Harrak, Research Professor, Morocco
John Harries, Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University, United States
Howard Harris, Retired university lecturer, United Kingdom
Sean Harris-Macintosh, Architect, United Kingdom
Michelle Hartman, Professor, McGill University, Quebec, Canada
Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Mary Lynn Hassan, U.N. Retired, France
Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus), University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Abe Hayeem, RIBA, Chair of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, United Kingdom
Danny Hayward, Writer, United Kingdom
David Heap, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Pierre Hébrard, Université Paul Valéry, France
Raoul Hébréard, Artiste contemporain, France
Marc Hedrich, Cour d’appel de Caen, France
Iris Hefets, Psychoanalyst, International Psychoanalytic Society, Germany
Fredrik S. Heffermehl, Writer, Norway
Eric Heilmann, Professeur à l’université de Bourgogne, France
Yacine Helali, Documentary filmmaker, France
Odile Hélier, Anthropologue, France
Charles Heller, Research Associate, Graduate Institute Geneva, Switzerland
Sami Hermez, Associate Professor, Northwestern University in Qatar, Qatar
Carlos Herrera, Professor, CY Cergy Paris University, France
Judith Herrin, King’s College London, United Kingdom
Christiane Hessel-Chabry, Présidente d’honneur de l’association EJE (Gaza), France
Shir Hever, Political Economist, Germany
Hilde Heynen, KU Leuven, Belgium
Solange Hibbs, Universitaire, historienne, France
Tom Hickey, University of Brighton, United Kingdom
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia, Australia
Joan Hinde, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
CJ Hinke, Thammasat University, Thailand
Wieland Hoban, composer and translator, Germany
Christian Hogsbjerg, University of Brighton, United Kingdom
Ivan Huber, Prof Emeritus, Fairrleigh Dickinson Univ., Madison, NJ, United States
Leila Hudson, University of Arizona, United States
Richard Hudson, University College London, United Kingdom
David Hughes, University College Dublin, Ireland
Anna Kristina Hultgren, Professor of Sociolinguistics, The Open University, United Kingdom
Perrine Humblet, Honorary Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Farrell Hunter, Country Director: Community Adult Education, South Africa
Mary Hurrell, Artist, United Kingdom
Conleth Hussey, University of Limerick, Ireland
Mahmood Ibrahim, Cal Poly Pomona, United States
Philippe Icard, Université de Bourgogne, France
Jeremy Ironside, Independent Researcher, New Zealand
Patrick Italiano, Chercheur – Université de Liège, Belgium
Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Abdeen Jabara, Attorney, past president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, United States
Jean Jackson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Khader Faiez Jadallah, Universidad de Jaén, España
Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director, Afro-Middle East Centre, South Africa
Hassan Jijakli, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Abry Jocelyne , Professeur en retraite , France
Jörgen Johansen, Journal of Resistance Studies, Scandinavia
Diana Johnstone, Writer, France
Richard Jolly, Emeritus Fellow, IDS, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Holly Jonas, International lawyer, Canada
Bernt Jonsson, Former Director, Life & Peace Institute, Uppsala, Sweden
Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor, University of California, Davis, United States
Jeanette Jouili, Syracuse University, United States
Aurélie Journée-Duez, Anthropologist, EHESS / LAS, France
R.A. Judy, Professor of Critical Studies, University of Pittsburgh, United States
Baudouin Jurdant, Université Paris Diderot, Portugal
Rula Jurdi, Professor, Canada
Jon Jureidini, University of Adelaide, Australia
Janeen Kabbara, Conflict Resolution Specialist, United States
Aissa Kadri, Universitaire, France
Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
Katy Kalemkerian, Champlain College, Canada
Labib Kamhawi, Writer and former Prof. of political science at Jordan University, Jordan
Raphael Kaplinky, Univrsity of Sussex, Emeritus Professor, United Kingdom
Geeta Kapur Kapur, Art Writer, India
Ronnie Kasrils, Former government minister, South Africa
Otared Kavian, Professeur, Université de Versailles, France
Habib Kazdaghli, Historien, Université de Manouba, Tunisie
Habib Kazdaghli, Historien, Université de Manouba, Tunisie
Brigid Keenan, Writer, United Kingdom
Robin Kelley, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Susan Kelly, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
Martin Kemp, Psychoanalyst, UK-Palestine Mental Health Network, United Kingdom
Mercedes Kemp, Writer, United Kingdom
Marie Kennedy, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston, United States
George Kent, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, United States
Assaf Kfoury, Computer Science Department, Boston University, United States
Rima Khalaf, Former Executive Secretary of UN ESCWA, Jordan
Laleh Khalili, Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Gholam Khiabany, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
Ghufran KhirAllah , Professor of Sociolinguistica in Nebrija University & researcher at Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Makram Khoury-Machool, Academic – Cambridge , United Kingdom
Darwis Khudori, Université Le Havre Normandie, France
Azadeh Kian, Professor Université de Paris, France
Rina King, Science Educator, South Africa
John King, Composer, United States
Laurie King, Anthropologist, Georgetown University, United States
Joost Kircz, em. Research professor Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
David Klein, Professor of Mathematics, California State University Northridge, United States
Michel Kokoreff, Université Paris 8, France
Avishek Konar, Economist, O.P. Jindal Global University, India
Demir Köse, Teaching assistant at Ghent University, Belgium
Ashish Kothari, Pune, India
Natalie Kouri-Towe, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Canada
Wayne Kraft, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Washington University, United States
Robert Kriger, Retired, National Research Foundation, South Africa
Hubert Krivine, Physicien, France
Isabelle Krzywkowski, Université Grenoble Alpes, France
Atif Kubursi, Emeritus Professor, MCMaster University, Canada
Urszula Kucharczyk, Playwright, United Kingdom/Poland
Rose Marie Kuhn, Professor Emerita, California State University Fresno, United States
Radha Kumar, Writer, India
Blair Kuntz, University of Toronto, Canada
Daniel Kupferstein, Film director, France
Emily LaBarge, Writer, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom
Thierry Madjid Labica, Université Paris Nanterre, France
Poka (Hayden) Laenui (Burgess), Attorney, Hawaii
Nora Lafi, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Germany
Premesh Lalu, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Bernard Lamizet, Ancien professeur d’université, institut d’Études politiques, Lyon, France
Olfa Lamloum, Chercheuse, Tunisia
Peter Lange, Sculptor, New Zealand
Jacob K. Langford, Artist & researcher, Germany
Marilyn Langlois, Community Organizer, Richmond California, United States
Michelangelo Lanza, SR Study Center (MIR/MN-Turin) member & translator, Italy
Patricia Laranco, Writer and artist, France
Jacques Larrieu, Professor emeritus, Université Toulouse Capitole, France
Dimiti Lascaris, Lawyer, journalist and activist, Canada
Martin Lascoux, Uppsala University, Sweden
Marc Lassonde, Professeur de mathématiques, retraité, Université des Antilles, France
Patrick Le Hyaric, Président du groupe L’Humanité. Député européen 2004 -2014, France
Pierre Le Pillouër, Poète, France
Bernard Le Stum, Université de Rennes 1, France
Pierre LeBlanc, Writer, Canada
Elisabeth Lebovici, Art critic, France
Jean-Louis Leleu, Université Côte d’Azur, France
Gwen Lemey, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Bernard Lemoult, Enseignant chercheur, France
Helen Lenskyj, Professor Emerita University of Toronto, Canada
Ronit Lentin, Trinity College Dublin Ireland (retired associate professor), Ireland
Patricio Lepe-Carrión, Universidad de La Frontera, Chile
Michael Leslie, Concert Pianist, formerly at Richard Strauss Konservatorium, Munich, Australia / Germany
Bruno Levallois, Inspecteur général honoraire de l’Education nationale, France
Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Open University, United Kingdom
Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond, Emeritus professor, University of Nice, France
Philippe Lewandowski, Retired librarian, University of Strasbourg, France
Cédric Lhoussaine, Professor of Computer Sciences, University of Lille, France
Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Peter Lipman, Fellow, Cabot Institute, United Kingdom
Yoav Litvin, Writer, United States
David Lloyd, University of California Riverside, United States
Peter Lock, Retired, peace and conflict research & urban environment for our grandchildren, Germany
Roland Lombard, Directeur de Recherche retraité, ex-président du Collectif Interivertunivertaire pour la Coopération avec les Universités Palestiniennes, membre de l’Académie des arts, sciences et belles-lettres de Dijon, France
Marie-Nëlle Lombard-Crémieux, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, France
Sheila Long, Institute of Technology Carlow, Ireland
Arab Loutfi, Adjunct Film maker, and adjunct Faculty at Film department AUC (American university of Cairo), Egypt
Miriam Lowi, Professor, the College of New Jersey, United States
Thomas Luce, Lay leader-Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Licensed theologian, United States
Robin Luckham, Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Mainolfi Luigi, Accademia di belle arti, Italy
Ruth Luschnat, none/ writer sometimes…( HP) against classism, Germany
Brinton Lykes, Professor & Co-Director, Boston College Center for Human Rights & International Justice, United States
Kathleen Lynch, University College Dublin, Ireland
Madhava Prasad M, EFL University Hyderabad, India
Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh, Coláiste Ollscoil Naomh Muire, Béal Feirste, Ireland
Keguro Macharia, Independent Scholar, Kenya
Moshé Machover, Mathematician, KCL, United Kingdom
Kate Macintosh, Architect, United Kingdom
Rania Madi, Geneva University, Switzerland
César Madureira, ISCTE-IUL, Portugal
Sara Magalhães, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Mairead Maguire, Nobel peace laureate, Ireland
Rasigan Maharajh, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Mohamed Fadhel Mahfoudh, President of the National Order of Lawyers of Tunisia from 2013 to 2016 and as such received the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, Tunisia
Paul Maillet, Accredited Peace Professional CPSC, Canada
Bernard Maitte, Professeur émérite Université de Lille, France
Ziad Majed, Associate Professor, American University of Paris, France
Esther Makhetha, Academic, South Africa
Emmanuelle Mallet, Painter and activist, France
Rita Manchanda, Author, Human Rights & Peace Advocate, India
Paola Manduca, Retired professor of Genetics, Italy
Marc Mangenot, Économiste, France
Firoze Manji, Adjunct Professor, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Pierre Marage, Emeritus Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Maurice Margenstern, Professor emeritus, University of Lorraine, France
Michael Martin, Professor, Media School, Indiana University, United States
María Luisa Martín, Lawyer, Spain
Martín Martinelli, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina
David Martínez, Universidad de Jaén, Spain
Ana Karine Martins Garcia, Coordinator of the Study and Research Group on the History of Health Practices and Diseases, Brasil
Mario Martone, Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, United States
Dick Marty, Dr. Jur. Dr. H.c., former Chair of the Committee of Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Switzerland
Sarah Marusek, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Jan Masschelein, Professor KU Leuven, Belgium
Gustave Massiah, Ancien enseignant à l’école d’architecture de paris la villette, France
Anat Matar, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Mira Mattar, Writer, United Kingdom
Karim Mattar, University of Colorado at Boulder, United States
Nyla Matuk, Poet, writer, Canada
Brian Maye, Griffith College Dublin, Ireland
Sophie Mayoux, Translator/traductrice, France
Jean-Pierre Mazat, Emeritus professor, University of Bordeaux, France
Olivier Mazet, Institut Mathématique de Toulouse, France
Justine McCabe, Psychologist, United States
Charles McGrath, Historian, Ireland
Emilia McKenzie, Arist, United Kingdom
Cahal McLaughlin, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom
Brian McMahon, Munster Technological University, Ireland
Georg Meggle, Philosopher, Prof. em. at University of Leipzig, Germany
Miomirka Melank, Graphic designer, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Natalie Melas, Associate Professor, Cornell University, United States
Catherine Melin, visual artist, France
Jeffrey Melnick, University of Massachusetts Boston, United States
Georges Menahem, Director of research in Economics and Sociology, CNRS, MSH Paris-Nord, France
Constanza Mendoza, Artist and researcher, Chile
Eduardo Meneses, Artist and Member of “Comité de Solidaridad EcuadorXPalestina”, Ecuador
Aurélie Menninger, Dancer, France
Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
AG Menon, Architect, Urban Planner, Conservation Consultant, India
Ritu Menon, Publisher, writer, India
Piet Mertens, Emeritus professor in Linguistics, KU Leuven, Belgium
Essaid Mesnaoui, Musiciens pour la paix, France
Mark Methven, Independent Scholar / Oracle Database Administrator, United States
Alan Meyers, Boston University School of Medicine, United States
Michel Mietton, Professeur émérite, Université de Lyon, France
Gian Giacomo Migone, Former professor of history, University of Torino, Italy
Ali Mili, Académie tunisienne des sciences, des lettres et des arts, Beit al-Hikma, Tunisia
John Millar, Independent historian, United States
Alain Mille, Université Lyon 1, France
Haynes Miller, Professor of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Thomas Miller, University of Arizona, United States
Jamal Mimouni, Head of the astrophysics program, Department of Physics, University of Constantine 1; President of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), Algeria
Paul-Antoine Miquel, Université de Toulouse 2, France
Dieter Misgeld, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. University of Toronto, Canada
Alexis Mitchell, New York University, Artist, Canada/United Kingdom
El-Khansa Mkada, Université de La Manouba, Tunisia
José-Luis Moragues, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier III (Retraite), France
Luisa Morgantini, Former Vice President European Parliament, Italy
Edgar Morin, Directeur de recherches émérite au CNRS, France
Julie Morisset, Professeure de philosophie, France
Marc Mormont, University of Liege, Belgium
Chantal Mouffe, Professor emeritus University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Clément Mouhot, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Gracia Moya García, Universidad de Jaén, Spain
Aamir Mufti, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Martha Mundy, Professor Emerita, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Nora Lester Murad, Fordham University, United States
Claude Murcia, Professeure émérite, Université Paris Diderot, France
Akram Muti Hernández, Publicist and Music Producer, Spain
Pushpamala N, Artist, India
Karma Nabulsi, Professor, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Véronique Nahoum-Grappe, Anthropologue, France
Joëlle Naïm, Artist, author, translator, France
Nadia Naser-Najjab, Lecturer in Palestine Studies, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Jamal Nassar, Emeritus Professor, California State University San Bernardino, United States
Safa Nasser, Academician, Palestine
Rehab Nazzal, Visual Artist, Canada
Mary Jane Nealon, Writer, United States
Daniel Neofetou, writer, United Kingdom
Suresh Nesaratnam, Senior Lecturer in environmental Engineering, The Open University, United Kingdom
Jan Nespor, The Ohio State University, United States
Joe Newman, Lecturer in Popular Music, Music department, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
Ides Nicaise, Emeritus Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium
Ghyslaine Noel, Artiste, France
Elisabeth Nyffenegger, ICRC (Retired), Switzerland
Daithí Ó Madáin, Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, Éire
Eyleen O’Rourke, University of Virginia, United States
John Oakes, The Evergreen Review, United States
Jan Oberg, DrHc, peace and future researcher, Transnational Foundation, Sweden
Elana Ochse, University of Torino, Italy
Joseph Oesterlé, Emeritus professor, Sorbonne University, France
Frédéric Ogée, Professor of British literature and art history, Université de Paris, France
Josiane Olff-Nathan, Université de Strasbourg, France
Perrine Olff-Rastegar , Porte-parole du CJACP (Collectif Judéo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine), France
Pamela Olson, Author of Fast Times in Palestine, United States
Adi Ophir, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University; Visiting Professor, The Cogut Institute for the Humanities and the center for Middle East Studies, Brown Universities, United States
Caroline Ortoli, Poète, France
Goldie Osuri, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Norman Paech, Professor emeritus University of Hamburg, Germany
Christine Pagnoulle, Université de Liège, Belgium
Salvatore Palidda, University of Genoa, Italy
Francesco Pallante, Università di Torino, Italy
David Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford University, United States
Sylvie Paquerot, Professeure agrégée, Canada
Rose Parfitt, Kent Law School, United Kingdom
Ian Parker, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Paul Parker, Elmhurst University, Professor Emeritus, United States
Karine Parrot, Professeure de droit à l’Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France
Nigel Parsons, Massey University, New Zealand
Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker, India
Michel Paty, Directeur de recherche honoraire au CNRS, Lab SPHERE, Université Paris, France
Enrico Pau, Film director, Italy
Leslie Pauls, Accounting Supervisor Oakton Community College, United States
Marie-Anne Paveau, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France
Peter Pelbart, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brasil
Lorraine Pellegrini, Artiste plasticienne, France
David Peñafuerte Rendón, Universidad de Jaén, Spain
Livio Pepino, Former magistrate, Italy
Francisco José Peragón, Técnico Laboratorio Universidad de Jaén, Spain
Alberto Perez, Musician, Spain
Daniel Pérez, President of AFRICANDO, Spain
Amalia Perfetti, Insegnante, activiste, Italy
Maria Perino, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy
Diane Perlman, Visiting Scholar, George Mason University, Jimmy and Rosalind Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, United States
Jacques Perreux, Fondateur du Festival des Passeurs d’Humanité, France
Guy Perrier, Professeur émérite Université de Lorraine, France
Nicola Perugini, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Adria Petani, Painter, Italy
Jean-François Pétillot, Université Paul-Valéry – Montpellier 3, France
Laurence Petit-Jouvet, Film-maker/Cinéaste, France
Vahe Petrosian, Chair Astronomy Program Stanford University, United States
Roland Pfefferkorn, Professeur émérite de sociologie, Université de Strasbourg, France
Ruth Phelps, Save The Children & Médecins Sans Frontières (retired), United Kingdom
Pamela Philipose, Independent Journalist, India
Ronald Preston Phipps, International Center for Process Science Philosophy and Education, United States
Elizabeth Picard, Emerita Directrice de Recherche CNRS, Lab IREMAM, France
Sol Picciotto, Emeritus Professor, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Michael Pierse, Queen’s University Belfast, Senior Lecturer, Ireland
Michael Pierse, Senior Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland
John Pilger, Journalist, film-maker, author, United Kingdom
Pedro Pinto Leite, Secretary, International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, Netherlands
Alain Piqué, Retired Professor, Université de Bretagne occidentale, France
Ghislain Poissonnier, Magistrate, France
Christopher Pollmann, Professeur agrégé de droit public, Université de Lorraine, Metz, France
Ismail Poonawala, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Vesselin Popovski, Vice Dean Jindal Global Law School, India
Raphaël Porteilla, Université de Bourgogne, France
Amina Poulain, Enseignante-chercheuse, France
Leila Pourtavaf, York University, Canada
Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy, Al-Haq, Palestine
Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Veerle Provoost, Professor of ethics, Ghent University, Belgium
Prabir Purkayastha, Editor, Newsclick.in, India
Anne Querrien, co-directrice revue Multitudes, France
Monica Quirico, Researcher, Italy
Yakov Rabkin, University of Montreal, Canada
Ali Raiss-Tousi, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom
Aneil Rallin, Associate Professor, Soka University of America, United States
Anandi Ramamurthy , Professor of Media and Culture, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
Leda Ramos, Professor, LatinxFaculty4BLM, United States
Jorge Ramos Tolosa, Universitat de València, Spain
Jacques Rancière, Professeur émérite, Université Paris 8, France
Gregory Randall, Profesor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Norma Rantisi, Professor, Concordia University, Canada
Mohan Rao, Former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Syksy Räsänen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Roshdi Rashed, CNRS/Université de Paris, France
Kamran Rastegar, Tufts University, United States
Bernard Ravenel, Historian, France
Carina Ray, Brandeis University, United States
Syed Tahseen Raza, Departement of Strategic & Security Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, India
Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Professor Emeritus Dr., Computer Sci. Dept. at BHT Berlin; Former president of the International League f. Human Rights e. V. – FIDH Germany, Germany
Dave Rendle, Poet, United Kingdom
Alessandra Renzi, Associate Professor, Concordia University Montreal, Canada
John Reynolds, Maynooth University, Ireland
Bernard Richard, Documentary filmmaker, Paris, France
Nick Riemer, University of Sydney, Australia
Vincent Rivasseau, Professor, University of Paris-Saclay, France
Bruce Robbins, Columbia University, United States
William Clare Roberts, McGill University, Canada
Chris Roberts, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Reihana Robinson, Poet & artist, Aotearoa New Zealand
Lisa Rofel, Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, United States
Eleanor Roffman, retired professor emerita, United States
David Rohrlich, Professor of Mathematics, Boston University, United States
Marguerite Rollinde, Chercheuse retraitée, Université Paris 8, France
Vincent Romani, Université du Québec à Montréal UQAM, Canada
Pieter Rombouts, Ghent University, Belgium
Valerio Romitelli, University of Bologna , Italia
Maggie Ronayne, National University of Ireland, Galway/ Lecturer in Archaeology, Ireland
Antonio C.S. Rosa, TRANSCEND Media Service – Editor, Portugal/Spain/Germany
Frances Rosamond, University of Bergen, Norway
Steven Rose, Emeritus Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at the Open University and Gresham College, London, United Kingdom
Hilary Rose, Professor Emerita Sociology University of Bradfor, United Kingdom
Jerry Rosen, California State University, Northridge, United States
Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, United States
Alice Rothchild, MD, retired, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School, United States
Brahim Rouabah, The City University of New York, United States
Joan Russow, Researcher, Global Compliance Research Project, Canada
John Ryan, Retired Professor of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Canada
[PREFATORY NOTE: The Declaration on Apartheid below is an initiative initiated by the wellknown Tunisian mathematician, Ahmed Abbes, and endorsed by scholars and artists worldwide. If impressed please distribute widely as there is a campaign underway to reach 1,000 signatures.]
Declaration on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid in Historic Palestine 6 juillet |
Partager : facebooktwitter Over 700 scholars, artists and intellectuals from more than 45 countries have signed the following declaration calling for the dismantling of the apartheid regime set up on the territory of historic Palestine and the establishment of a democratic constitutional arrangement that grants all its inhabitants equal rights and duties. The signatories include many distinguished figures, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire, academics with legal expertise Monique Chemillier-Gendreau and Richard Falk, scholars Étienne Balibar, Hagit Borer, Ivar Ekeland, Suad Joseph, Jacques Rancière, Roshdi Rashed and Gayatri Spivak, health researcher Sir Iain Chalmers, composer Brian Eno, musician Roger Waters, author Ahdaf Soueif, economist and former Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Sir Richard Jolly, South African politician and veteran anti-apartheid leader Ronnie Kasrils and Canadian peace activist and former national leader of the Green Party of Canada Joan Russow.
Declaration on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid in Historic Palestine Whereas :
1- Israel has subjected the Palestinian people for 73 years to an ongoing catastrophe, known as the Nakba, a process that included massive displacement, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity ;
2- Israel has established an apartheid regime on the entire territory of historic Palestine and directed toward the whole of the deliberately fragmented Palestinian people ; Israel itself no longer seeks to hide its apartheid character, claiming Jewish supremacy and exclusive Jewish rights of self-determination in all of historic Palestine through the adoption in 2018 by the Knesset of a new Basic Law ;
3-The apartheid character of Israel has been confirmed and exhaustively documented by widely respected human rights organizations, Adalah, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and in the UN ESCWA academic study that stresses the importance of defining Israeli apartheid as extending to people rather than limited to space, [“Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” UN ESCWA, 2017] ;
4- Israel periodically unleashes massive violence with devastating impacts on Palestinian civilian society, particularly against the population of Gaza, which endures widespread devastation, collective trauma, and many deaths and casualties, aggravated by being kept under an inhuman and unlawful blockade for over 14 years, and throughout the humanitarian emergency brought about by the COVID pandemic ;
5- Western powers have facilitated and even subsidized for more than seven decades this Israeli system of colonization, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid, and continue to do so diplomatically, economically, and even militarily.
Considering :
i- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates in its first article that ’all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.’ And taking account that the inalienable right of self-determination is common Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Political Rights, and as such, a legal and ethical entitlement of all peoples.
ii- The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid which stipulates in Article I that ’apartheid is a crime against humanity and that inhuman acts resulting from the policies and practices of apartheid and similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination, as defined in article II of the Convention, are crimes violating the principles of international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and constituting a serious threat to international peace and security.’ The States Parties to this Convention undertake in accordance with Article IV : _ “(a) To adopt any legislative or other measures necessary to suppress as well as to prevent any encouragement of the crime of apartheid and similar segregationist policies or their manifestations and to punish persons guilty of that crime ; _ “(b) To adopt legislative, judicial and administrative measures to prosecute, bring to trial and punish in accordance with their jurisdiction persons responsible for, or accused of, the acts defined in article II of the present Convention, whether or not such persons reside in the territory of the State in which the acts are committed or are nationals of that State or of some other State or are stateless persons.”
The endorsers of this document :
A- Declare their categorical rejection of the apartheid regime set up on the territory of historic Palestine and imposed on the Palestinian people as a whole, including refugees and exiles wherever they might be in the world.
B- Call for the immediate dismantling of this apartheid regime and the establishment of a democratic constitutional arrangement that grants and implements on all the inhabitants of this land equal rights and duties, regardless of their racial, ethnic, and religious identities, or gender preferences, and which respects and enforces international law and human conventions, and in particular gives priority to the long deferred right of return of Palestinian refugees expelled from their towns and villages during the creation of the State of Israel, and subsequently.
C- Urge their governments to cease immediately their complicity with Israel’s apartheid regime, to join in the effort to call for the dismantling of apartheid structures and their replacement by an egalitarian democratic governance that treats everyone subject to its authority in accordance with their rights and with full respect for their humanity, and to make this transition in a manner sensitive to the right of self-determination enjoyed by both peoples presently inhabiting historic Palestine.
D- Call for the establishment of a National Commission of Peace, Reconciliation, and Accountability to accompany the transition from apartheid Israel to a governing process sensitive to human rights and democratic principles and practices. In the interim, until such a process is underway, issue a call for the International Criminal Court to launch a formal investigation of Israeli political leaders and security personnel guilty of perpetuating the crime of apartheid.
* Academics, artists and intellectuals can endorse this declaration by completing this form.
* Endorsed by 723 academics, artists and intellectuals on July 8, 2021 (click here for the full list), including
Ahmed Abbes, mathematician, Director of research in Paris, France Sinan Antoon, New York University, United States John Avery, Writer, Denmark Bertrand Badie, Sciences Po Paris, France Étienne Balibar, Anniversary Chair of Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University London, United Kingdom Anthony Barnett, Writer, United Kingdom Edmond Baudoin, Auteur de bandes dessinées, France George Bisharat, UC Hastings College of the Law/Professor, musician, United States Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of Public International Law, University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica Hagit Borer, Professor, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Council of Elders of the ICCA Consortium, Switzerland Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, UC Berkeley, United States Anouar Brahem, Musician, Composer, Tunisia Rony Brauman, Physician, writer, former president of Médecins Sans Frontières, France Iain Chalmers, Editor, James Lind Library, United Kingdom Hafidha Chekir, Emeritus Professor of Public Law, Al Manar University, Tunis ; Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights, Tunisia Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, Professeure émérite de droit public et de sciences politiques, Université Paris-Diderot, France David Comedi, National University of Tucumán and National Research Council, Argentina Laurent Cugny, Professeur, Sorbonne Université, France Eric David, Emeritus Professor of International Law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Canada Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, Professeure émérite à l’Université de Paris, France Herman De Ley, Emeritus Professor, Ghent University, Belgium Ivar Ekeland, Professor emeritus of mathematics and former President, University of Paris-Dauphine, France Brian Eno, Artist/Composer, United Kingdom Adolfo Esquivel, Premio Nobel de la Paz 1980 (Nobel Peace Prize 1980), Argentina Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University, United States Emmanuel Farjoun, Emeritus Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Jan Fermon, Avocat. Secrétaire général Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates, Belgium Domenico Gallo, Chamber President in Supreme Court of Cassazione, Italy Irene Gendzier, Prof Emeritus in the Dept Political Science, Boston University, United States Catherine Goldstein, Director of Research, Paris, France Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom Sondra Hale, Professor Emerita, University of California, Los Angeles, United States Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University, United States Judith Herrin, King’s College London, United Kingdom Christiane Hessel-Chabry, Présidente d’honneur de l’association EJE (Gaza), France Shir Hever, Political Economist, Germany Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, United Kingdom Abdeen Jabara, Attorney, past president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, United States Richard Jolly, Emeritus Fellow, IDS, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor, University of California, Davis, United States Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom Ronnie Kasrils, Former government minister, South Africa Assaf Kfoury, Computer Science Department, Boston University, United States Rima Khalaf, Former Executive Secretary of UN ESCWA, Jordan Daniel Kupferstein, Film director, France Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond, Emeritus professor, University of Nice, France David Lloyd, University of California Riverside, United States Brinton Lykes, Professor & Co-Director, Boston College Center for Human Rights & International Justice, United States Moshé Machover, Mathematician, KCL, United Kingdom Kate Macintosh, Architect, United Kingdom Mairead Maguire, Nobel peace laureate, Ireland Dick Marty, Dr. Jur. Dr. H.c., former Chair of the Committee of Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Switzerland Georg Meggle, Philosopher, Prof. em. at University of Leipzig, Germany Jan Oberg, DrHc, peace and future researcher, Transnational Foundation, Sweden Joseph Oesterlé, Emeritus professor, Sorbonne University, France Adi Ophir, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University ; Visiting Professor, The Cogut Institute for the Humanities and the center for Middle East Studies, Brown Universities, United States Karine Parrot, Professeure de droit à l’Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France Ghislain Poissonnier, Magistrate, France Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy, Al-Haq, Palestine Prabir Purkayastha, Editor, Newsclick.in, India Jacques Rancière, Professeur émérite, Université Paris 8, France Roshdi Rashed, CNRS/Université de Paris, France Steven Rose, Emeritus Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at the Open University and Gresham College, London, United Kingdom Hilary Rose, Professor Emerita Sociology University of Bradfor, United Kingdom Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, United States Alice Rothchild, MD, retired, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School, United States Joan Russow, Researcher, Global Compliance Research Project, Canada Richard Seaford, Emeritus Professor, University of Exeter, United Kingdom Leila Shahid, Former Ambassador of Palestine, Palestine Eyal Sivan, Filmmaker – Essayist, France John Smith, Filmmaker, Emeritus Professor of Fine Art, University of East London, United Kingdom Nirit Sommerfeld, Singer, actress, writer, Germany Ahdaf Soueif, Writer, Egypt Gayatri Spivak, Columbia University, United States Jonathan Steele, Author and journalist, United Kingdom Annick Suzor-Weiner, Professor emeritus, Université Paris-Saclay, France Salim Tamari, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Birzeit University, Palestine Virginia Tilley, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, United States Salim Vally, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Roger Waters, Musician, United Kingdom Robert Wintemute, Professor of Human Rights Law, King’s College London, United Kingdom John Womack jr, Harvard University, United States * Institutional affiliations are given only for identification purposes
* The full list of signatories is available here.
* Academics, artists and intellectuals can endorse this declaration by completing this form
In May 2021, the editorial team of eSharp, a student-led scholarly journal of the Glasgow University College of Arts, published a foreword to a 2017 article stating that it promoted an “unfounded anti-Semitic theory regarding the State of Israel and its activity in the United Kingdom.”
The article, written by Jane Jackman, a Ph.D. student at the University of Exeter, employed “some discursive strategies, including a biased selection of sources as well as the misrepresentation of data.”
Titled “Advocating Occupation: Outsourcing Zionist Propaganda in the UK,” the article discussed the rise of grassroots Zionist advocacy since 2000, the beginning of the Second Intifada, which signaled the failure of the Oslo Peace Process that intended to deliver Palestinian self-determination.
Contrary to Jackman’s assertion, as well known, the renewed Palestinian violence undermined the Oslo Peace process and eliminated the hope for Palestinian self-determination.
Jackman explained her article “focuses on Israel’s strategy as it affects the UK, now widely construed by Zionists as a center for anti-Semitic activity and therefore a key battleground over discursive hegemony. More specifically, the paper highlights the efforts of two prominent grassroots advocacy organizations to recruit and coach volunteers in the art of Israeli hasbara,” aiming to “counter the rising tide of pro-Palestinian sympathy in the UK as embodied by Israel’s nemesis, the Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign.”
Jackman argued that “by outsourcing Zionist propaganda to grassroots activists, and exploiting their social networks to circulate biased information, Israel is buttressing from below the British government’s customary support for Israel, and perpetuating its inertia over Israeli occupation of land allocated under international law for a future Palestinian state.”
The editorial team of eSharp added that it “recognizes that this article has caused considerable offense… We would like to apologize that our editorial procedures did not identify those failures in scholarship.”
As a university journal, eSharp aims to provide opportunities to researchers with little or no experience in academic publishing and “welcomes discussion and debate across the full range of topics, even those which are controversial. But along with such debate comes the responsibility for articles to be rigorous, well-balanced, and supported by evidence. This article does not meet those standards of scholarship,” the editors added.
Jackman’s Ph.D. is co-supervised by Professor William Gallois, of the University of Exeter and her Ph.D. thesis is titled “Discursive Silencing in Debates on Israel-Palestine.” According to the British blogger David Collier, who first reported on Jackman, her second supervisor is the notorious Prof. Ilan Pappe whose lifelong work was dedicated to tarnishing Israel.
Worth noting that the scholarship of Jackman has been anti-Israel and anti-Semitic for a number of years. She already presented a paper on her doctoral work at the British Society for Middle East Studies (BRISMES) annual meeting in 2015. Jackman was a signatory to a 2013 petition “Jews for Palestinian Right of Return.” In 2015, she donated money to Shabaka, an independent, transnational Palestinian think tank. In 2015 Jackman participated in a SOAS conference where she delivered a paper, “Networking the Occupation: How Israel ‘Mows the Lawn’ in Gaza and Gets Away With It.” She also signed a petition in 2016, an “Urgent appeal of 23,000 citizens from across the world to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for protection of human rights defenders active in the BDS movement.”
Jackman, who is not Jewish, wrote about Israel in 2013: “We do expect more from a people whose roots are geographically and culturally similar to our own, and who choose to be identified with Europe in many ways… to adopt certain norms and adhere to human rights law…to end its occupation. Is it really any wonder that in witnessing the increasingly brutal oppression of the Palestinians, we Europeans recognize actions reminiscent of the oppression meted out on the Jews in wartime Germany?”
Equating Israel to Nazi Germany is anti-Semitic per the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
In a timely manner, the British organization Universities UK (UUK) has recently published a booklet on tackling anti-Semitism. UUK is the collective voice of 140 universities in the UK with a core purpose to maximize their positive impact on students and the public both in the UK and globally. UUK is led by its members and acts on behalf of universities.
The report, “Tackling anti-Semitism: practical guidance for universities,” was published on June 11, 2021. It “outlines how the recommendations in our tackling racial harassment guidance may be applied to anti-Semitic racial harassment.” The guidance states that “Antisemitism – prejudice or hatred towards Jews – is wrong and should not be tolerated at universities or anywhere in society.” UUK believes it is particularly important, given the historically high levels of anti-Semitism in the UK.
Jackman’s Ph.D. should be carefully examined for anti-Semitism and falsifications. Other scholarships in her department should also be examined.
References
https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_792691_smxx.pdf eSharp Issue 25:1 Rise and Fall The eSharp editorial team recognises that this article has caused considerable offence. eSharp welcomes discussion and debate across the full range of topics, even those which are controversial. But along with such debate comes the responsibility for articles to be rigorous, well-balanced, and supported by evidence. This article does not meet those standards of scholarship. In particular, this article employs some discursive strategies, including a biased selection of sources as well as the misrepresentation of data, which promote an unfounded antisemitic theory regarding the State of Israel and its activity in the United Kingdom. We would like to apologise that our editorial procedures did not identify those failures in scholarship. eSharp is a student-led scholarly journal with the aim of publishing high-quality research produced by post-graduate researchers. eSharp is run entirely by postgraduate researchers from within the University of Glasgow’s College of Arts, with a new editorial team being formed each year. Therefore, while we cannot speak for previous editorial boards, the eSharp team affirms that we strive for the highest standards in academic research and publishing. We would also note that, with the support of the staff at the Graduate School of the College of Arts, new checks and balances have been introduced to the eSharp editorial protocols since the publication of this article, to provide better assurance that the articles featured in future issues of eSharp are of the highest quality. eSharp exists to provide opportunities for publication of researchers with little or no experience in academic publishing in order to educate those researchers in the publishing process as well as to refine their presentation of their work. Therefore, an additional benefit of publishing in eSharp is the pedagogical dynamic between the contributing scholars and the editorial team, by which the journal’s editors can offer more gracious and constructive feedback than one might expect to receive from other academic publications. In recognition of this, the eSharp team affirms our commitment to the highest standards of academic research, the process of peer-review, and the publication of high-quality articles in our current and future publications. The eSharp team is committed to transparently addressing the concerns raised about this article and to the integrity of the journal. There was considerable discussion among the members of the editorial team and College staff on this matter, but ultimately, with the aim of providing maximum transparency, we have decided not to remove the article from the journal, but to leave it as is with this editorial appended. eSharp editorial team May 2021 eSharp Issue 25:1 Rise and Fall 45 Advocating Occupation: Outsourcing Zionist Propaganda in the UK Jane Jackman (University of Exeter) This essay explores the rise of grassroots Zionist advocacy since 2000, when the second Palestinian intifada (lit: uprising) effectively signalled the failure of the Oslo Peace Process to deliver on its promise of Palestinian self-determination. In response, rather than working to end its military occupation of Palestinian territory, Israel set about attempting to reverse the subsequent sharp decline in its international standing, and revised its global communications strategy. Whilst initially strengthening ties with the Jewish diaspora, Israel’s longer-term objective was to conscript and resource a cohort of grassroots Zionist supporters to carry the Israeli narrative into the broader sphere of society. This paper focuses on Israel’s strategy as it affects the UK, now widely construed by Zionists as a centre for anti-Semitic activity and therefore a key battleground over discursive hegemony. More specifically, the paper highlights the efforts of two prominent grassroots advocacy organizations to recruit and coach volunteers in the art of Israeli hasbara (lit: explaining). Their mission is to counter the rising tide of pro-Palestinian sympathy in the UK as embodied by Israel’s nemesis, the Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign, the grassroots pro-Palestinian movement that gained momentum from Israel’s series of military incursions into Gaza (2008-2009, 2012, 2014). The paper argues that by outsourcing Zionist propaganda to grassroots activists, and exploiting their social networks to circulate biased information, Israel is buttressing from below the British government’s customary support for Israel, and perpetuating its inertia over Israeli occupation of land allocated under international law for a future Palestinian state. Key words: Israel, Palestinian, new anti-Semitism, grassroots advocacy, networks A half-truth is the worst of all lies (Solon 550 B.C.) For Israel’s ambassador to the Court of St. James, Mark Regev, 2017 could hardly have begun on a more discordant note. Centenary celebrations marking the Balfour Declaration, the 1917 document legitimizing Zionist immigration to Palestine, had been launched just two months earlier, with the British government endorsing plans for a year of special events. But by the end of 2016, relations between Britain and Israel were in crisis. On the eve of the Jewish feast of Hanukah, two days before Christmas, the UN Security Council had adopted a resolution (2334) condemning Israel’s unabated expansion of Jewish settlements on land that international law identifies as Palestinian. Without warning, America had withheld its customary veto of UN censure of Israel, and abstained; Britain, together with the 13 other states on the Council, voted in favour. Worse still (in diplomatic terms) it was discovered that the British Foreign Office had played a leading role in scripting the offending resolution (Sanchez 2016). Then, with the ink scarcely dry on Resolution 2334, and amid Israeli threats of retaliation, coupled with fear over what might transpire at the Paris Peace Conference in mideSharp Issue 25:1 Rise and Fall 46 January, the Qatari based network, Al Jazeera English broadcast a four-part series of undercover documentaries entitled The Lobby (Al Jazeera 2017). The series was to shatter any illusions about Israel’s capacity to influence British democratic processes. Most controversially, the films exposed an Israeli Embassy official in the act of suggesting to a senior civil servant the ‘take down’ of British politicians, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sir Alan Duncan, a known supporter of Palestinian rights, at the top of the list. The embassy official was Shai Masot, a former intelligence officer for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). To Ambassador Regev’s further embarrassment, Masot’s interlocutor, Maria Strizzolo, a former ministerial aide employed in the Education Department, was filmed agreeing: ‘If you look hard enough, I’m sure that there is something that they are trying to hide’ (Al Jazeera 2017). The scandal mongering attempts of the pair were hard to deny in the face of the filmed evidence. Further footage showed Masot boasting about his recent success in influencing British government policy over local council boycotts of Israeli goods and services (Conservative Friends of Israel). Equally damaging, he was seen mobilizing behind-the-scenes support for Israel through his close involvement with Zionist lobbyists amongst the political elite, and covertly fostering the spread of pro-Israel advocacy groups at the grassroots level of British society. By the time the films aired, both Masot and Strizzolo had resigned. Ambassador Regev – well known as the Israeli prime minister’s spokesman during Israel’s 51-day military assault on Gaza in 2014, codenamed Operation Defensive Edge ̶ insisted Masot had acted alone and that his behaviour did not reflect Israeli policy. He apologized to Sir Alan personally, and released a photograph of the two shaking hands. Nevertheless, the documentaries caused outrage on all sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate in Britain. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded an inquiry on grounds of national security. Conservative MP Crispin Blunt told the Independent that Masot’s conduct was an ‘interference in another country’s politics of the murkiest and most discreditable kind’ (Merrick 2017). As they and others argued – with good reason – had Russia, Iran or indeed any other state been caught behaving in a like manner, there would have been a thorough investigation. On the other hand, the Jewish press tended to minimize the importance of the series, scorning them as trivial and out-of-touch with the reality of everyday parliamentary lobbying. Others accused Al Jazeera of importing Middle Eastern anti-Semitism to Britain, or berated the deceitfulness of undercover reporting and complained to the communications regulator Ofcom.1 However, the furore was short-lived. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow made short shrift of MPs’ demands for an inquiry, telling them it would not be ‘helpful to discuss it further’ (Middle East Eye 2017). A public petition collected more than 12,000 signatories demanding an investigation into the embassy’s conduct but it too drew a terse response from the Foreign Office. Stressing Britain’s strong ties with Israel, the response concluded: ‘We consider the matter closed’ (UK Government & Parliament 2017). This paper is less concerned with why the British government appears to favour Israel in this way ̶ bilateral trading figures of £4 billion are undoubtedly a factor ̶ as it is with how 1 At the time of writing the outcome is still pending. 47 this position is maintained. In light of growing public unrest over Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza, this question is particularly imperative. According to the UN, Operation Defensive Edge killed more than 2,250 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians ̶ a third of them children (OCHA 2015). In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, protestors took to the streets in an attempt to press the government to intervene. One of these protests, in central London, attracted 150,000 marchers (Culzac 2014). In Manchester, there were clashes with police as pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated outside city centre shops selling Israeli products (Cox 2014). In Birmingham, the Stop the War Coalition organized a 2000-strong march demanding an end to the bloodshed (Cartledge 2014). Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), a forerunner of BDS, gathered more than 38,000 signatures on an open letter to then prime minister David Cameron, protesting at Israel’s ‘collective punishment of the Palestinian people’ (PSC [Letter] 2014). Since the role of the media and political elites in promoting support for Israel has already been explored and documented (Mearsheimer & Walt 2007; Oborne & Jones 2009; Philo & Berry 2011), these elements of the public debate are not the focus here. Grassroots advocacy, however, is by its nature diffuse and harder to track, and with the exception of a report sponsored by Spinwatch (Mills et al 2013) on one of the newest and most sophisticated organizations, few efforts have been made to map its mechanisms or its effects. While one short paper is unlikely to go far in redressing the balance, its author hopes to encourage further research in this field. The principal contention of this paper is that an Israeli state-sponsored strategy is focused on controlling public opinion in the UK. Israel’s objective is to harness the resources of grassroots Zionist supporters in order to buttress from below the British government’s traditionally staunch support for Israel and to combat increasing public antipathy to Israel, specifically in its military interventions in Gaza, known colloquially to IDF soldiers as ‘mowing the lawn’ (Rabbani 2014). For its conceptual framework, the paper draws on the Foucauldian correlation between knowledge, discourse and power (Foucault 1980). Further, it resonates with the notion that discourse is a contested site of power, and whoever controls the discourse also controls what Teun van Dijk (2008) conceptualizes as ‘the public mind’, and in turn is able to exercise a level of control over people’s actions (Dijk 2008: viii). Dijk claims that such high levels of control equate to an abuse of power that critical discourse scholars have an obligation to expose. Before proceeding, it should be noted that since 1948 when the Israeli state was founded, scholars have fallen roughly into two camps: one engaged in presenting a carefully managed justification for Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the other (after 1967) drawing on revisionist scholarship that continues to challenge the Israeli narrative and its resulting social inequalities. Also, whereas the new anti-Semitism has fomented a great deal of scholarly debate, not least over the conflation of terms such as pro-Israel and pro-Zionist, there is insufficient space here to examine the distinctions. Therefore for the purpose of this essay the terms pro-Israel and pro-Zionist are used interchangeably. Therefore, in the spirit of critical inquiry, and focusing on pro-Israel advocacy in the UK, the paper provides a brief insight into recent developments in Zionist advocacy in the UK, focusing on the activities of one of the newest and most proactive grassroots organizations, We Believe in Israel (WBII). Then, highlighting the expanding network of Friends of Israel (FoI) 48 groups, it touches on the kinds of discourse supporters typically use to promote Israel to the UK public. It concludes that the Israeli narrative of events is being robustly outsourced to grassroots activists for the purpose of circulating Israel’s chosen narratives through the Foucauldian ‘capillaries’ of the social body, through which discourse – and therefore knowledge and power – flows (Foucault 1980: p.96). The aim is to discredit and neutralize pro- Palestinian discourses. In essence this means that British Zionists, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are being mobilized to wage a proxy war for Israel via the digital realm. It may be clichéd to think of it as the Clausewitzian ‘war by other means’ but that is precisely what it appears to be. The New Anti-Semitism In September 2007, British politician Denis MacShane wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which he warned against a new and virulent form of anti-Semitism; one that he claimed threatened not only Jews and the state of Israel but also ‘all of humanity’ (MacShane 2007). This new type of prejudice, MacShane declared, had emerged to become an ‘officially sanctioned state ideology’, which he said was rife in British institutions, and even more pernicious than the racist version of anti-Semitism that infected Europe in the nineteenth century and paved the way for genocide in the twentieth. Moreover, a ‘crusade’ against Israel had been launched with the avowed intent of eradicating all traces of Jewishness from the Middle East. Unless confronted and contained this crusade would weaken the core values, rights and freedoms of the entire world. As chair of the newly commissioned All-Party Inquiry into Anti-Semitism, MacShane was reiterating its first findings, published in 2006. Hyperbolic though his language was, he was not speaking alone or without warrant. Whereas the term new anti-Semitism is hardly new – a booklet bearing the title was published in 1921 – rising levels of anti-Semitic incidents across Europe since 2000 were giving the concept of a new manifestation of ‘the longest hatred’ (Wistrich 1994) greater political traction. With Israel’s construal by Zionists as the world’s ‘collective Jew’ (Klug 2003), and the gradual conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism over the first decade of the twenty-first century, virtually any censure of Israeli policy became open to a racist interpretation; as a result, critics of Israeli policy expose themselves to the possibility, indeed the probability, of being smeared as anti-Semites. As Butler (2004) observes in an essay debating the concept of a new anti-Semitism, fear of stigma has the potential to cause some people to self-silence their views on Israel, whether on policy or conduct, effectively distorting free and open debate (Butler 2004: p.101-127). Others, who refuse to be silenced, including many prominent Jews, risk seeing their characters publicly maligned and their views discredited. Since the inception of Israel as the Jewish State, successive international governments and institutions have struggled to establish a workable definition of anti-Semitism. The most problematic aspect of defining contemporary anti-Semitism is the conflation of anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism. In 2013, the European agency responsible for protecting fundamental human rights (FRA) cited this difficulty when it abandoned attempts to formulate its own working definition. Nevertheless, in December 2016 – prior to relations with Israel turning sour over Resolution 2334 – UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain was to become one of the first countries to adopt a similar formulation as put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (Walker 2016). 49 This matters for three main reasons. Firstly, the new interpretation of anti-Semitism sets limits on free speech where Israel is concerned, entrenching its current immunity to international censure. Secondly, debates over the new definition distract attention from Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, either as Israeli citizens or under occupation in the West Bank, or under sanctions in Gaza. And thirdly, there is a real danger of the new definition resulting in unintended consequences for Jewish communities, not just in Britain but also around the world. This is because over-zealous use of the charge of anti-Semitism ‘radically dilute[s]’ it (Butler 2004: p.109-110), making genuine cases of anti-Semitism harder to identify and challenge. By this logic, and contrary to MacShane’s warnings, prohibition on criticizing Israel renders Jews more, rather than less, vulnerable to racist abuse. Pro-Israel Advocacy: A Changing Landscape During the years leading up to the new formulation of anti-Semitism, Israel’s international image had already been in steady decline. This was partly due to the failure of the Oslo Peace Process to deliver on its promises, specifically to the Palestinians. For example, despite Israel agreeing to withdraw from 90% of the occupied Palestinian territories, by 2000 it had only withdrawn from 18% (Mills et al 2013: p.24). At the same time, other events were being broadcast around the globe. These included the onset of a second Palestinian intifada in September 2000, one that was to last for five years – the first having ended in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords – and secondly, a highly publicized fiasco involving the Israeli delegation at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001. The conference ended in turmoil after the Israeli and their American counterparts staged a walkout in protest of a draft proposal equating Zionism with racism. Despite the offending motion being rejected, the spectacle tarnished Israel’s image and served to further polarize debate over its policies, now gaining widespread publicity due to the Palestinian uprising (Swarns 2001). Meanwhile, rather than fixing the main cause of its unpopularity – the military occupation of territory assigned to the Palestinians under international law – Israeli policy makers blamed ‘viral anti-Semitism’ together with an ineffectual communications strategy (Schleifer & Snapper 2015). All Israel required, or so they thought, was a radical overhauling of its hasbara (lit: explanation), and a more proactive approach to communicating with the international community. The Institute of Jewish Policy Research (IJPR) had already commissioned a report recommending how best to serve the interests of the Jewish diaspora in Britain, and how to communicate Jewish issues to the wider public. Published in March 2000 the report, A Community of Communities (IJPR 2000), was to become a blueprint for the eventual formation of an Israeli-sponsored network of advocacy groups aimed at combatting perceived attempts to delegitimize the Jewish state overseas. The report recommended the development of a coordinated network of key agencies to lead quickly on issues affecting the Jewish community in the UK, feeding information into a network of ‘targeted coalitions of Jewish organizations and agencies in order to formulate a strategic response’ (IJPR 2000). Basically, the idea was to form a series of interconnected hubs tasked with the coordination and dissemination of facts, not only to political and media elites but also to smaller, satellite groups and then on through grassroots volunteer networks to a wider public – in the Foucauldian analogy, to ‘the point where power reaches into the very grain of individuals’ (Foucault 1980: p.39). 50 It was out of this broader initiative that the ad hoc Cross Community Emergency Coordinating Group (CCECG) emerged in 2002, instigated by then Israeli Ambassador Dror Zeigerman in association with a group of leading UK businessmen. One of the group’s first initiatives was to commission top public relations experts Frank Luntz and Stan Greenberg to research public attitudes to Israel in the UK (Mills et al 2013). On their advice, the CCECG began sponsoring trips to Israel for British journalists, the first led by then Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Its information centre was referred to as the war room. A rebuttal desk was set up to combat negative media reports and brief opinion-formers, framing the ties between the UK Jewish community and Israel as more solid than in reality they were. Having emerged as a contingency measure, the group was soon able to establish a more permanent footing as the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) whose objective was (and still is) ‘to cultivate a policymaking environment in Britain that is favourable to Israel’ (Mills et al: p.40). From Israel’s perspective, any investment in these efforts – both from the Israeli state and private individuals – was well spent, as subsequent events proved. The infamous Jenin massacre of 2002 was followed in 2003 by the death of a young American activist, Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer as she resisted house demolitions at Rafah, on the Gaza border. In 2006, Israel’s devastating invasion of Lebanon coincided with the publication of former American President Jimmy Carter’s book, Peace Not Apartheid, for which he was ostracized by much of the American political establishment. The publicity surrounding both events – the tragedy of one, and the furore over the other – attracted public attention to the Palestinian plight and cast doubt on Israel’s true intentions in the peace process. Meanwhile, the so-called separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank, justified on grounds of Palestinian terrorism during the second intifada, was taking shape largely on Palestinian land, in defiance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion in 2004 that it was illegal. Elsewhere, the transnational BDS movement – established in 2005 on the anniversary of the ICJ opinion – was making advances in further galvanizing British public opinion (Hitchcock 2016). The task for Zionist strategists was now one of explaining and justifying Israel’s actions, not just to the political and media elites, but also to the public at large. Outsourcing To The Grassroots In December 2009 the Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism, convened by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called for the fight against BDS to be taken to the grassroots of Jewish diaspora host countries (Innovative Minds 2010). The Working Group on Delegitimization, co-chaired by Canadian Professor Gil Troy, listed 12 steps in a five-year plan to combat BDS. The first step is headed Let’s Reframe to Name and Shame, while the second is Dig Deep to Undermine. Further steps included engaging bloggers ‘to target BDSers and delegitimizers, exposing their tactics’, and ‘pursuing a strategy of ridicule and satire – especially on the internet’ (Innovative Minds 2010). Troy later claimed the document was ‘the start of a conversation’ and the launch of ‘a grassroots movement against a well-organized but ultimately failing and marginalized effort’ (Jerusalem Post 11 March 2010). Then in January 2010, a major theme at the 10th Herzliya Conference, Israel’s main policy-making forum, was Winning the Battle of the Narrative. The emphasis was on the same 51 networking model recommended a decade earlier in the Community of Communities report. Policy advisors presented papers in Herzliya listing ways to outsource political messages via NGOs, academic institutions, and advocacy organizations, as well as ways to coach grassroots activists in the use of digital platforms to ‘get the message out’. For example, one Working Paper urged advocates to develop ‘an online personality’ to create a ‘positive resonance’ with western audiences, and to use only language that works culturally and politically with them (Michlin 2010). Further emphasis was on strengthening diaspora identity with Israel, and outsourcing its messages to grassroots activists whereby Israel would gain maximum spread of pro-Israel discourse at minimum cost. A document issued by the Reut Institute, Building a Political Firewall Against Israel’s Delegitimization (Reut 2010), set out a detailed strategy of grassroots engagement in the diaspora to mobilize support from the bottom up, as a supplement to Israel’s top down pressure on political and business elites (Reut 2010: p.14). It then offered extensive advice on ways to ‘delegitimize the delegitimizing networks’. Besides formulating a coordinated response to events in Israel, the larger hub organizations would be tasked with marshaling background information for feeding to the smaller, satellite groups. These would recruit and train volunteer advocates to disseminate selective messages, using both traditional methods – street stalls, letters to MPs, complaints to the media – as well as digital, with an emphasis on social media networking. The idea was to achieve a united front at the grassroots of British society, based on discourse originating in Israel itself. The following year (2011), BICOM launched its satellite organization, We Believe in Israel (WBII) with the explicit purpose of mobilizing and resourcing an army of loyalists to challenge detractors, promote Israel and defend its actions. Its purpose according to its website is to foster a ‘broad-based and inclusive coalition’ and to: ‘create a fair and balanced political environment for Israel in the UK’, as well as to ‘broaden active support for Israel beyond existing advocates to include a wide range of Jewish and non-Jewish voices’; and to ‘ensure support for Israel is heard in debates whether online, in the traditional media or at public events’ (WBII website). By operating largely in the virtual realm as a resource centre and capacitybuilding network, the WBII brand benefits from the kind of fluidity that is unavailable to the longer-established organizations representing Jews in Britain like The Board of Deputies, and the Zionist Federation. Proving that WBII has become a significant force in building Zionist support, the organization staged its second major conference in 2015 under the banner, Winning the Communications Battle for Israel. Opening the event, WBII’s director Luke Akehurst told more than 1,000 delegates there were more than 7,500 people on the organization’s mailing list, 45% of them non-Jews, and that the support of 450 councillors had been secured in 200 local authorities across the UK (WBII [Online Video] 2015). He warned, ‘We’re up against a new scale of anti-Israel activity, and at the edges of that activity we’re seeing a merging between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, a kind of new anti-Semitism dressed up as anti- Zionism’. WBII would equip those willing to counter this movement with the knowledge and skills to become ‘allies in the battle for Israel’s reputation’ (WBII [Online Video] 2015). Part of the organization’s success is due to Akehurst himself. He runs regular pro-Israel workshops for trade unions, church groups, schools, and FoI groups – the kind of groups that 52 Shai Masot had a covert hand in spreading, and at which a representative of the Israeli Embassy is normally present. In addition, WBII regularly promotes campaigns and petitions on Facebook and Twitter. These include calls for the banning of Hezbollah flags on British streets; an end to British aid ‘being used to educate children to hate’; and for government legislation against local council boycotts of Israeli goods and services – the policy issue Shai Masot claimed he influenced (Al Jazeera 2017). Supporters are encouraged to write to their MPs as issues arise, for which templates are provided. As a result of these efforts, Akehurst was able to announce in March 2017 that WBII’s list of activists had doubled to 15,000 (WBII [website]). These now include 650 local councilors from all parties. It was an important milestone, he said, ‘sealing [WBII’s] reputation as the UK’s fastest growing pro-Israel campaign’ (WBII [website]). Singing From The Same Hymn Sheet Since the emergence of WBII, small local FoI groups have been springing up in an ad hoc manner across the UK, affiliated to a web of other campaigning groups such as Stand With Us, Christians United for Israel, and the Israel-Britain Alliance. Two of the most active, the North West FoI and Sussex FoI were launched in 2014, the former in response to boycotts of Israeli goods, the latter responding to clashes outside during the protests against Operation Defensive Edge. In Scotland, 12 groups have emerged in the last two years, together forming the Confederation of Friends of Israel Scotland (COFIS). Others are planned. Their shared approach is to challenge criticism of Israel both online and in conversation on the streets. Advice on how best to do this, using the most effective discourses, is readily available on the WBII website. Whilst the various FoI groups are free to establish their own constitutions and act accordingly, their common enemy – according to social media posts – is the BDS movement, which they claim is a broad anti-Semitic alliance comprised of left and right wing extremists in coalition with Islamic fundamentalists (APPIA 2006). The groups are open to all regardless of religious beliefs though some, like the one based in Manchester, attract members from local Jewish communities, whereas others like the Morecambe Bay FoI are largely Christian in character. However, they all share the same corporate image and express similar viewpoints, recycling a high proportion of the same information from the same sources in the form of video clips, articles and blogposts. These include messages from Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Ambassador Regev, and former Chief Rabbi Sacks, all of whom make claims that distort the pro-Palestinian narrative, or omit it altogether. Rabbi Sacks demonstrates this well in his voiceover of an animated clip discrediting the BDS movement, posted on the COFIS Facebook page and widely circulated elsewhere. He begins by stating that the BDS campaign is ‘dangerously wrong because beneath its surface is an attempt to delegitimize Israel, as a prelude to its elimination’ (Sacks [Online Video] 2017). This is problematic in two key ways: firstly in its assumption that to oppose Israeli policy is tantamount to seeking Israel’s destruction. Secondly, and equally important, is the normative value with which he, as an authority figure, imbues his assertion. As Butler (2004) argues in a different but related case, such utterances carry weight by virtue of the speakers’ status, thereby influencing how their hearers understand issues and potentially ‘setting a norm for legitimate interpretation’ (Butler 2004: p.108). Moreover, where charges of anti-Semitism are leveled 53 against critics of Israel, authority figures have the power to ‘exercise a chilling effect on political discourse, stoking the fear that to criticize Israel […] is to expose oneself to the charge of anti-Semitism’ (Butler 2004: p.102). They affect the conditions of audibility and set limits on what one is willing to say out loud’ (Butler 2004: p.127). The omission of alternative narratives and possibilities further serves to foreclose debate (Butler 2004: p.110). To advance the FoI mission, the Israeli Embassy annually invites representatives of the newest groups to London for a day’s advocacy training. In November 2016, there were more than 100 representatives from new groups across the UK, the highest number to date. Besides Ambassador Regev, speakers included Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, and David Collier, a blogger under the banner heading Beyond the Great Divide. Given that his posts are frequently recycled and applauded on Facebook and Twitter, he is highly regarded among grassroots Zionist supporters. His writing, however, is peppered with inflammatory language. For example in January 2017 he referred to UNSC Resolution 2334 as ‘[f]odder for the anti-Israel lynch mob’ and the UN itself as ‘a rabid Jew-hating forum’ (Collier 2017). Collier’s self-appointed mission is to attend and report on pro-Palestinian events and academic conferences. He refers to these as ‘hate-fests’. He told his embassy audience in November that ‘BDS is an umbrella group under which all Israel haters unite’ to ‘smear Zionists as bullies and Nazis’. 2 His posts frequently single out prominent supporters of Palestinian rights such as Ilan Pappe and Ghada Karmi to name-and-shame. Overall, Collier’s blogposts exemplify the discursive categories typical of an extreme ideological perspective. These include outright denials of Israel’s human rights violations beginning with the displacement in 1948 of the indigenous Palestinian population (Pappe 2006); the shifting of blame for the conflict through discourses that claim (for Israel) the right to self-defense, and which imply that Palestinian violence is a random expression of Arab anti-Semitism rather than resistance to decades of dispossession, discrimination and humiliation; dehumanization of Palestinians as a people who routinely sacrifice their children in order to kill Jews; a strong antipathy for anyone supporting Palestinian human rights; and frequent resort to ridicule. When the Al Jazeera documentaries aired, Collier was quick to deride the series, downplaying the seriousness of Israel’s tampering with British public opinion, and citing Marcus Dysch, Political Editor at the Jewish Chronicle, who on 12 January attacked the series as ‘harassment of Jews dressed up as entertainment’ (Collier 2017b). Similarly, Collier reproduced the remarks of fellow blogger Jonathan Hoffman, whose piece on the Zionist website Harry’s Place summed the films as ‘voyeurism for anti-Semites’ (Collier 2017b). It would be easy to dismiss such social media exchanges as inconsequential hot air. But propaganda thrives on the repetition of catchy slogans such as these, and the constant exchange and recirculation of misleading information – Collier’s comments reappear across a range of social media – arguably spreads and entrenches already strongly held Zionist beliefs, inflaming antagonism towards pro-Palestinian supporters and muting their messages. The possibility of free and fair debate is severely limited. The dissident journalist Chris Hedges highlights this well when he draws on George Orwell (and Adolf Hitler) to observe that states wielding ‘the Big Lie’ – as he claims Israel does to maintain its hold on Palestine – do so not just at the expense of the truth, but also of 2 Excerpted from notes made by a Morecambe Bay FoI attendee, supplied with permission for research purposes. 54 reality (Hedges 2014). Hedges offers a striking example from his own experience of how language can be made to promulgate the Big Lie. More than once, he writes, whilst reporting from Khan Younis during the bombing of Gaza, he witnessed Israeli soldiers baiting small boys, swearing at them through loudspeakers mounted on armored vehicles; then, when the boys responded by throwing stones at the jeeps, the soldiers opened fire, with devastating results. ‘Such incidents, in the Israeli lexicon, become children caught in crossfire’ (Hedges 2014 (emphasis in original)). Similarly, the carnage following the bombing by F16 jets of ‘overcrowded hovels in Gaza city’ becomes ‘a surgical strike on a bomb-making factory’; and the demolition of Palestinian homes to create a buffer zone around Gaza becomes ‘the demolition of the homes of terrorists’. Meanwhile, he adds, Israel lays claim to being ‘the most moral army in the world’ that never attacks civilians (Hedges 2014). Be that as it may, it is by means of language that binary terms are forced on events, thus disallowing ‘the nuances and contradictions that plague the conscience’, which is why, Hedges suggests, Israelis and supporters of Israel are able to maintain their cognitive dissonance over the occupation and its consequences. ‘And when facts no longer matter’, he says, and there is ‘no shared history grounded in truth, when people foolishly believe their own lies, there can be no useful exchange of information’ (Hedges 2014). Capitalizing On Celebrity Finally, in addition to grassroots social media interventions, there are a number of well-known public figures willing to use their celebrity to repeat selective discourses in order to reinforce the Israeli narrative. One such celebrity is the British comedienne Maureen Lipman, who won widespread affection in the 1980s for her portrayal of a Jewish mother in a series of British Telecom advertisements. In 2014 she publicly tore up her Labour Party membership card in protest at the then party leader Ed Miliband’s backing of a Commons motion to recognize a future Palestinian state. In a syndicated newspaper interview she railed colourfully at supporters of the motion, characterizing them as ‘footling backbenchers in this ludicrous piece of [anti-Israel] propaganda’ (Press Association 2014). Many followed her example, deserting Labour in droves (Hodges 2014). Lipman came to the fore again in February 2017 when the Israel Britain Alliance scripted an appeal in protest of the annual Israel Apartheid Week events on university campuses (Lipman [Online Video] 2017). According to Lipman, Apartheid Week ‘creates an atmosphere of intimidation and prejudice’ that contravenes the 2010 Equality Act under which universities are legally bound to foster good relations between students regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religious beliefs. Universities allowing their premises to be used for Apartheid Week events were failing in their duty of care, specifically to Jewish students. However, Lipman’s script contains a number of half-truths and red herrings. For example, within the first 20 seconds of speaking to the camera, she claims that, ‘All people in Israel have equal rights and 1.6 million Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as 6.8 million Jewish Israelis’. This is only half the truth. While Israel’s Declaration of Independence affirmed social and political equality for all its citizens, in reality there are now more than 50 laws discriminating against Palestinians, ranging from legislation barring their return after 1948, to laws restricting land and planning rights. One law bans married couples from living together where one spouse is an Israeli citizen and the other a resident of the occupied territories 55 (Adalah). Yet Lipman closes her video by demanding (without irony) that ‘universities must refuse to allow university property to display false and inflammatory propaganda, including the phrase Israel Apartheid Week’. The video quickly went viral across Zionist social platforms. At the same time, FoI groups were running a letter-writing campaign to UK university chancellors, urging them to ban the event. One such letter, to the vice-Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), was posted on Facebook as an exemplar. Its writer, Nigel Goodrich on behalf of COFIS, decried ‘this shameful and discredited hate-fest’ and focused, as had Lipman, on the university’s legal duty of care for all students regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity. Its core demand appears in bold type: ‘To comply with this important duty, universities must refuse to allow university property to display false and inflammatory (emphases in original) propaganda that includes the phrase Israel “Apartheid Week” ’. The writer goes on to argue that to allow the event would make the university ‘complicit in encouraging racist propaganda’ and ‘[t]he hostile, aggressive and untruthful rhetoric likely to be inflicted upon your students will, in our view, cross the line into hate incidents, hate crimes or even anti-Semitism’ (Goodrich 2017). It took UCLAN just 24 hours to consider the warning and ban Apartheid Week on campus (Doherty 2017). Emboldened by the outcome, campaigners went on to flood other institutions with similar messages. As a result, a number of other universities, including Exeter and Central London, outlawed a number of student demonstrations on campus, including the setting up of mock checkpoints, citing the racist nature of the events and security concerns. Summary In 1983, the year before his death, Foucault wrote that his life’s work had been ‘to create a history of the different modes by which […] human beings are made subjects […] of power’ (Dreyfus & Rabinow 1982: p.208-209). His strategy was to seek out the practices and micropractices that constitute and pervade everyday life and within which knowledge accrues. Despite Foucault’s flaws – and there are many – perhaps his greatest legacy was to show how the discourse-knowledge paradigm is intrinsic to what is deemed to be true. Therefore, discourse constitutes an important weapon in the struggle for power. The issues raised in this paper concern discursive practices aimed at spreading the state of Israel’s preferred meta-discourses beyond its own borders as means of gaining hegemony in the public sphere, and power to influence the political and media elite. Grassroots Zionist advocacy organizations have been identified as increasingly vital conduits for selective pro- Israel discourses with the aim of combatting criticism of Israel over the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory – which Israel disputes – and justifying its treatment of the Palestinians. This paper has demonstrated the outworking of Israel’s policy since 2000 to sponsor and resource the growth of grassroots advocacy in the UK, and to coordinate a hegemonic discourse across a range of social platforms. It has endeavoured to show how Zionist organizations in the UK are engaged in a determined strategy to reinforce from below the British government’s long-standing support for Israel, dating back to the Balfour Declaration of 1917. These contentions are based on three key observations: firstly, that the definition of anti-Semitism has been extended in such a way as to make critics of Israeli policy and 56 behaviour susceptible to spurious charges of anti-Semitic racism and the stigma to which that charge exposes them. Secondly, it has been observed that since the start of the Palestinian intifada in 2000, and particularly following public demonstrations over Israel’s series of military interventions in Gaza, Israeli efforts to strengthen diaspora ties to the Jewish homeland have intensified. The discourse of existential threats to Israel, including regular reminders of the Nazi Holocaust, have further energized efforts to recruit grassroots advocates to discredit pro-Palestinian activists, particularly those promoting boycotts of Israel. Thirdly, the disconnection between public outrage and UK policy on Israel has never been starker. Notwithstanding the street protests of 2014 – and the raft of official reports condemning Israel’s human rights violations – the British government’s allegiance to Israel remains staunch. Even the debacle over Resolution 2334 caused no more than a brief pause in the relationship, and the Al Jazeera exposé scarcely even that. In conclusion, it should not be forgotten that the Israel-Palestinian conflict involves complex issues and strongly held beliefs. This paper has merely highlighted one aspect of Britain’s part in perpetuating what continues to be an intractable and bloody conflict in the Middle East. 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Thank you ‘happyhenry’ for this interesting and for me enlightening observation. I’m not Jewish but I do appreciate what you’re saying. However, I suggest your argument falls too easily into the well-worn defence: ‘it’s only the Jews who get treated like this’, and ‘what about the other human rights abusers?’ In other words, if I’m understand you aright, you’re saying that David Ward’s argument is anti-Semitic on grounds that Israel is singled out for criticism, an argument that rings hollow, relying primarily on the perception of Jews as perpetual victims. Also, just because we notice the abuses going on in Israel-Palestine, it doesn’t automatically follow that (because we’re non-Jewish) we don’t also object to what’s going on elsewhere. To the contrary, you’ll probably find that many of those raising their voices over Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians are similarly engaged with combating other abuses. The difference is that when they do, they don’t tend to be accused of being anti-African/Rwanda/Nigerian…etc. Someone has said (I think it was Michael Neumann) that when people make this argument, they don’t mean they wish people would care as much about the other victims, but that they would care less about the Palestinians. Further to this though, it can’t be ignored that in any case, the state Israel singles itself out as an ‘exceptional nation’, which can flout international law with impunity. In one sense, Israel certainly is exceptional, or at least unique, having emerged as a settler-colonial state at a time of global decolonisation (what the late Tony Judt calls ‘the twilight of the continental empires’) when driving out an indigenous population and settling another was beginning to be outlawed. Judt puts it well: ‘The problem with Israel, in short, is not – as is sometimes suggested – that it is a European “enclave” in the Arab world; but rather that it arrived too late. It has imported a characteristically late-nineteenth century separatist project into a world that has moved on, a world of individual rights, open frontiers, and international law. The very idea of a “Jewish state” – a state in which Jews and the Jewish religion have exclusive privileges from which non-Jewish citizens are forever excluded – is rooted in another time and place. Israel, in short, is an anachronism.’ Actually, contra Judt, I think the fact that it is also an outpost of Europe is relevant. We do expect more from a people whose roots are geographically and culturally similar to our own, and who choose to be identified with Europe in many ways – why else would it enter the European Song Contest?! We do expect a nation that relies on American and European money to adopt certain norms and adhere to human rights law…to end its occupation. Is it really any wonder that in witnessing the increasingly brutal oppression of the Palestinians, we Europeans recognise actions reminiscent of the oppression meted out on the Jews in wartime Germany? Instead of (over)reacting to people like David Ward, who may need to learn a thing or two about Jewish sensibilities, perhaps we’d do better trying to show Jewish Israelis what is being done in their name – because I believe many are kept in the dark about this – and by implication what is being done (whether they like it or not) in the name of Jews worldwide. And that really is dangerous. I thought that’s what IJV was all about…? Jane Jackman
Thanks for the discussion happyhenry but I’m still not convinced that what David Ward said should be interpreted as you suggest… that ‘Jews should be better people because of the Holocaust’. I don’t think he meant that at all. As I understand it, he meant that ‘because the Jews suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, one would think they would choose to avoid inflicting suffering on others…because they (of all people) know what it’s like.’ That doesn’t mean they should be better people because of the atrocity they suffered; it simply means we would expect them to act more justly than their tormenters did. If you were beaten up by a street gang because say they didn’t like the way you look/talk etc, I’d expect you to be traumatised. But I’d trust you wouldn’t go out and beat someone else up and take their property, then expect the community or magistrates to accept your behaviour (albeit understandable) as reasonable. Of course, we all realise Israel isn’t perpetrating a holocaust in Palestine – nobody is suggesting that – but the expropriation and occupation of Palestinian land bears certain hallmarks that unmistakably resonate with the lead-up to the Shoah eg exclusion and humiliation, walling in, confiscation of land and property, impoverishment, restrictions of movement and destruction of livelihoods. Maybe the problem begins with the way we use the word ‘Holocaust’ as a catch-all for the suppression of Jews in Nazi Germany to pave the way for the Shoah. Anyway, since David Ward uttered those words, we have another problem to think about…the Times cartoon…
Glasgow University publishes antisemitic conspiracy theory
December 11, 2020 David CollierGlasgow University is ranked as a top UK university. The University is a member of the Russell Group. It runs a platform called esharp which is an ‘international online journal for postgraduate research.’ The University is very proud of the outlet. It states that all the paper are ‘double blind peer reviewed’. The university claims that the ‘rigorous and constructive process is designed to enhance the worth of postgraduate and postdoctoral work.’
A paper on the ‘Israel lobby’ appeared in issue 25 volume 1 (June 2017). It was written by Jane Jackman, an academic product of the universities of Durham and Exeter. There isn’t much to be found about Jackman online. She spoke at events in Exeter and SOAS and was an active member of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES). In 2017 Jackman was being supervised by Willaim Gallois at Exeter. Unsurprisingly, the conspiracy theorist and ‘liar’ Ilan Pappe was a co-supervisor.
There is almost no sign of public activity from Jackman on social media. There is an inactive Twitter account in her name, which only follows accounts linked to Israeli advocacy or the fight against antisemitism. Given her academic focus on the ‘Israel lobby’, it is a safe bet to assume it is hers. She did spend some considerable time commenting on blogs and articles, including mine.
Glasgow University and the Jackman paper
Jackman’s paper was titled ‘Advocating Occupation: Outsourcing Zionist Propaganda in the UK‘. The key thrust of the argument is that people like myself (I feature prominently) have been recruited by Israel to spread disinformation. I have studied the entire article. My key questions would be –
How did Glasgow University ever permit this to appear in their journal?
How is it possible that this was peer reviewed?
The paper isn’t just laden with conspiracy, antisemitism and errors – much of the time the reference material does not even support what the article is suggesting. The work is beyond shoddy. Jackman makes unsupportable outlandish statements, that are far more fitting for gutter press journalism such as the Independent than an academic journal. The paper frequently contradicts its own logic. This is in no way an academic piece of work. It should be hung on the walls at Glasgow university as a reminder of the shame that they ever allowed this to be published. The only justification for ‘peer reviewers’ to have accepted this piece is that they agreed with its content and wanted it published. The entire process is rife with heavy antisemitism. Who were the editors that sat around a table and accepted this submission?
The shame of Glasgow University
The paper is so bad and the errors so numerous, that it would need a book to address them all. I did not want to burden this blog with a long rebuttal, so I created a simple PDF that highlights *some* of the *academic* issues I found with this shoddy piece of work. You can download the PDF and see for yourself. However bad you think it could be – it is worse. Unforgivably, Jackman even refers to ‘the infamous Jenin massacre‘:
Any student of the conflict knows that there was no massacre in Jenin and the misreporting of the incident in 2002 swiftly brought shame to much of the British press. Which academic outlet in the world today supports the notion that there was a massacre in Jenin in 2002 and how is an outrageously unreferenced (unsupported) statement such as this acceptable in a peer reviewed article?
How is it possible that this was ‘peer reviewed’? Are the ‘peers’ all this unprofessional? The entire piece describes how British Jews are directed (and funded) by Israel to manipulate opinion and lie to the British public. How was antisemitic conspiracy ever published and uploaded on the Glasgow University website? Glasgow University – shame, shame, shame!
Once published
Glasgow University makes a great show of talking up the professionalism of their esharp platform. Which means this article is used to support antisemitic conspiracy in academic circles. The article has an ‘.ac.uk’ website address. It is available on ‘Google Scholar’. How is this not Glasgow University’s fault?
Once green-lighted by Glasgow University, the paper can be referenced by others who assume it has passed through some type of rigorous peer review. For example it appears as a reference in the International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives Vol. 17, No. 1, 2018, pp. 7-2. In an paper written by Lou Dear, who ‘coincidentally’ has a PhD from Glasgow University. How is a Russell Group University awarding PhD’s to ‘academics’ that can read Jackman’s article and consider it worthy of reference. How?
The paper was presented at the BRISMES annual conference. BRISMES is the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. The Vice-Chair is Nicola Pratt from Warwick University, an anti-Israel academic with whom readers of this research should be familiar. This is evidence of the enormity and dangers of the problem. Once you let unprofessional, sloppy, bias enter academia – other academics follow suit. Each climbing on the shoulder of the one before them. They create a network and spread out like a cancer. In the end, truth becomes lost.
A long road back
For so long we ignored what was happening on campus or casually dismissed it as irrelevant. We only woke up after antisemitism had become normative. It is astonishing that this type of antisemitic discourse was not immediately identified. If Jackman had been writing about any other minority group, this paper would have immediately been rejected as blatantly racist. Instead Jackman finds herself published in a postgraduate journal and proudly hosted on university websites. This is also our fault for being so passive for so long. It took the advent of Corbyn to wake most our community up and it is going to be a long struggle to reclaim the lost ground.
Please contact the Principal of Glasgow University Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli (principal@glasgow.ac.uk). Ask him how the University ever felt this paper was worthy of academic publication. Make sure you attach the PDF.
If you are not satisfied with his response you should contact the Scottish Ombudsman.
The Gaza Strip: History, Future and New Directions for Research It has been almost eight years since Israel’s military blockade of the Gaza Strip began in mid-2007. During this time, repeated aerial and ground invasions have killed thousands of Palestinians – including over 2100 people in the latest onslaught of July/August 2014. These assaults, and the ongoing closure of the Strip, have generated a humanitarian disaster on a scale unprecedented since Israel’s occupation began in 1967. Nonetheless, despite these enormous difficulties, Gaza remains an inseparable part of Palestine. Saturday 31 October 2015 9.00 Registration 9.30 – 9.40 Welcoming Remarks (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) Adam Hanieh, SOAS 9.40 – 10.00 Keynote Speaker (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) Sara Roy, Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University 10.00 – 12.00 Panel Sessions 1 & 2 Panel 1: Food and Health (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) ‘We Didn’t Want to Hear the Word Calories’: Rethinking Food Security, Food Power, and Food Sovereignty – Lessons from the Gaza Closure Aeyal Gross, Tel Aviv University/SOAS and Tamar Feldman, Assiciation for Civil Rights Israel How Does Israeli Settler Colonialism Subjugate Palestinians? A Closer Look at Starvation as a Tool of Dispossession Hanine Hassan, Columbia University Rights not Privileges—The Human Right to Water and the Politics of Access under Occupation: Water Access and Water Quality in the Gaza Strip Carly Krakow, New York University Panel 2: Hidden Aggression against Gaza (MBI Al Jaber Seminar Room) Political Economy of Siege and War Toufic Haddad, SOAS PhD Graduate Networking the Occupation: How Israel ‘Mows the Lawn’ in Gaza and Gets Away With It Jane Jackman, Exeter University Funding Gaza’s Rehabilitation: Can the Donors be Trusted? Jeremy Wildeman, Exeter University 12.00 – 13.00 Lunch (Staff Common Room – SOAS Main Building) 13.00 – 15.00 Panel Session 3 Panel 3: Representations and Contestations of Gaza (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) Proposals on Legal Harmonisation between Gaza and the West Bank Mia Swart, University of Johanesburg Unmapping the Gaza Strip: Towards a Deterritorializing Anthropology of Palestine (and Self-Determination) Hadeel Assali, Columbia University The Palestinian Ruin as an Israeli Architectural Project Léopold Lambert, The Funambulist Magazine The Armature of Sumud: Gaza’s Networks of Resilience Bruce Stanley, Richmond University 15.00 – 15.30 Break 15.30 – 17.30 Panel Sessions 4 & 5 Panel 4: Media and Cultural Production (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) Visual Arts in Gaza : a New Form of Resistance? Marion Slitine, EHESS (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) in Paris Conditions of (Im)possibility: Echoes of Van Gogh’s Shoes in Modern Palestinian Art Ziad Suidan In the Shadow of the ‘Other’: The British Broadsheets’ Coverage of the First Gaza War David Kaposi BICOM’s Narrative Battle: the Fight for British Public Opinion during Operation Protective Edge Loreley Hahn Herrera, SOAS Panel 5: Politics Old and New (MBI Al Jaber Seminar Room) Social Structures and Factional Politics in Gaza Yaser Alashqar, Trinity College Dublin Hamas Crisis: Resistance, Governance and Transformation (2006-2015) Ibrahim Natil, University College Dublin (UCD) Gaza Revisited: New Readings in the Social and Political History of Gaza Jehad Abusalim, New York University 18.00 – 20.00 Post-Conference Public Panel Discussion (Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre) Gaza: Strangulation and Resilience The Gaza Strip came under Israeli occupation 48 years ago, in 1967. It has been the target of several Israeli wars of increasing violence, the latest — in the summer of 2014 — being the most destructive of all. Three renowned experts on Gaza will assess the Strip’s recent history and its present political, social and economic conditions, and discuss its future. Ghazi Sourani, Palestinian National Council and Al-Aqsa University Jean-Pierre Filiu, Sciences-Po and the Paris School of International Affairs Sara Roy, Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University
Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, is in the midst of a battle over BDS.
Rutgers faculty associations have been pushing for divestment from Israel. A number of petitions have been circulating recently, claiming that Israel has been abusing the Palestinians.
The Rutgers American Association of University Professors, and the Rutgers American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT), approved a resolution, requesting, “be it resolved, that Rutgers AAUP-AFT expresses our solidarity with the Palestinian people and calls for Israel to end bombardment of Gaza and stop displacement at Sheikh Jarrah, Therefore, be it further resolved, that Rutgers AAUP-AFT calls on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to stop all aid funding human rights violations and an occupation that is illegal under international law.”
In May, the Executive Board of the Part-Time Lecturer Chapter of Rutgers AAUP-AFT expressed support with Palestinian trade unions which stated that “Israel’s settler mobs and occupation forces continue a campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in Gaza, Sheikh Jarrah, Lydd and Haifa – Palestinian workers bare the brunt of this violence.” The petition listed over 130 names of faculty members supporting the Palestinians.
Worth noting that the charges against Israel are based on the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published in April 2021, written by Omar Shakir. Shakir is the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, who was deported from Israel in 2019 for making statements in support of the boycott of Israel. His report was based on the work of the Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, with 42 references to the B’Tselem website and the B’Tselem report, co-written by BGU Geography Prof. Oren Yiftachel in January 2021. As IAM reported in April, Yiftachel is a long-time political activist who understood since 2002 that if he wanted a successful academic career, he should accuse Israel of apartheid, as reported by the British Guardiannewspaper in December 2002.
All the Rutgers petitioners ignore the fact that some Gazan academics are actively fighting against Israel. Earlier this month, Nasr Fahajan, a Gazan Professor of Islamic Studies, stated in public that once Palestine is liberated, not all Jews will be annihilated, as some will be allowed to escape abroad.
Another Gazan academic collaborated with Hamas. On May 12, 2021, when the IDF attacked a location in the western part of Gaza City where senior Hamas figures had gathered, fourteen Hamas operatives were killed. One of them was Dr. Jamal al-Zebda, who held a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in the United States and was a senior lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza engineering faculty. He had developed weapons for Hamas and headed the rocket development program.
Earlier this year, another Rutgers group, the Endowment Justice Collective, demanded that the “university divest from Israeli apartheid” and the “Israeli apartheid-supporting telecommunications company Motorola Solutions,” noting that Greg Brown, a member of Rutgers’ Board of Governors is the chairman and chief economic officer of Motorola.
Rutgers was involved in several anti-Semitic cases in the last decade, including in 2017, when Michael Chikindas, a professor in the food science department, reportedly posted dozens of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments on his Facebook page during several months, such as claiming that the Armenian genocide was orchestrated by Jews. After investigation, he was dismissed from teaching.
Anti-Semitic concerns prompted the administration of Rutgers to step in to denounce anti-Semitism. On May 26, 2021, Christopher J. Molloy, the Rutgers Chancellor, and Francine Conway, the Rutgers Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Research and Academic Affairs wrote a letter that was posted on the Rutgers website condemning anti-Semitism. However, they took it down after receiving complaints from Palestinians.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers University wrote a letter to the Chancellor and Provost opposing the fact that the statement exclusively addressed anti-Semitism while ignoring “the extent to which Palestinians have been brutalized by Israel’s occupation and bombing of Gaza.” That the Chancellor and Provost’s statement comes during “global protests and critiques against Israel’s occupation of Palestine.” That publishing the Chancellor and Provost’s statement is a “decision that cannot be separated from widespread attempts to conflate antizionism with antisemitism and derail Palestinian voices and activism. The statement released by Chancellor Molloy and Provost Conway thus cannot be interpreted as anything other than a deflection from Rutgers University’s role in financially supporting the Israeli state, and thus its human rights abuses and occupation of Palestine.”
Feeling the heat, the leadership of Rutgers produced an apology which was also taken down, then provided a final statement titled “On Hatred and Bigotry,” on May 29, 2021, stating that “Rutgers deplores hatred and bigotry in all forms. We have not, nor would we ever, apologize for standing against anti-Semitism. Neither hatred nor bigotry has a place at Rutgers, nor should they have a place anywhere in the world. At Rutgers we believe that anti-Semitism, anti-Hinduism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism, intolerance and xenophobia are unacceptable wherever and whenever they occur.”
At the same time, Jewish groups raise their concerns with the Rutgers University Board of Trustees, noting that “anti-Semitism at Rutgers from faculty is at very high, unacceptable levels.”
It looks pretty obvious that the battle in Rutgers will continue where Palestinian and pro-Palestinian faculty will justify Palestinian attacks on Israel while opposing measures against anti-Semitism on the Rutgers campuses.
PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Executive Board Statement in Solidarity with the Palestinian People
June 12, 2021
Whereas, over 1,500 Palestinians from neighborhoods in Jerusalem are facing the threat of forced displacement and home demolitions by Israeli authorities, and children make up a large percentage of the families threatened with homelessness,
Whereas, this pattern and practice of dispossession and expansion of settlements has been found to be illegal under international law,
Whereas, many reputable international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Israel-based B’tselem have designated these practices of Israel as “apartheid” and a regime of legalized racial discrimination perpetrated against the Palestinian people, and the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into these practices,
Whereas, in response to Palestinian demonstrations against these illegal practices and the forcible displacement of families in Sheikh Jarrah, Israeli police attacked demonstrations in many instances, injuring hundreds, including a raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a place of worship,
Whereas, since May 10 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have begun an intense campaign of bombing and mortar fire on the territory of Gaza. At the time of writing, nearly 277 people, more than a quarter of them children, have been killed. Over 1,300 have been wounded, and 52,000 Gazans have lost their homes,
Whereas, as a Higher Ed union, we strongly support the right of our members to defend Palestinians since we are committed to the principles of academic freedom. We deplore the attacks on media offices that serve to threaten a free press,
Whereas, we also stand in solidarity with Palestinians participating in a general strike to demand their rights and condemn employers who retaliate against them,
Whereas, we stand in solidarity with Palestinians and their Jewish Israeli allies, understanding that their struggles are fundamentally entwined with many other movements for equality, justice, and liberation, both within the United States and around the world. We join together in rededicating ourselves to working against all forms of racism, colonialism, and injustice at Rutgers, in the classroom, on campus, and beyond,
Therefore, be it resolved, that Rutgers AAUP-AFT expresses our solidarity with the Palestinian people and calls for Israel to end bombardment of Gaza and stop displacement at Sheikh Jarrah,
Therefore, be it further resolved, that Rutgers AAUP-AFT calls on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to stop all aid funding human rights violations and an occupation that is illegal under international law.
Executive Council Resolution in Solidarity with Palestine
May 28, 2021
In response to the urgent call from Palestinian trade unions, we, the undersigned members of the Executive Board of the Part-Time Lecturer Chapter of Rutgers AAUP-AFT (Local 6324), call on the American Federation of Teachers to divest itself of all Israeli bonds and for the United States government to cease all financial support to Israel at once.
As teachers and union members, we can no longer allow ourselves to be complicit in the illegal acts of the Israeli government that have driven Palestinians from their homes or with military actions that have targeted, killed and maimed civilian populations of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and that have destroyed vital infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.
We support the position of Trade Union Action for Justice in Palestine and international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Israel-based B’Tselem, who have designated these practices of Israel as “apartheid” and a regime of legalized racial discrimination perpetrated against the Palestinian people. We note that the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into these practices.
We join with the Executive Council of our sister union, Rutgers AAUP-AFT (representing full-time faculty and grad employees), to condemn these crimes in the strongest possible terms, and we urge others in the global labor movement for freedom, justice, dignity, and equality to similarly answer the call made by Palestinian trade unions and workers’ organizations.
Signed, Ann Ilan Alter, Representative, New Brunswick Frank Bridges, Representative, New Brunswick Bruce Garrity, Representative, Camden Roseli Golfetti, Newark Vice President Amy Higer, President Kevin Keogan, Representative, Newark David Letwin, Representative, New Brunswick James Robinson, Representative, New Brunswick Bryan Sacks, Treasurer Dan Sidorick, Representative, New Brunswick Howie Swerdloff, Secretary Karen Thompson, Representative, New Brunswick
Click here to read and sign the Rutgers University Faculty Stand in Solidarity with the Palestinian People statement.
Rutgers University Faculty Stand in Solidarity with the Palestinian PeopleWe stand in Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Rutgers University faculty condemn Israel’s military assault against the Palestinian people across all Palestinian geographies. We join and welcome the endorsement of all colleagues committed to combatting racism, colonialism, and settler colonialism.
A ceasefire does not end the colonial conditions of structural violence and inequality that Palestinians live under. The fifteen year siege of and systemic war on Gaza are part of a long-standing effort to isolate, dehumanize, and punish Palestinians for resisting decades of occupation and what UN ESCWA, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, have called an Israeli Apartheid regime.
The forced displacement of Palestinian families from occupied East Jerusalem, including Sheikh Jarrah, takes legal, bureaucratic, and military forms. Zionist settler colonial expansion marks Palestinian homes and neighborhoods for removal, destruction, and replacement while military and settler infrastructure limits Palestinian mobility and segregates them into Bantustans. Critical resources such as water and land are expropriated by the Israeli state. These tactics are part of a broader effort to deny the possibility of Palestinian self-determination in Palestine.
The Palestinian rights to freedom, security in their homes, to return, self-determination, and to be free of violent occupation are well established under international law. The language of both-sidedness, of timeless or religious ‘conflict’ with moments of ‘escalation’ erases the military, economic, media, and diplomatic power that Israel, as an occupying force has over Palestine. While we mourn the loss of civilian life in Israel, we also refuse to engage narratives that demand an ‘equal sides’ approach to a fundamentally unequal reality.
The demand to center Israel’s right to ‘self-defense’ erases the colonial context and delegitimizes the Palestinian right to resistance and to self-defense, both principles enshrined in international law. It also neglects non-violent tactics and campaigns, such as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), and civil disobedience that Palestinians have used for decades to dismantle the system around them. We stand in solidarity with a growing chorus of voices in the US media, in universities, activists and social movements, and with progressive political leaders in the US government. With them, we demand an end to US’ long-standing military, economic, and diplomatic support for unchecked Israeli anti-Palestinian violence.
We are in awe of the Palestinian struggle to resist violent occupation, removal, erasure, and the expansion of Israeli settler colonialism. As faculty at an institution committed to the principles of social justice and academic excellence, particularly those of us who study and teach about the Middle East or Racism, we endorse the Palestine and Praxis call to action. We affirm our own commitments to speaking out in defense of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people as well as foundational principles of scholarly integrity and academic freedom. We recognize our role and responsibility as scholars to theorize, read, teach and write about the very issues unfolding in Palestine. Not doing so means we fail to provide our undergraduate and graduate students, including Palestinian and Israeli students, with the critical tools and information they need to understand and engage the subjects of Palestine and Israel, colonialism, US empire, and anti-racism. Those who do not study these issues can be involved in study groups, teach-ins, and other such educational activities as faculty and students were during other moments of international protest and solidarity, like protests against the Vietnam War and Apartheid South Africa.
Therefore, we stand in solidarity with Palestinians and their Jewish as well as non-Jewish allies around the world, understanding that their struggle is inseparable from other movements for equality, justice and liberation both within the United States and globally. We join together in rededicating ourselves to working against all forms of racism, imperialism, colonialism, settler colonialism and injustice at Rutgers, in the classroom, on campus, and beyond.
Asher Ghertner, Geography Laura Schneider, Geography Mary Rizzo, History Asli Zengin, Women’s and Gender Studies Jawid Mojaddedi, Religion Yesenia Barragan, History Mark Bray, History Marisa J. Fuentes, History and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Judith Surkis, History Elaine LaFay, History James Livingston, History Jackson Lears, History Belinda Davis, History Xun Liu, History Sean T. Mitchell, Sociology and Anthropology Arthur B. Powell, Urban Education Camilla Townsend, History Barbara Foley, English Donna Murch, History Tamara Sears, Art History Salam Al Kuntar, Classics Popy Begum, School of Criminal Justice Aldo Lauria Santiago, History, Latino and Caribbean Studies Kenneth Sebastián León, Latino and Caribbean Studies Kevon Rhiney, Geography Hanan Kashou, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures Samah Selim, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures Atiya Aftab, Middle Eastern Studies Karishma Desai, Education Carlos Ulises Decena, Latino and Caribbean Studies Jon Cowans, History Jamie Pietruska, History Charles Payne, African and African American Studies Radhika Balakrishnan, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Latino and Caribbean Studies, and Program in Comparative Literature Zakia Salime, WGSS & Sociology Ousseina D. Alidou, African, Middle Eastern, South Asian Languages and Literatures Akissi Britton, Africana Studies Zeynep Gürsel, Anthropology Amir Moosavi, English Becky Schulthies, Anthropology Ethel Brooks, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Alamin Mazrui, African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures Kyla Schuller, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Tim Raphael, Arts, Culture and Media Nate Gabriel, Geography Jasbir Puar, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Michael Adas, History Carter Mathes, English John Keene, English/AAAS Evie Shockley, English Sarada Balagopalan, Childhood Studies Kate Cairns, Childhood Studies Erica R. Edwards, English Stéphane Robolin, Literatures in English Anjali Nerlekar, African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures (AMESALL) Lauren Silver, Childhood Studies Andrea Marston, Geography Preetha Mani, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures Charles I. Auffant, Law Jamal Ali, AMESALL Shaheen Parveen, AMESALL Belinda Edmondson, English/AAAS Beth Rubin, Education Edwin Bryant, Religion David D. Troutt, Law Todd Wolfson, Journalism and Media Studies Zaire Dinzey-Flores, Latino & Caribbean Studies David Lopez, Law Trinidad Rico, Art History Krista White, Rutgers Libraries Diane Fruchtman, Religion Dennis C. Prieto, Law Mark Krasovic, History Debra Scoggins Ballentine, Religion Itzel Corona Aguilar, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Kayo Denda, Rutgers U. Libraries – NB Meredeth Turshen, Bloustein School Sara Perryman, Writing Program, English Chrystin Ondersma, Law Mich Ling, WGSS Adnan Zulfiqar, Law Jillian Salazar, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Brittney Cooper, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies/Africana Studies Chenjerai Kumanyika, Rutgers Department of Journalism and Media Studies Hamid Abdeljaber, CMES Carolyn A. Brown, History Karen Caplan, History Shantee Rosado, Africana Studies and Latino and Caribbean Studies Thayane Brêtas, Global Urban Studies Andrew Goldstone, English Melissa De Fino, Rutgers University Libraries Troy Shinbrot, Biomedical Engineering James Brown, English and Communications Lilia Fernandez, Latino and Caribbean Studies Julien Corbo, Neurosciences Rebecca Kunkel, Law Library Jeffrey Dowd, Sociology Ana Pairet, French O. Batuhan Erkat, Neuroscience Hussein Khdour, Neuroscience Paul Boxer, Psychology Rob Scott, Anthropology Fernanda Perrone, Rutgers University Libraries Audrey Truschke, History Toby C. Jones, History Maya Mikdashi, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Noura Erakat, Africana Studies and Criminal Justice Deepa Kumar, Journalism and Media Studies Zahra Ali, Sociology and Anthropology Yasmine Khayyat, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures Omar Dewachi, Anthropology Melissa M. Valle, Sociology and Anthropology & African American and African Studies Sahar Aziz, Law Johan Mathew, History Christien Tompkins, Anthropology Mayte Green-Mercado, History Nukhet Varlik, History Nermin Allam, Political Science Sylvia Chan Malik, American Studies Domingo Morel, Political Science Leyla Amzi-Erdogdular, History Sadia Abbas, English Laura Lomas, American Studies Manu Samriti Chander, English Wendell Hassan Marsh, African American Studies and African Studies Charles G. Häberl, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures, and Religion Kathleen C. Riley, Anthropology Asli Zengin, Women’s and Gender Studies Paul O’Keefe, Geography Lyra Monteiro, History David Fogelsong, History Ousseina Alidou, African, Middle Eastern, South Asian Languages and Literatures Bridget Purcell, Anthropology Alison Howell, Political Science Antonio Y. Vázquez-Arroyo, Political Science Gabriela Kuetting, Political Science Carlos Ulises Decana, Latino Studies, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Atif Akin, Art & Design Meril Antony , Public Administration Genese Sodikoff, Sociology and Anthropology Karen Caplan, History Shantee Rosado, Africana Studies and Latino and Caribbean Studies Thayane Brêtas, Global Urban Studies David Hughes, Anthropology Meril Antony, Public Administration Icnelia Huerta Ocampo, CMBN Dana Luciano, English, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elizabeth Surles, Rutgers Libraries, Institute of Jazz Studies David Winters, Journalism and Media Studies Mukti Mangharam, English Terry Matilsky, Physics and Astronomy Sara Elnakib, Family and Community Health Services Meheli Sen, African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures David Kurnick, English Jawad Irshad, OIT Beyza Guven, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Andrew T. Urban, American Studies and History JB Brager, Douglass College Howard Swerdloff, English Juan Lazaga, History Benjamin Koerber, African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures Janice Fine, School of Management and Labor Relations Hebtalla Elkhateeb, English Dan Battey, Education James WJ Robinson, School of Management and Labor Relations James Jones, African American and African Studies Parvis Ghassen-Fachandi, Socio-Cultural Anthropology Saladin Ambar, Political Science Karen Thompson, English Timothy Eatman, Urban Studies Lina Saud, Psychology Frank Edwards, School of Criminal Justice Julia Bowling, School of Criminal Justice Andres Rengifo, School of Criminal Justice Bryan Sacks, Journalism and Media Studies David Letwin, Rutgers Arts Online Jody Miller, School of Criminal Justice Joel Miller, School of Criminal Justice Englebert Santana, Honors Learning and Living Community Sununda Gaur, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Nikol Alexander-Floyd, Political Science Sandra Russell Jones, History and Religions Caroline Key, Digital Filmmaking Deniz Turker, Art History Park McArthur, Art and Design Laurent Reyes, Social Work
Palestinian Trade Unions call for immediate and urgent action from international Trade Unions
Editors 2021-05-22
Palestinian trade unions and workers’ organisations across historic Palestine are calling on our brothers and sisters in the global trade union movement to take immediate action in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
May 22, 2021
Call to action
As Israel’s settler mobs and occupation forces continue a campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in Gaza, Sheikh Jarrah, Lydd and Haifa – Palestinian workers bare the brunt of this violence and we are at the forefront of the struggle for our liberation.
This week, Palestinian activists and trade unions held a General Strike across historic Palestine. This is the first strike in recent history to bring together Palestinians no matter where we are located.
In order to achieve our liberation, however, we require the solidarity of our comrades and friends in the trade union movement internationally. As Israel escalates its attacks and brutality we need this solidarity more than ever, and we need it urgently in order to restrain Israel’s war machine from continuing its massacres even further.
We call on you to stand with us, to speak out, to take action. As trade unions internationally we have a proud tradition of standing up against oppression. We have the power to halt support for racist regimes. The global trade union movement has always played a key and inspiring role in its courageous commitment to human rights and adoption of concrete, ground-breaking, labor-led sanctions against oppressive regimes. The trade union boycott of apartheid South Africa stands out as a bright example of this tradition of effective solidarity.
In the spirit of internationalism and solidarity, we are calling on trade unions to:
issue clear public statements of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and express support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel to bring it inline with its obligations under international law.
Participate in future general strikes called by Palestinian popular organisations and trade unions by holding protests and vigils on these dates.
Take immediate and concrete steps to ensure that unions themselves are not complicit in supporting and sustaining Israeli oppression, e.g. by divesting pension funds from firms complicit in the Israeli occupation, encouraging workers to refuse to handle Israeli goods and/or supporting members refusing to build Israeli weapons.
Signed by:
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Women
Professional Associations Federation including:
Palestine Dental Association
Palestinian Bar Association
Palestine Doctors Association
Palestinian Pharmacists Syndicate
Agricultural Engineers Association
General Union of Health Service Workers
General Union of Agricultural and Food Industries Workers
General Union of Service and Private Business Workers
General Union of Construction Workers
General Union of Textile and Garment Workers
Syndicate of Workers in Popular and Civil Organisations
Veterinary Association
Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions
General Federation of Independent Trade Unions
Trade Union Action for Justice in Palestine: sample motion, graphics and more
Workers in Palestine
PALESTINE
The Citizens’ Press is a network of non-sectarian socialist student, labour and community organizers based in Canada.
The Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience supports and echoes the below statement of Rutgers University-New Brunswick leadership, which condemned recent acts of hate and prejudice directed against Jewish members of our community. The Miller Center condemns all acts of hate and prejudice against targeted and oppressed groups on our campus, in our state, in our country, and abroad.
Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,
We are saddened by and greatly concerned about the sharp rise in hostile sentiments and anti-Semitic violence in the United States. Recent incidents of hate directed toward Jewish members of our community again remind us of what history has to teach us. Tragically, in the last century alone, acts of prejudice and hatred left unaddressed have served as the foundation for many atrocities against targeted groups around the world.
Last year’s murder of George Floyd brought into sharp focus the racial injustices that continue to plague our country, and over the past year there has been attacks on our Asian American Pacific Islander citizens, the spaces of Indigenous peoples defiled, and targeted oppression and other assaults against Hindus and Muslims.
Although it has been nearly two decades since the U.S. Congress approved the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, the upward trend of anti-Semitism continues. We have also been witnesses to the increasing violence between Israeli forces and Hamas in the Middle East leading to the deaths of children and adults and mass displacement of citizens in the Gaza region and the loss of lives in Israel.
At a time when the ravages of the pandemic and the proliferation of global conflict are leading to death, destruction, and ethnic strife, the university stands as a beacon of hope for our community. We have the opportunity amidst the turmoil to serve as a model for institutions that respect and value the dignity of every human being.
This recent resurgence of anti-Semitism demands that we again call out and denounce acts of hate and prejudice against members of the Jewish community and any other targeted and oppressed groups on our campus and in our community.
Our commitment to creating a safe learning environment that is inclusive of difference requires that we hold ourselves and each other accountable for our behaviors.
Therefore:
We call out all forms of bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, xenophobia, and oppression, in whatever ways they may be expressed.
We condemn any vile acts of hate against members of our community designed to generate fear, devalue, demonize, or dehumanize.
We embrace and affirm the value and dignity of each member of our Rutgers community regardless of religion, race, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, and ability.
If you have been adversely impacted by anti-Semitic or any other discriminatory incidents in our community, please do not hesitate to reach out to our counseling and other support services on campus. Our behavioral health team stands ready to support you through these challenging times. In addition, our Student Affairs Office is already working in close partnership with leaders of the Rutgers Jewish community, and meetings have been held with students to assess and respond to their needs. If you are aware of hate incidents on campuses or places that have been made unsafe due to expressed bigotry and other unacceptable and insensitive acts, please report them using the bias reporting system.
Although we face many challenges and may have differing perspectives, we must condemn acts of violence and all forms of bigotry. We will continually strive to realize the aspiration embodied in President Holloway’s articulation of a vision for Rutgers as a ‘beloved community’—a community where we welcome and affirm humanity and find strength in our diversity.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Molloy
Chancellor
Francine Conway
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Research and Academic Affairs
Dear Members of the Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,
We are writing today as a follow-up to the message sent on Wednesday, May 26th to the university community. We understand that intent and impact are two different things, and while the intent of our message was to affirm that Rutgers–New Brunswick is a place where all identities can feel validated and supported, the impact of the message fell short of that intention. In hindsight, it is clear to us that the message failed to communicate support for our Palestinian community members. We sincerely apologize for the hurt that this message has caused.
Rutgers University–New Brunswick is a community that is enriched by our vibrant diversity. However, our diversity must be supported by equity, inclusion, antiracism, and the condemnation of all forms of bigotry and hatred, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. As we grow in our personal and intuitional understanding, we will take the lesson learned here to heart, and pledge our commitment to doing better. We will work to regain your trust, and make sure that our communications going forward are much more sensitive and balanced.
Our goal of creating a beloved community will not be easy, and while we may make mistakes along the way; we hope we can all learn from them as we continue this vital work together.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Molloy Chancellor, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Rutgers deplores hatred and bigotry in all forms. We have not, nor would we ever, apologize for standing against anti-Semitism.
Neither hatred nor bigotry has a place at Rutgers, nor should they have a place anywhere in the world. At Rutgers we believe that anti-Semitism, anti-Hinduism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism, intolerance and xenophobia are unacceptable wherever and whenever they occur.
Jonathan Holloway President and University Professor
Response to Chancellor Molloy’s Recent Statement Excluding Palestinian Distress in “Racial Injustice” And Acknowledgment of Anti-Semitism On behalf of the Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers University, New Brunswick campus:
We are deeply concerned by the statement released from the desks of Chancellor Christopher Molloy and Provost Francine Conway yesterday evening. The Chancellor and Provost’s statement exclusively addressing antisemitism comes during a time when Israel’s occupation of Palestine is finally receiving widespread criticism, and despite mentioning the “deaths of children and adults and mass displacement of citizens in the Gaza region,” conveniently ignores the extent to which Palestinians have been brutalized by Israel’s occupation and bombing of Gaza.
Since the already addressed antisemitic attack on the Alpha Epsilon Pi house during Yom HaShoah, which occurred prior to global attention on the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, there have been no publicly reported acts of antisemitism against members of the Rutgers community as the Chancellor and Provost claim. This statement from the Chancellor and Provost is then unprecedented, and the fact that it comes at such a critical time involving global protests and critiques against Israel’s occupation of Palestine is a decision that cannot be separated from widespread attempts to conflate antizionism with antisemitism and derail Palestinian voices and activism. The statement released by Chancellor Molloy and Provost Conway thus cannot be interpreted as anything other than a deflection from Rutgers University’s role in financially supporting the Israeli state, and thus its human rights abuses and occupation of Palestine, by direct or indirect means.
Chancellor Molloy and Provost Conway proceed to refer to “increasing violence between Israeli forces and Hamas in the Middle East.” By choosing to center the crossfire between Israeli Occupation Forces and Hamas, rather than Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine, the Chancellor and Provost minimize the impact of settler-colonialism on Palestinians and attempt to portray the violence as an equal conflict, which we know it not to be in the slightest.
In addition, we have deep concerns about the Chancellor and Provost’s decision to lump the murder of George Floyd and attacks against the AAPI community, Indigenous persons, Hindus, and Muslims. By attempting to combine each of these significant issues for the purpose of making a blanket statement decreeing that “racism is bad,” Chancellor Molloy and Provost Conway trivialize these issues and the experiences of their students who are impacted by them on a consistent basis.
Most importantly, the Chancellor and Provost notably neglected to use the words “Palestine” or “Palestinian” in their statement, instead opting to use phrases such as “the Middle East” and “the Gaza region.” This refusal to acknowledge and affirm the existence of Palestine, and thus the Palestinian faculty and students at Rutgers University, reveals the administration’s inability to stand in genuine solidarity with the Palestinian members of its University, a community that is grieving the death of over 200 Palestinians including many women and children. It isolates them and shows that Rutgers does not stand with or support them in their struggle for freedom and liberation, and contributes to the racist efforts of zionists to erase Palestinian identity and existence. If the Chancellor and Provost were truly committed to creating “a safe learning environment that is inclusive of difference” as claimed in their statement, they would stand in active support of the Rutgers New Brunswick Palestinian population as well as its Jewish population, instead of regurgitating empty platitudes via email every few months.
We therefore demand an apology from Chancellor Molloy and Provost Conway for dismissing the voices and visibility of Palestinians and allies, as well as demand an acknowledgement and explanation of why they did so. We demand that the Rutgers administration call out and expose any and all ties to Israeli apartheid and commit to action that reflects a global call to uplift the humanity of Palestinians, to recognize their violent displacement by the state of Israel, and acknowledge the gross mass murders occurrings at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces, adjacent to the American police violence condemned by the University.
Rutgers’ Statements on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Derided by Local Leaders on Both Sides By CHUCK O’DONNELL Published May 31, 2021 at 7:31 PM Last UpdatedMay 31, 2021 at 7:31 PM
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – A 62-word statement from the Rutgers president attempted to re-enforce the university’s stance against hatred and bigotry, while seemingly seeking to defuse a potential political powder keg.
Instead, local leaders who stand on opposing sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict are united in their disappointment in Jonathan Holloway’s comments and other comments made by Rutgers administrators last week.
On one side, leaders at the Chabad House – a center for Jewish life at Rutgers for 43 years – provided TAPinto New Brunswick with a statement in which they demand that the university respond to recent acts of campus anti-Semitism with “a clear and unambiguous statement of condemnation.” They are also seeking a sit-down discussion with the school’s leaders.
On the other side, the co-chair of the Central Jersey Democratic Socialists of America – which helped organize the May 22 March for Palestine in New Brunswick – told TAPinto New Brunswick that she is disappointed that the school didn’t take a public stance against Israel while its military was “literally murdering people in Gaza” before last week’s ceasefire.
A ceasefire was declared on May 21 after 11 days of fighting, with Hamas firing long-range rockets at Israeli cities and Israel retaliating with airstrikes that targeted buildings in Gaza, according to a USA Today report.
The gunfire and bloodshed from the Middle East may have ceased for now, but their ramifications were felt right here at Rutgers last week.
On May 26, Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Christopher Molloy and Provost Francine Conway issued a statement on the school’s website condemning the nationwide spate of anti-Semitic incidents, including the one at Rutgers where the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house was vandalized as its members observed Yom HaShoah, Holocaust remembrance day.
The statement referenced George Floyd’s murder, attacks on Asians and other groups and even touched on the fighting between Israel and Hamas by acknowledging the “deaths of children and adults and mass displacement of citizens in the Gaza region and the loss of lives in Israel.”
The statement did not contain the words “Palestine” and “Palestinian,” the Students for Justice in Palestine pointed out. According to a letter released by the New Brunswick group on May 27, the omission was proof “that Rutgers does not stand with or support them in their struggle for freedom and liberation, and contributes to the racist efforts of zionists to erase Palestinian identity and existence.”
On May 28, a response from Conway and Molloy titled “An Apology” was posted on Rutgers’ website.
“In hindsight, it is clear to us that the message failed to communicate support for our Palestinian community members. We sincerely apologize for the hurt that this message has caused,” according to the statement.
The next day, that statement was removed and replaced by one from Holloway.
“Rutgers deplores hatred and bigotry in all forms. We have not, nor would we ever, apologize for standing against anti-Semitism.
Neither hatred nor bigotry has a place at Rutgers, nor should they have a place anywhere in the world. At Rutgers we believe that anti-Semitism, anti-Hinduism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism, intolerance and xenophobia are unacceptable wherever and whenever they occur.”
The statement has served as a source of irritation for local leaders on both sides.
The leaders at the Chabad House have issued an invitation to the school’s administration to meet and “discuss the future of Jewish life on Rutgers campuses, with responsible Jewish leadership.”
According to the statement, “These meetings may discuss implementing a task force that can identify negative campus issues, and possible remedies.”
The Students for Justice in Palestine have launched an online petition titled, “Tell the Rutgers Administration: Take Accountability.” According to the petition, Molloy and Conway’s apology “persists on the nonnecessity of actually supporting Palestinian students, faculty and allies as we grieve, organize, and resist the Zionist occupation of Palestine.”
Ayesha Mughal, the co-chair for the Central Jersey Democratic Socialists of America, renewed the oft-repeated call for Rutgers to divest itself of financial partnerships with Israeli companies and other companies that make weapons or other materials that are used against Palestinians.
In February, Rutgers University Endowment Justice Collective submitted a letter to the Joint Committee on Investments to urge the university to divest from companies that were, among other things, ecologically unfriendly, exploiting workers and “perpetrating an apartheid system against the Palestinian people” via their involvement in the military-industrial complex. Among those companies singled out was Motorola Solutions.
Greg Brown, the longtime chairman and chief economic officer at Motorola, is a member of Rutgers’ Board of Governors.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) waded into a fight over Rutgers University’s part-time lecturers’ union call for the school to divest from Israeli bonds over the nation’s treatment of Palestinians Tuesday.
“To be sure, Rutgers’ part-time lecturers are entitled to hold their own opinions, even those which may be disagreeable. However, it is important to recognize that invective which singles out, disparages, delegitimizes, or demonizes Israel can and in many cases does fall outside of bounds,” Gottheimer said in a letter to university President Jonathan Holloway.
PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Local 6324, the part-time lecturers’ union, earlier this month called on the university to pull its money out of Israeli bonds over Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank considered illegal by the international community and the United Nations.
They also took issue with other alleged human rights abuses.
“As teachers and union members, we can no longer allow ourselves to be complicit in the illegal acts of the Israeli government that have driven Palestinians from their homes or with military actions that have targeted, killed and maimed civilian populations of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and that have destroyed vital infrastructure, including schools and hospitals,” the union said earlier this month.
Israel and Palestinian groups rekindled a long-standing conflict earlier this year that saw the two exchange volleys of artillery and rocket fire, killing at least 256 in Palestine and 13 in Israel and injuring more than 2,000 others.
The fighting paused when the two sides reached a ceasefire in late May, but the fighting resumed earlier this month after Hamas, the ruling militant organization in Gaza, launched incendiary balloons into Israel.
“Considering recent events, it is important to send a clear message that all Rutgers students and community members, including those who identify as being Jewish or pro-Israel, will not be singled out, penalized, or made to feel unwelcome at our state’s flagship university,” Gottheimer said in the letter. “I would ask you to please speak out clearly and quickly against this hate-filled misinformation campaign and rhetoric.”
The congressman did not say which portions of the union’s statement were inaccurate.
The part-time lecturers’ union’s call for divestment follows a similar call from the broader Rutgers faculty union, which in May called for President Joe Biden to stop all aid to Israel over the alleged human rights violations.
PLEASE CONSIDER SENDING THIS LETTER TO RUTGERS UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES –ANTI-SEMITISM AT RUTGERS FROM FACULTY IS AT VERY HIGH, UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS.
Dear Chancellor Conway and Rutgers Board members: Last month, the Rutgers AAUP-AFT union and PTLFC-AAUP-AFT union — representing full- and part-time lecturers at the university — accused Israel of “apartheid” and called for the AFT union to boycott Israel. Their statements made other false, anti-semitic and inflammatory claims about the tiny state of Israel including that there is “legalized racial discrimination” in Israel. These claims are not only false, but also anti-semitic in nature. These faculty members — who are tasked with teaching young people the facts of history, geography, and the world — do not recognize any right for Jewish self-determination. They also accuse the tiny Jewish population in the world of committing crimes that Jews have never committed while repeating age-old anti-semitic blood libels against the tiny Jewish nation. To make matters worse, in late May of 2021, the chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Christopher J. Molloy, released a statement condemning antisemitism. The next day, the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine group released a lengthy statement condemning the chancellor’s statement. After this protest from SJP, a radical anti-semitic group, Chancellor Molloy released a second statement apologizing for the first, and promising to “make sure that our communications going forward are much more sensitive and balanced.” This second letter of apology to the anti-Israel community was a slap in the face to Jewish and Israeli students, as well as the entire Rutgers community. Clearly there are several very concerning events going on here that need to be addressed. I am writing to ask you: 1. Why did you apologize for condemning anti-semitism in your original statement?2. Why do you persist in hiring anti-semitic zealots who do not recognize the ability for Jews to have self-determination in our indeginous and historic land?3. What is your position on the ability for Jewish students and faculty to participate at Rutgers?4. Will you communicate that position to the anti-semitic AAUP-AFT and PTLFC-AAUP-AFT unions?5. If you support the ability for Jewish, Israeli and pro-Israel students to attend Rutgers without being harassed, what steps will you be taking to ensure their safety in the upcoming academic year and beyond? These are important considerations for Jewish and Israeli students, families and community members. Thank you. [SIGN YOUR NAME] TO: francine.conway@rutgers.edu, brian.ballentine@rutgers.edu, president@rutgers.edu, endovet@metrovet.com, michael.gower@rutgers.edu, secretary@oq.rutgers.edu, melillo@oq.rutgers.edu, mspiegel@business.rutgers.edu, rkbailey@wakehealth.edu, dburzichelli@rcgc.edu, mad467@drexel.edu, norman.edelman@stonybrookmedicine.edu, nimeshj@walgreensbootsalliance.com, amansue@barnabashealth.org, mary.papamarkou@hwcm.com, jrhodes@camdencounty.com, steven.temares@bedbath.com, edgar_torres@uml.edu, kate.sweeney@morganstanley.com, nbprovost@rutgers.eduenobong.branch@rutgers.edu, kdab@echo.rutgers.edu, ifulmer@smlr.rutgers.edu, salvador.mena@rutgers.edu, saundra.tomlinson-clarke@gse.rutgers.edu
Gaza Professor Of Islamic Studies Nasr Fahajan: When Palestine Is Liberated, The Jews Will Not Be Annihilated; Some Will Be Allowed To Escape Abroad
#8970 | 02:07 Source: Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza)
Palestinian professor of Islamic studies Nasr Fahajan said that according to the Quran, Allah will “show His mercy” to the Jews by allowing some of them to escape when Israel is destroyed and Palestine is liberated. He made his remarks on a show that aired on Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas – Gaza) on July 2, 2021. Fahajan said that Allah will not completely annihilate the Jews. He went on to describe the events heralding Judgment Day, when 70,000 Jews will accompany the Antichrist to Palestine, where Jesus will kill him at the eastern gates of Lod.
Nasr Fahajan: “We will liberate Palestine, Israel will be destroyed, and we will establish the Islamic state. The Caliphate will be established in Jerusalem. Israel will be destroyed, and we will establish [the Islamic] state, Allah willing. This is our right, and there is a lot of evidence to support it. The Day of Judgment will arrive after Palestine is liberated, and after the Islamic state is established, with Jerusalem as its capital.
[…]
“How is Allah going to show mercy to them? By allowing them to escape. The state [of Israel] will be destroyed, but there will be no annihilation of the Jews. So what will happen to them? The same thing that happens in wars. Some of them will be killed, some will be taken captive, and others will escape. But [as it says in the Quran:] ‘Your Lord may show mercy to you,’ This mercy will be manifest by avoiding their complete annihilation.
[…]
“The liberation of Palestine may take place a lot sooner than we think, a lot sooner than anyone thinks. This will happen in the very near future. Afterwards, [the Quran says:] ‘If you return, We will return.’ This means that if [the Jews] sow corruption again, we will punish and annihilate them again. [The Jews] will return with the Antichrist. The Antichrist will set out from Isfahan, accompanied by 70,000 angels… sorry, Jews.
Interviewer: “From among the Jews of Isfahan.”
Nasr Fahajan: “Yes. They will go to Palestine, because the Islamic state will be there. Jesus will fight the Antichrist and his soldiers, and he will kill the Antichrist at the eastern gate of Lod. As a military power, the Jews renamed the airport there: ‘Ben Gurion Airport.’ But no. It is the Lydia Airport. Maybe the Antichrist and his Jewish followers will try to flee in airplanes.”
A U.S. national and his father who were working for Hamas as engineers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza earlier this month, a source from the group confirmed to ABC News.
Osama al-Zebda, 33, was born in the U.S. while his father, Jamal al-Zebda, 64, studied at the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech, according to the Hamas source. Osama lived in the U.S. for five years, his wife told ABC News. The father and son moved back to Gaza after living for a few years in the United Arab Emirates.
“We are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen killed in Gaza,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told ABC News. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
The news was first reported by Joe Truzman of FDD’s Long War Journal on Sunday, adding that Osama al-Zebda had been on a U.S. terror watch list. The State Department did not respond to ABC’s request for comment on whether or not that was the case.
Both were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the military’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, launched in response to Hamas rockets fired from Gaza earlier this month which saw 253 Palestinians killed — including 66 children — over 11 days of airstrikes and shelling, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
During that period, over 4,500 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza, killing 13 and injuring 100s more.
The elder al-Zebda returned to Gaza in 1994 to help the armed wing of Hamas develop its arsenal of rockets. Jamal al-Zebda was the head of the department in the non-military wing of Hamas which develops their rockets and his son, Osama, served as a more junior engineer. Neither were active fighters, the Hamas source said.
The Palestinian Information Center (PIC), a Hamas-affiliated website, said Jamal had joined the al-Qassam Brigades in 2006 and played an instrumental role in introducing more powerful warheads, using basic materials drawn locally from the narrow enclave of Gaza, which is trapped by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. The PIC said Hamas’ improved weapons arsenal was evident in the recent conflict and that Jamal had survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2012, though they did not offer any details.
A senior Israeli military official told ABC News that Jamal al-Zebda has technological training and served as a source of knowledge at the organization’s production center. As a senior member of Hamas’ research and development division, the official said he has promoted key projects in the organization’s intensification of weapons developments, “developed and intended to harm Israeli citizens.”
“My husband, who is of American nationality, knew that the shortest way to God is to sacrifice his spirit, mind, time and money for the sake of him and his religion, so he preferred it over any other thing,” Osama’s wife, Yosra Aklouk, 29, wrote on the Facebook profile of her deceased husband.
Aklouk told ABC News that she was unsure of his exact role in Hamas, and that her husband was a “genius engineer” and she was “proud” of him.
“I’m shocked by what happened,” she said. “It was hard to go back home but I’m consoled by visits from the hundreds of people who are helping me.”
Asked if her husband had been responsible for developing rockets aimed at Israeli civilians, Aklouk said: “We have no problem with the Jews. We are refugees from Jaffa (a port city in Israel) and they have stolen our land and our house. We don’t want to kill anyone, we just want to return to our home.”
Osama’s father, Jamal, was an important target for Israel due to his scientific expertise, Wasef Eriqat, a Palestinian military expert and analyst, told ABC News.
“Jamal al-Zebda is credited with guiding and training an entire generation of engineers at the Islamic University who were up to the task of facing up to Israeli scientists,” he told ABC News. “His achievements also came amid very difficult circumstances, such as the scarcity of materials and resources because of the blockade on Gaza.”
ABC News’ Cindy Smith and Jordana Miller contributed to this report
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) is currently holding its’ annual conference. BRISMES was founded in 1973 to provide a forum for educators and researchers in Middle East Studies.
The annual conference is taking place between 5-9 July 2021 on Zoom. One person who helped the organizers is Prof. Neve Gordon, a former Ben Gurion University scholar who called for the boycott of Israel on the pages of the Los Angeles Times in 2009, currently at Queen Mary University of London. BRISMES, as can be seen from its homepage, is mainly concerned with Israel/Palestine.
There are several sessions at the current BRISMES annual conference dealing with Israel and Palestine: “Settler colonialism, power and resistance in Israel-Palestine”; “The Politics of Childhood in Palestine/Israel”; “Forms and Dynamics of Violence and Justice in Israel-Palestine.” And then, session 11 on July 7, is titled “BRISMES Campaigns: Middle East Studies in Practice and Anti-Colonial Education,” with one speaker, Omar Barghouti from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and another speaker is Marcy Newman from the Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Neve Gordon chairs a session titled “Geographies of war-care.” Gordon also presents a paper, “Legal Exceptions and the Killability of the Wounded Body.” Revital Madar presenting a paper titled “Repression and Repetition: The Construction of Palestinian Death(s) as an Exceptional Repetition in Israeli Military Courts.”
BRISMES is also highly active in PR. Three notices on its front page are indicative in this respect.
The first notice states that on June 9, 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom sent a letter to Professor Daniel Chamovitz, President of Ben-Gurion University, expressing deep concerns about the events on May 11, 2021, on and near the University campus in Beer Sheva. These events, as detailed in the letter, “appear to demonstrate a hostile and discriminatory environment for Palestinian and Arab students, and that on May 11, the University was unable and/or unwilling to provide them with safety and security.” As proof of their allegations, the BRISMES letter cited a Haaretz article on this topic.
However, BRISMES neglected to include the Ben Gurion University response in the Haaretz article, stating: “The incident described occurred outside the university and the dorms. We regret the incident deteriorated into violence, due to people who are not part of the university community, on both sides.” A review of guards’ conduct did not find any suspicion of misdeeds. ‘The security staff of the university acted, while putting themselves at risk, to protect the students by bringing them into the dormitory compound. Everyone who identified as a student was let in, and non-students were prevented from entering,’ said the university. As for the student arrested at the protest, he was brought onto campus by security staff for his own protection. The police later instructed he be released. ‘The university has acted tirelessly to preserve students’ safety and sense of security. We are now in difficult times in all of Israel, but there is zero tolerance for violence, from any side, while we allow for opinions to be exchanged openly and safely.’ The university said it will hold activities to help heal the rifts.”
The second notice states that on May 26, 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom sent a letter to Michelle Donelan MP, the UK Minister of State for Universities, to express deep concerns about the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. Their letter urged the Minister to reconsider the Government’s policy of imposing the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism onto universities. BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom demands “full and unequivocal support for academic freedom and the autonomy of universities.” In other words, anti-Semitic behavior should be considered part of academic freedom, according to the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom.
The third notice stated that the BRISMES Council published a statement on the latest escalation in Israel/Palestine viewing with grave concern the latest escalation, noting that yet again, “Palestinians are paying a disproportionate price.” As educators, we are acutely aware of the “long history of Palestinian dispossession.” BRISMES added a link to the online petition “Palestine and Praxis: Open Letter and Call to Action,” which begins by expressing support for the Palestinians by stating:
“As scholars, we affirm the Palestinian struggle as an indigenous liberation movement confronting a settler colonial state. The pitched battle in Sheikh Jarrah is the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Nakba that is the Palestinian condition. Israel has expanded and entrenched its settler sovereignty through warfare, expulsion, tenuous residency rights, and discriminatory planning policies. The ostensible peace process has perpetuated its land grabs and violent displacement under the fictions of temporality and military necessity. Together these policies constitute apartheid, bolstered by a brute force that enshrines territorial theft and the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals. And now, as has been the case for over a century, Palestinians continue to resist their removal and erasure.”
As for the last escalation between Israel and Gaza on May 10-21, 2021, BRISMES does not mention that during the Operation Guardian of the Walls, the Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip launched 4,360 rockets at Israel. Some 680 of the rockets fell inside the Gaza Strip, killing Gazans. An analysis report published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center on June 22, 2021, found that of the 236 published names of Palestinian killed in the attacks, at least 114 of them belonged to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Mujahedeen Brigades and Popular Resistance Committees.
BRISMES then moves on to remind its members that a resolution passed at the BRISMES Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 2019, which “expressed support for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in occupation and settler colonialism.”
BRISMES also notes that the 2020 BRISMES AGM resolved to establish the “BRISMES Campaigns Limited” advocating for the “boycott of Israeli academic institutions.” This Campaign is being held during the BRISMES Annual Conference on July 7, 2021.
Clearly, the BRISMES organization has been hijacked by Palestinians and their supporters. This position reflects a more general trend in Middle East Studies, singularly focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a pro-Palestinian perspective. For instance, the American-based Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has hosted endless panels on the subject.
The study of the Middle East is highly complex and essential. The Middle East is the home to repressive regimes and hosts brutal Islamist terror groups. Scholars and students should profit from BRISMES research into these and other urgent issues.
Founded in 1973, BRISMES provides a forum for educators and researchers in Middle East Studies. Membership is open to all regardless of nationality or country of residence. We work to promote interest in Middle East Studies and to raise awareness of the region and how it is connected to other parts of the world, including the UK. Middle East Studies is a diverse field, which encompasses all the humanities and social sciences and reaches from the present back to classical antiquity. …Read more
NewsProgramme for 2021 BRISMES Annual ConferenceWe are delighted to share the programme for the upcoming BRISMES Annual ConferenceKnowledge, Power and Middle Eastern Studies. In addition to eminent keynote speakers Pinar Bilgin (Bilkent University, Ankara), Caroline Rooney (University of Kent, Canterbury) and amina wadud (National Islamic University in Jogjakarta), the conference programme includes a plenary roundtable addressing the conference theme, a graduate section event and over 80 sessions. Registration will be open until midnight on 20 June 2021. For more information about the conference and how to register, please visit the conference website. – 20 April 2021Letter to Ben-Gurion University of the NegevOn 9 June 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Aacdemic Freedom sent a letter to Professor Chamovitz, President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, expressing our deep concerns about the events that took place on 11 May 2021 on and near the University campus in Beer Shava. These events, as detailed in the letter, appear to demonstrate a hostile and discriminatory environment for Palestinian and Arab students, and that on 11th May the University was unable and/or unwilling to provide them with safety and security. – 9 June 2021Letter to the UK Minister of State for UniversitiesOn 26 May 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom sent a letter to Michelle Donelan MP, the Minister of State for Univesties, to express deep concerns about comments that were made during the Education Select Committee on 27 April 2021, regarding the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the autonomy of universities. The letter urges the Minister to reconsider the Government’s policy of imposing the IHRA definition of antisemitism onto universities and to make clear their full and unequivocal support for academic freedom and the autonomy of universities. – 27 May 2021Statement from BRISMES Council on the latest escalation in Israel/PalestineBRISMES views with grave concern the latest escalation in Israel/Palestine, noting that yet again Palestinians are paying a disproportionate price. As educators, we are acutely aware of the long history of Palestinian dispossession, and of the ways in which rounds of violence are predictable without a just and comprehensive peace. We would like to:Offer our solidarity to all members who are directly or indirectly affected by what is happening;Circulate this collective letter, in support of the dignity of Palestinians as a foundational principle of academic integrity, in case members would like to sign: https://palestineandpraxis.weebly.com/;Remind members of the resolution passed at the BRISMES AGM of 2019, which expressed support for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions that are complicit in occupation and settler colonialism: Read the resolution;Remind members that the 2020 BRISMES AGM resolved to establish BRISMES Campaigns Limited to advocate for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The public launch of BRISMES Campaigns will be held during the forthcoming BRISMES Annual Conference (7 July 2021, 3.15 – 5.15 pm). If you would like to be involved with BRISMES Campaigns, please email the Secretary, Dr Jamie Allinson, at jamieallinson@googlemail.com.– BRISMES Council, 20 May 2021 ContactIf you need to contact BRISMES, please do so by emailing administrator@brismes.org. As advised by the government, we are currently working from home and are unable to pick up any post. The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) Department of Politics & International Studies University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7ALadministrator@brismes.org
The Programme Keynote Speakers Publishers’ Exhibition Registration 2021 About Kent Solidarity Fund
2020 Call for Papers Submissions Instructions FAQs Contact Us
The Programme
Please find the final programme here:
BRISMES 2021 Conference Download
Minor changes may be made to the programme – for example we will be announcing several exciting events hosted by publishers over the coming weeks!
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BRISMES expresses its huge gratitude to the following individuals for their service to the Conference Programme Committee for the 2021 conference: 1. Reem Abou-El-Fadl 2. Mo Afshary 3. Nadje Al-Ali 4. Feras Alkabani 5. Orit Bashkin 6. Kirsty Bennett 7. Marianna Charountaki 8. Katerina Dalacoura 9. James Dickins 10. Hoda Elsadda 11. Pascale Ghazaleh 12. Neve Gordon 13. Anthony Gorman 14. Sarah Irving 15. Islah Jad 16. Laleh Khalili 17. Diane King 18. Nesreen Hussein 19. Michelle Obeid 20. Nicola Pratt 21. Dina Rezk 22. Sophie Richter-Devroe 23. Sara Salem 24. Afshin Shahi 25. Nimer Sultany 26. Adam Talib 27. Zahra Tizro 28. Yaniv Voller 29. Rafeef Ziadah
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KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES BRISMES CONFERENCE 2021 5 JULY – 9 JULY 2021 BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME 3 ABOUT BRISMES 4 KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES 6 LIST OF PANELS 7 DAY 1, MONDAY 5TH JULY 7 DAY 2, TUESDAY 6TH JULY 8 DAY 3, WEDNESDAY 7TH JULY 10 DAY 4, THURSDAY 8TH JULY 12 DAY 5, FRIDAY, 9TH JULY 13 PANEL DETAILS 16 DAY 1, MONDAY 5TH JULY 16 DAY 2, TUESDAY 6TH JULY 25 DAY 3, WEDNESDAY 7TH JULY 37 DAY 4, THURSDAY 8TH JULY 48 DAY 5, FRIDAY, 9TH JULY 55 BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 3 WELCOME The 2021 BRISMES Annual Conference: Knowledge, Power and Middle Eastern Studies With great pleasure, BRISMES warmly welcomes you to the annual conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), which, for the first time, is being held on-line due to COVID-19 restrictions. The annual BRISMES conference is the largest and most prestigious annual UK gathering of scholars and practitioners focussed on the Middle East and North Africa region. We are grateful to the University of Kent for cohosting this virtual conference and to Ms Louisa Harvey (Senior Events Coordinator), Dr Yaniv Voller (School of Politics and International Relations) and Dr Mohammad Afshary (Law School) for their assistance in organising the event. With this change of setting in mind, we have created an expansive programme containing speakers situated across the world. This year’s conference theme encourages participants to engage with the implications of global calls for decolonizing academia, including the field of Middle East studies. In addition, we have dozens of panels and presentations representing the full range of subjects and disciplines making up the field. We are also honoured to welcome eminent keynote speakers, Pinar Bilgin (Bilkent University, Ankara), Caroline Rooney (University of Kent, Canterbury) and amina wadud (National Islamic University in Jogjakarta), a plenary roundtable addressing the conference theme and a graduate section mentoring event. With events hosted by the newly-launched BRISMES Campaigns and the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom, we also invite you to see behind the scenes at some of the projects BRISMES teams are working on and encourage you to get more involved. As well as attending some book launches, be sure to visit the curated exhibition hall to discover more about some of the leading publishers across academic fields. Finally, and particularly in these challenging times, we thank all participants for contributing and for making the BRISMES conference the stimulating event that it always is. Enjoy! Nicola Pratt, BRISMES Vice President Bronwen Mehta, BRISMES Conference Coordinator Kirsty Bennett, BRISMES Conference Coordinator On behalf of the BRISMES Council BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 4 ABOUT BRISMES Founded in 1973, BRISMES provides a forum for educators and researchers in Middle East Studies. Membership is open to all regardless of nationality or country of residence. We currently have more than 400 members drawn from all over the world and are governed by a Council of trustees elected from the membership. We work to promote interest in Middle East Studies and to raise awareness of the region and how it is connected to other parts of the world, including the UK. Middle Eastern Studies is a diverse field, which encompasses all the humanities and social sciences and reaches from the present back to classical antiquity. The long history of our field of study has made us particularly aware of the connections between knowledge and power. We see connections between research, education, teaching and fundamental questions of social change. We do not believe that research and education should be divorced from the wider social and political context nor that it should exist to serve elites. We believe that a commitment to promote research and education in Middle Eastern Studies involves a duty to consider the conditions under which knowledge is produced and disseminated, and if necessary, to speak out against power structures and interests that prevent the flourishing of research and education in our field. Database of Academic Expertise We are continuing to expand our interactive database of academic expertise worldwide. Our aim is to offer a one-stop shop for access to other sites of interest, information on courses, job opportunities, new publications and forthcoming events. Publications Since 1974, we have published the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies – now issuing 5 editions a year through Taylor and Francis – which is free to members. Scholarships and Awards We offer a number of funding opportunities and prizes to support and recognize the best research, to which all BRISMES members are eligible to apply. Events We also organise public annual lectures and the BRISMES Annual Conference, which draws participants from all over the world and attracts the latest research on all aspects of Middle East Studies in Britain and beyond. Members enjoy a reduced attendance rate here, too. BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 5 ABOUT BRISMES (CONT) Graduate Section The BRISMES Graduate Section is a hub for students and early career researchers to have an active voice in the organisation. The BRISMES Graduate Section provides support and advice to current and prospective graduate students; hosts events and workshops; raises awareness of academic resources, funding opportunities and career opportunities; and plays a vital role in making BRISMES more representative and better equipped to promote Middle Eastern studies. BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 6 KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES The colonial origins of the term Middle East and the historical imbrications of area studies with the exercise of colonial and imperialist power were highlighted many decades ago in the work of Edward Said, amongst others. More recently, the Arab uprisings provoked calls among some scholars and activists to fundamentally rethink prevalent approaches, derived from so-called universal paradigms, particularly in the social sciences. We have asked participants to reflect on the concept of decoloniality and practice of decolonization of knowledge and pedagogy in relation to the study and teaching of the Middle East. Within this conference, we are particularly interested in providing space for scholars to reflect on their experiences and challenges of writing about the Middle East while adhering to the disciplinary/academic/institutional requirements of their universities. The movement to decolonize academia also raises questions around the boundaries between activism and scholarship. Hence, BRISMES 2021 provides an opportunity to discuss the ethics and practicalities of professional and political solidarity and activism and their relevance to academic work. In this light, we ask: • In what ways can activism inform the study and teaching of the Middle East and vice versa? • What are the relationships between decolonization as a political project and as an intellectual project? • What are the possible dangers of linking activism and scholarship? BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 7 DAY 1, MONDAY 5TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 1A) Decolonising Methodology: Rethinking Approach, Tools and Technique 1B) Theological institutions and actors: Roles and Reforms 1C) The British Influence in the Gulf: Production, Protection, Partnership 1D) Narrating Upheaval in North Africa 1E) Roundtable: The city and al madina: A bilingual conversation SESSION 1 10am – 12pm 2A) Plenary Keynote – Professor Caroline Rooney: ‘The Revolution is a Woman’: From Woke Culture to the Arab Awakening SESSION 2 1pm – 3pm 3A) The role of Academia in Activism and Critical Pedagogy 3B) Exclusion, Sectarianism and Marginalisation 3C) Settler colonialism, power and resistance in Israel-Palestine 3D) Decolonizing Middle Eastern Film and Media Studies 3E) Recovering Radical Knowledge Session 1: Revolutionary Pasts and Revolutionary Presents SESSION 3 3:15pm – 5:15pm 4A) Cultural Imaginings: Narrating through novels 4B) BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom 4C) Islam Calling: Muslim minorities and da’wa 4D) Reflecting on constitution-making: Looking at North Africa after 2011 SESSION 4 5:30pm – 7:30pm BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 8 DAY 2, TUESDAY 6TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 5A) Statelessness, self-determination and the struggle for sovereignty 5B) Islamic networks and Islamist movements 5C) The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: To thrive, or merely survive, that is the question 5D) Memory and National(ist) Pasts in Turkey: Reflections Through Oral History 5E) Roundtable: Unlearning/Re-learning Middle East Studies: Challenging Exclusions Through Ally-ship, Connection and Collaboration SESSION 5 10am-12pm SESSION 6 1pm – 3pm 6A) Creating dissenting narratives through Film and Art 6B) Colonial legacies: Borders and Institutions 6C) Decentralization under Neopatrimonialism: Comparative Perspectives from the Arab World 6D) On Arab Urbanism Session 1 6E) Book Launch: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam by Alain George SESSION 7 3:15pm-5:15pm 7A) Plenary Roundtable: Disrupting, Refusing and Transgressing Knowledge Production in Middle East Studies BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 9 DAY 2, TUESDAY 6TH JULY (CONTINUED) LIST OF PANELS SESSION 8 5:30pm-7:30pm 8A) Questioning the Decolonisation of Middle Eastern Studies 8B) New Frontiers of Political Struggle: Popular Culture and Media 8C) Challenging the domestic/international dichotomy 8D) In the shadow of border control. Reconsidering humanitarianism as containment in the Middle East and North Africa 8E) Feminist politics in revolutionary times: past struggles and radical futurities 8F) The Politics of Childhood in Palestine/Israel 8G) Roundtable: Perils of our field: discrimination, censorship, and intimidation BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 10 DAY 3, WEDNESDAY 7TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 9A) Plenary Keynote – Dr amina wadud: Islamic Feminism: What’s in a Name? SESSION 9 10am-12pm SESSION 10 1pm – 3pm 10A) Exploring Memory through Art and Popular Culture 10B) Conceptualising Revolution 10C) Colonial legacies in education: historic and present 10D) Cultural Interactions in Arab Diasporic and Globalized Spaces 10E) Roundtable: Decolonising heritage in the Middle East SESSION 11 3:15pm-5:15pm 11A) Decolonizing Feminism: Knowledge and Activism 11B) Rethinking militaries, militias and non-state armed actors in politics 11C) “The Century of Camps” – Imagining Encampment and Containment in the Middle East 11D) Historiography and the Politics of Memory: Jews from the Muslim World between Assimilation and Self-determination 11E) BRISMES Campaigns: Middle East Studies in Practice and Anti-Colonial Education BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 11 DAY 3, WEDNESDAY 7TH JULY (CONTINUED) LIST OF PANELS SESSION 12 5:30pm-7:30pm 12A) Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production: The relationship between state and scholarship 12B) Identities and narratives of the displaced and the diaspora 12C) New Perspectives on an Elusive Conflict: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Conflict in Yemen 12D) Sufism and Modernity: Alternative Takes on the 19th and 20th Century in Muslim Thought 12E) Geographies of war-care BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 12 DAY 4, THURSDAY 8TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 13A) Rethinking Gender and Islam: Comparative Perspectives 13B) Conserving heritage and constructing histories 13C) Decolonial critique and the limits of international law 13D) How to get published panel 13E) Roundtable: Decolonizing Islamicate Manuscript Studies SESSION 13 10am-12pm 14A) Plenary Student Section Session: Writing within and beyond academia SESSION 14 1pm-3pm 15A) Modes, considerations and consequences of International Intervention 15B) “What is to be done?”: The Arab New Left in the ‘long 1960s’ – Session 1: Counter-hegemony and Legacies for a radical critique of the present 15C) On Arab Urbanism Session 2 15D) Analysing activism, resistance and resilience in the everyday 15E) Roundtable: Innovating and decolonising Arabic language teaching the UK higher education sector SESSION 15 3:15pm – 5:15pm 16A) Deconstructing orientalism through Queer and Feminist theories 16B) The Politics of Economic Reform, Resource Management and Financial Governance 16C) Mechanics of Authoritarian Coercion 16D) Matters of space in the Middle East 16E) Roundtable: Decolonising Arabic Literary Studies SESSION 16 5:30pm – 7:30pm BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 13 DAY 5, FRIDAY 9TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 17A) Self-determination and the (re)formation of national identity 17B) Forms and Dynamics of Violence and Justice in Israel-Palestine 17C) Beyond oil fields and the desert: orientalism, decoloniality and the Gulf 17D) Recovering Radical Knowledge Session 2: Radical Knowledge Cultivation across Space and Time 17E: Balancing power: challenges to the Middle East regional system past and present SESSION 17 10am-12pm 18A) Diversifying Research on the Arab World: Multi-local Perspectives on Twelver Shi’ism in Iraq 18B) The Politics of Translation: Understanding Gender and Sexuality in Arabicspeaking Countries – Language, Power and Hegemony (Session conducted in Arabic) 18C) Reinterpretations of the Gulf: Time for a decolonization of Gulf studies? 18D) Challenging Western-Centrism, Orientalism and Colonial Narratives SESSION 18 1pm – 3pm SESSION 19 3:15pm – 5:15pm 19A) Plenary Keynote – Professor Pinar Bilgin: Nowhere to run? Decolonising the study of the Middle East between Area Studies and International Relations BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 14 DAY 5, FRIDAY 9TH JULY LIST OF PANELS 20A) A journey through literary history 20B) Women’s movements and agency across time and space 20C) Critical perspectives on Palestine, Western Sahara and the International Community 20D) Palestine through the lens of decolonial epistemologies 20E) Power, Knowledge and “Oriental” Studies in Europe. Interrogating National Traditions of Middle East Studies 20F) “What is to be done?” – The Arab New Left in the ‘long 1960s’ – Session 2: Investigating Transnational Entanglements SESSION 20 5:30pm-7:30pm End of Conference Order at Eurospanbookstore.com “The writing is beautiful, playful, and at times subversive, as the chapters weave back and forth through history, ethnography, and theory. It is a must-read for scholars of gender, refugees, youth cultures, and Middle East anthropology.” —Marcia C. Inhorn, Yale University Paper $39.95s 9780815637233 eBook 9780815655244 “Very interesting and valuable to students of Turkey. The book does a great job of explaining a change in civil and military bureaucracy and how the AKP was able to manage to hold to power despite so many challenges.” —Ekrem Karakoc, Binghamton University, SUNY Paper $19.95s 9780815637349 eBook 9780815655350 Syracuse University Press “Indispensable to anyone wishing to study not only Hezbollah, but also the Shii’tes in Lebanon and, and history of Lebanon over the last half century. Furthermore, the methodology underlying this research can and should be used to study other case studies in the Middle East and beyond.” —Eyal Zisser, Tel Aviv University Paper $29.95s 9780815637165 eBook 9780815655213 “This remarkably original book unearths the untold story of the Jewish and Arab citrus industry in the last hundred years from bilateral relations to Israeli memory appropriation. A must read for all scholars of Israel and Palestine!” —Alon Confino, author of A World Without Jews Paper $29.95s 9780815636809 eBook 9780815654957 Browse all books on the Middle East at press.syr.edu BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 16 SESSION 1 (MON 5TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 1A) Decolonising Methodology: Rethinking Approach, Tools and Technique Chaired by Mohamed Gamal-Eldin, New Jersey Institute of Technology/Rutgers – Newark Interviewing outside the “interview-society”. Limits and challenges of the Westernborn qualitative approach – Odetta Pizzingrilli, Luiss Guido Carli Knowledge production about Iran and Iranians: beyond inclusion as exclusion – M. Stella Morgana, Leiden University Co-production and co-analysis: the value of academic-artistic collaboration with young people in Lebanon and Jordan – Zoe Jordan, Oxford Brookes; Alexandra Kassir, Centre for Lebanese Studies; Oroub El-Abed, Centre for Lebanese Studies, Jordan Decolonising Inquiry: Knowledge Production and the Pursuit of “Arab Public Opinion” – Kiran Phull, King’s College London Radical pedagogy and transformative tools for researchers and educators – Kanwal Tareq Hameed Abdulhameed, Exeter University; Amal Khalaf, Serpentine Gallery; Katie Natanel, Exeter University 1B) Theological institutions and actors: Roles and Reforms Chaired by Irwan Saidin, National University of Malaysia Brothers Behind Bars: Examining the History of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Prison Ordeals, 1948-75 – Mathias Ghyoot, University of Copenhagen An Informal Political Actor: The Influence of Ayatollah Sistani In Contemporary Iraq – Yousif Al-Hilli, University of Birmingham The Battle of the Grand Imam and the President: The Right to Islamic Legitimacy in Contemporary Egypt – Andreas Nabil Younan, University of Copenhagen The Islamic Face of a Pro-western Arab Monarchy, Jordan: An Analysis of Works of Its Royal Hashemite Family – Fukiko Ikehata, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Al-Shawkānī debates on Christian-Muslim relationships: Accounts, interfaith dialogue and lawful existence of Christians – Awad Nahee, Najran University – Saudi Arabia BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 17 SESSION 1 (MON 5TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 1D) Narrating Upheaval in North Africa Chaired by Hana Natour, Freie Universität Berlin Romancing Autocracy: Tunisian Women Writers Yearning for the Dictator – Douja Mamelouk, Le Moyne College On the Vernacular (Re)turn: The Poetics and Politics of Writing al-Dārija in Tunisia, 2010-2020 – Ben Koerber, Rutgers University Narrating the Past: Tunisian Prose and the Uprisings of 2010/11 – Hanan Natour, Freie Universität Berlin Upheavals of Self and Centre: Rethinking Animal Studies through Libya, and World Literature through Animals – Charis Olszok, University of Cambridge Renewing the Left’s project through Culture: Leftist Poetics, Memory and Mobilisation in Moroccan literature – Karima Laachir, Australian National University 1C) The British Influence in the Gulf: Production, Protection, Partnership Chaired by Abdullah Baabood, Waseda University Gulf History and Colonial Archives: The Case of Britain and India – James Onley, Qatar National Library The British, the Advisers and the Institutional Foundations of the State of Kuwait – Claire Beaugrand, University of Exeter The ‘Scripts’ of the British Diplomat in the Gulf: Human Agency and National Interests – Clemens Chay Orientalism and The Myth of the Reforming Monarch – David Wearing, SOAS BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 18 SESSION 1 (MON 5TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 1E) Roundtable: The city and al madina: A bilingual conversation Chaired by Aya Nassar, Durham University Noura Wahby, University of Cambridge Nadi Abusaada, University of Cambridge Omar Jabary Salamanca, Ghent University Deen Sharp, London School of Economics BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 19 SESSION 2 (MON 5TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 2A) Plenary Keynote: Professor Caroline Rooney ‘The Revolution is a Woman’: From Woke Culture to the Arab Wakening This presentation will begin with a consideration of the manifesto launched last year by French scholars that makes the case that woke culture is responsible for extremist terror and that postcolonial studies is responsible for this in its promotion of identity politics. What will be maintained is that extremism and revolutionary radicalism are different formations, and the presentation will further clarify key differences between woke culture and the awakening of the Arab uprisings, particularly with respect to how women were at the forefront of these uprisings, hence the slogan: ‘The revolution is a woman.’ Biography Caroline Rooney is Professor of African and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Kent. She was born in Zimbabwe and studied at the University of Cape Town before taking up a Beit Fellowship to undertake doctoral research at the University of Oxford. She works and publishes mainly in the areas of postcolonial studies and Arab cultural studies, focusing on the cultural expression of liberation struggles and their aftermaths in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. She is the author of African Literature, Animism and Politics (2000), Decolonising Gender: Literature and a Poetics of the Real (2007), and Creative Radicalism in the Middle East: Culture and the Arab Left After the Uprisings (2020). Her co-edited publications include: ‘Egyptian Literary Culture and Egyptian Modernity’, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 7:4 (2011) and The Ethics of Representation in Literature, Art and Journalism: Transnational Responses to the Siege of Beirut (2013). Her research by practice includes theatre productions and documentary films. From 2009-12 she was a Global Uncertainties Fellow with a programme entitled ‘Radical Distrust: A Cultural Analysis of the Emotional, Psychological and Linguistic Formations of Political and Religious Extremism.’ From 2012-2015, she held a PaCCS Leadership Fellowship with a programme entitled ‘Imagining the Common Ground: Utopian Thinking and the Overcoming of Resentment and Distrust’. She acted as UK PI of ‘Egypt’s Living Heritage’ (Newton, 2016), and is currently the Co-I of ‘The Crime-Terror Nexus from Below: Criminal and Extremist Practices, Networks and Narratives in Deprived Neighbourhoods of Tripoli’ (ESRC). BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 20 SESSION 3 (MON 5TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 3A) The role of Academia in Activism and Critical Pedagogy Chaired by Denis V. Volkov, National Research University Higher School of Economics Reflections on conducting research with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon – Perla Issa, Institute for Palestine studies Are there boundaries between academia and activism in the Arab region? – Sara Jeffar, University of Milan; Amel Hammami, College of Europe-Natolin; Malaka Shwaikh, University of St Andrews Public Pedagogy in Egypt as Postcolonial Practice – Alaa Badr, European University Institute Mizrahi Scholar Activism and the Global Middle East: An Asian Americanist Critique – Nancy Ko, Columbia University 3B) Exclusion, Sectarianism and Marginalisation Chaired by M. Stella Morgana, Leiden University Football and the Contestation of Iranian Identity – Ehsan Kashfi, University of Alberta Hezbollah’s challenged Leadership over Baalbek: Independents’ Political Contest facing the ‘Resistance’ since the 2016 Municipal Elections – Jean-Baptiste Allegrini, University College London Itineraries of Opposition. The National Pact and Maronite Opinion in Lebanon (1943- 1976) – Borja Wladimiro González Fernández, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid How are the young voting in Tunisia? An approach to the electoral disaffection of the youth in the 2018 Municipal elections – Bosco Govante Pablo de Olavide University; Miguel Hernando de Larramendi, Castilla La Mancha University Security Vetting and Disposable Citizenship in Turkey – Seckin Sertdemir Ozdemir, University of Turku BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 21 SESSION 3 (MON 5TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 3C) Settler Colonialism, power and resistance in Israel- Palestine Chaired by Alice Panepinto, Queen’s University BelfastEconomics The Functioning of Law in Israeli Settler Colonialism – Michael Samuel, Emory University Narratives of Human Rights in Israel Palestine: The Construction of Truth – Ibrahim Saïd, Centre on Conflict Development and Peace-building, the Graduate Institute, Geneva Bringing Class into Indigeneity: Palestine, Rawabi, and the Politics of Recognition – Francesco Amoruso, University of Exeter The Long 1960s and the Contemporary Palestinian Discourse: The Local versus the Global – Manar Makhoul, Tel-Aviv University Under Ah Al Ard eyes[i]: settler colonialism and decolonisation in Palestine – Maisa Shquier 3D) Decolonizing Middle Eastern Film and Media Studies Chaired by Terri Ginsberg, The American University in Cairo Governing through Documentary in the Middle East: Binational University & USIA Contracts during the Early Cold War: The Case of Syracuse Audio-Visual Center – Hadi Gharabaghi, Drew University Legacies of USIA Information Centers within Contemporary Spaces for Cultural Diplomacy in the Middle East – Bret Vukoder, University of Delaware Towards a Petro-economy of Arab Film Studies – Terri Ginsberg, The American University in Cairo BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 22 SESSION 3 (MON 5TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 3E) Recovering Radical Knowledge Session 1: Revolutionary Pasts and Revolutionary Presents Chaired by Sara Salem, London School of Economics ‘Impossible People’ in an Impossible Revolution: When Nonviolent and Radical Politics Is Met with Violence – Birgit Poopuu, Aberystwyth University Decolonial memories, colonial circulations? – Omar Al-Ghazzi, London School of Economics Cuban-Palestinian Women’s Entanglements – Sorcha Thomson, Roskilde University Anticolonialism, Third Worldism, and the Cold War: Writing Transnational Decolonial Histories from Dhufar to Tehran – Marral Shamshiri-Fard, London School of Economics BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 23 SESSION 4 (MON 5TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 4A) Cultural Imaginings: Narrating through novels Chaired by Feras Alkabani, University of Sussex Islamism in modern Arabic literature: a neglected history – Alessandro Columbu, The University of Westminster Unsettling Stories: The Worldiness of Horror in Post-2003 Iraqi Fiction – Tasnim Qutait, SOAS Amman in the “post-Arab spring” novel in Jordan – Ismael Abder-rahman Gil, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Female Narratives and (Im)mobilities in English – Modern Literature from the Arab Gulf – Alice Königstetter, University of Vienna The Complexity of Arab Identity in Fiction and Theory: A look through the Lens of Immigrants’ Education and Activism – Eman Alamri, University of Manchester 4B) BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom Chaired by Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick Lewis Turner, Newcastle University John Chalcraft, London School of Economics Matthew Hedges, Durham University Zahra Tizro, University of East London Stephen Wordsworth, Cara (Council for At-Risk Academics) BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 24 SESSION 4 (MON 5TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 4C) Islam Calling – Muslim minorities and da’wa Chaired by Antonella Straface, University of Naples “L’Orientale” When the minority is responsible for the majority: the duty of da’wa in Europe – Chiara Anna Cascino, University of Naples “L’Orientale” Migration Aimed at da’wa in Salafi Juridical Thought – Carlo De Angelo, University of Naples “L’Orientale” Da’wa as Contention. The Islamic Invitation among the Moroccans Abroad – Nicola Di Mauro, University of Naples “L’Orientale” Proselytism and caution: the da’wa in the Ismaili context – Antonella Straface, University of Naples “L’Orientale” 4D) Reflecting on constitution-making: Looking at North Africa after 2011 Chaired by Tereza Jermanová, Charles University The constitution as the battleground for Sudan’s unfinished revolution – Sara Abbas, Freie Universität Berlin The Constitutional Question at the Heart of Algeria’s Political Crisis – Rayane Anser, University of Warwick There was no alternative: Explaining the cross-partisan constitutional agreement in Tunisia after the 2010/11 uprising – Tereza Jermanová, Charles University Democracy by ‘undemocratic’ means? Assessing the role of guiding principles in Tunisia’s and Egypt’s constitutional processes – Nedra Cherif, European University Institute Is constitution-making necessarily about regime change? Egypt 2012 Constitution and alternatives to democratization theory – Alexis Blouët, University of Edinburgh BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 25 SESSION 5 (TUE 6TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 5A) Statelessness, self-determination and the struggle for sovereignty Chaired by Irene Fernandez-Molina, University of Exeter A Tale of Two Regions: What explains the great divergence between Iraq and the KRG? – Shwan Azeez, University of Kent; Josh P Hill, Montana State University Billings Bargaining Statehood: Unrecognised States and The Question of Sovereignty – Dilara Ozbek, University of Kent Syria’s Changing Statelessness Landscape: From Protracted Situations to “Ticking time bombs” – Thomas McGee, University of Melbourne “Decontestation of the essentially contestable”: Biopolitics, Ideology and Fantasy in Kurdish Conflict – Recep Onursal, University of Kent Syria’s Assyrian Identity and the Political Discourse of Constructing ‘Rojava’ – Madonna Kalousian, Lancaster University 5B) Islamic networks and Islamist movements Chaired by Zeina Dowidar, University of Cambridge The Arab Uprisings and Malaysia’s Islamist Movements: Influence, Impact and Lesson – Irwan Saidin, National University of Malaysia British Salafism and the Middle Eastern Connection: Past, Present, and Future – Iman Dawood, London School of Economics and Political Science Framing Identities, Shifting the Tactics: Exploring shared perceptions and tactical decisions by the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine during the Second Intifada (2000-2005) – Antonella Acinapura, Queen’s University of Belfast Sufi orders and their political commitment in contemporary Turkey – Angelo Francesco Carlucci, İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim Üniversitesi BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 26 SESSION 5 (TUES 6TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 5C) The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: To thrive, or merely survive, that is the question Chaired by Rana Sweis, Wishbox Media Missed Opportunities for Reform and Development in Jordan – Rana Sweis, Wishbox Media Jordan’s Decentralization After 2015: Central control under weak intermediaries – Shun Watanabe, University of Oxford The Limits of Selective Reformism: Economic neoliberalism and public dissent in Jordan – Imad El-Anis, Nottingham Trent University Moral Economy, Social Control and Popular Protest in Modern Jordan – Tariq Tell, American University of Beirut 5D) Memory and National(ist) Pasts in Turkey: Reflections Through Oral History Chaired by Roger Deal, University of South Carolina Aiken Menemen, 1930: Event, History, Memory – Hale Yilmaz, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Thinking about the Past, Belonging, and the Armenian Citizens of Turkey – Yesim Bayar, St. Lawrence University Taş Plak Memories: Reconsidering Social His tory in a Turkish Jewish Community – Maureen Barbara Jackson, Independent scholar Oral History as a Way of Understanding Reactions to the Reforms in Hatay – Esra Demirci, Bilkent University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 27 SESSION 5 (TUE 6TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 5E) Roundtable: Unlearning/Re-learning Middle East Studies: Challenging Exclusions Through Ally-ship, Connection and Collaboration Chaired by: Lewis Turner, Newcastle University Sharri Plonski, Queen Mary, University of London Akanksha Mehta, Goldsmiths, University of London Elian Weizman, London South Bank University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 28 SESSION 6 (TUE 6TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 6A) Creating dissenting narratives through Film and Art Chaired by Thomas Richard, ESPOL, Université Catholique de Lille The City in Alternative Arab Film – Nadia Yaqub, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nationalism after Decolonization in Egyptian Cinema – Mariam Waheed, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University Queer Heavens: Articulating Gender Fluidity Through Garden Imagery in Contemporary Middle Eastern Art – Charlotte Bank, Independent scholar Queer Cinema in the Arab World-Changing Trends – Iris Fruchter-Ronen, University of Haifa Resisting (neo)colonialism in Egyptian cinema – Claire Begbie, AUC 6B) Colonial legacies: Borders and Institutions Chaired by Yasmine Zarhloule, University of Oxford The construction of smallness in the British discourse regarding the Gulf region and its effects on state identity – Máté Szalai, Corvinus University of Budapest Towards a Decolonial History of Islamic Law in the Arabian Peninsula – Alexandre Caeiro, Hamad Bin Khalifa University “No Mines, No Borders”: The Experience of the Nakba in South Lebanese Frontier Communities – Susann Kassem, University of Oxford BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 29 SESSION 6 (TUE 6TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 6C) Decentralization under Neopatrimonialism: Comparative Perspectives from the Arab World Chaired by Thomas Demmelhuber, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen- Nürnberg Formal participation vs informal leverage? Situating institutional petitions in the politics of local Morocco – Francesco Colin, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam Decentralization under Neopatrimonialism: Conceptual Reflections – Thomas Demmelhuber, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, (Co-authored by Roland Strum) The role of elite networks in decentralization: a comparative perspective – Miriam Bohn, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg Decentralization and fiscal policy: a comparative perspective – Erik Vollmann, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg Discussant: Irene Fernandez-Molina, University of Exeter 6D) On Arab Urbanism Session 1 Chaired by: Nadi Abusaada, University of Cambridge Architecture, the State and the Capital City: Investigating the Muqata’a and Arafat’s memorial site in Ramallah, Palestine – Anwar Jaber, University of Waterloo Reasserting Regionalism: The Arab Exhibition in Mandate Jerusalem, 1931- 33 – Nadi Abusaada, University of Cambridge An ‘Arab Urbanism’? On regional categories and the articulation of Local Knowledge – Ibrahim Abdou, University of Cambridge The Increasing Urbanization of Egypt’s Nile Delta villages and the Shifting Social Value of Land – Nada El-Kouny, Rutgers University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 30 SESSION 6 (TUE 6TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 6E) Book Launch: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam by Alain George Author Alain George in conversation with Series Editor Melanie Gibson BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 31 SESSION 7 (TUE 6TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 7A) Plenary Roundtable: Disrupting, Refusing and Transgressing Knowledge Production in Middle East Studies Chaired by Sara Salem, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) As scholars of the ‘Middle East,’ living in a colonial metropole, working in neoliberalised universities, we must confront difficult, challenging, and oftentimes personal questions about our responsibilities and positionalities as producers and disseminators of knowledge. How do we produce scholarship that is neither extractive, nor ordered or disciplined by colonial concepts and categories (including the concept of ‘the Middle East’)? How do we produce knowledge that is faithful, relevant and accountable to lived experiences of people in the region and to all those we teach? How do we navigate neoliberalised structures of research funding, fieldwork, and academic hierarchies to produce knowledge that is relevant for struggles for liberation and justice? And how do we mobilise and be(come) political – in our classrooms, our universities, our ‘field sites’, and the wider world. Building on Steven Salaita, how then do we research, write, and teach in these conditions of exploitation? This roundtable will ask participants to critically reflect on their scholarship and professional practice, as shaped by global and political forces, and to do so in conversation with, and learning from, experts in other disciplines and fields. Aimed at a radical rethinking/redoing of knowledge production in our field(s), it poses questions and challenges for BRISMES members, and BRISMES as an institution. How can we learn and improve when we think through coloniality, racialised capitalisms and other structures and practices of domination, as well as the struggles that challenge the silencing, erasure and replacement of indigenous and racialised others. Kelly-Jo Bluen, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Jasmine Gani, University of St Andrews Akanksha Mehta, Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action Olivia U. Rutazibwa, University of Portsmouth Goldie Osuri, University of Warwick BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 32 SESSION 8 (TUE 6TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 8A) Questioning the Decolonisation of Middle Eastern Studies Chaired by Kiran Phull, LSE Decolonising the library, its implications and the role of Middle East librarians – Waseem Farooq, Aga Khan Library The Rise of the “Global” and Return of Eurocentrism – Mohamed Gamal-Eldin, New Jersey Institute of Technology/ Rutgers – Newark Knowledge Production and International Relations in the Arab Middle East – Mekia Nedjar, Mohamed Benahmed Oran 2 University Knowledge Decolonization or Critical Epistemology: A Comparative Perspective between Development Studies in the Middle East and Latin America – Shimaa Hatab, Cairo University Pious Agency: Post-Secularist Approaches to Decolonising Middle Eastern Studies – Suraina Pasha, University of Sydney 8B) New Frontiers of Political Struggle: Popular Culture and Media Chaired by Claire Begbie, AUC Hegemonic Masculinities and Political Authoritarianism in Turkish Popular Culture – Deniz Zorlu, Izmir University of Economics Al-Akhbar as a Platform for Interaction between Secularity and Religion: The Resistance as a Synthesis – Abed Kanaaneh, Tel Aviv University Techno-Islam, Gender, and Saudi Politics in Global Media Discourse – Joel W. Abdelmoez, Stockholm University The female gaze in Syrian Documentary – Josepha Wessels, Malmö University Sweden BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 33 SESSION 8 (TUE 6TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 8C) Challenging the domestic/international dichotomy Chaired by Sam Mace, University of Leeds Transnational Communist Networks in the Post-WWI Middle East: Anti-colonialism, internationalism and itinerant militancy – Burak Sayim, Graduate Institute Geneva Border-Crossing Collective Action Repertoires: Palestine Activism in a Global Justice Context – Suzanne Morrison, Zayed University Development: Examining Tunisia’s Multiple Horizontalities – Matt Gordner, University of Toronto Revisiting Khatami’s Dialogue among Civilisations: domestic and international political order – Shabnam Holliday, University of Plymouth; Edward Wastnidge, Open University The State between the Domestic and the External: Algeria, Syria, and Yemen – Francesco Belcastro, University of Derby 8D) In the shadow of border control. Reconsidering humanitarianism as containment in the Middle East and North Africa Chaired by Elisa Pascucci, University of Helsinki Humanitarian aspirations “stuck between two chairs”: Managing migration on behalf of the EU in south-east Tunisia – Valentina Zagaria, LSE Resettlement as Containment. Iraqi and Syrian Refugees and the Politics of Accountability – Giulia El Dardiry, Beirut School of Critical Security Studies, Arab Council for the Social Sciences Vulnerable or Resilient?: Care, control, & containment in Jordan’s Syrian refugee camps – Melissa Gatter, University of Sheffield The left hand of the border. Death, humanitarianism and exception in the North- East Moroccan borderlands – Lorena Gazzotti, Lucy Cavendish College and CRASSH, University of Cambridge BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 34 SESSION 8 (TUE 6TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 8E) Feminist politics in revolutionary times: past struggles and radical futurities Chaired by Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick Radical Futures, Haunted Pasts: A Reading of Arwa Salih’s The Stillborn – Sara Salem, LSE What Can Queer and Feminist IR Tell us about the Syrian War? – Razan Ghazzawi, University of Sussex Right Wing Sisterhood: The everyday politics of Hindu Nationalist women in India – Akanksha Mehta, Goldsmiths 8F) The Politics of Childhood in Palestine/Israel Chaired by James Eastwood, Queen Mary, University of London Childhood, Race, and Medicine in the Forced Removal of Mizrahi Children from their Families in Israel – James Eastwood, Queen Mary, University of London Child Rights in the Service of State Violence: Lessons from Israel/Palestine – Hedi Viterbo, Queen Mary, University of London Archival Irretrievabilities: Childhood in Exile, Jordan 1948 -1967 – Mezna Qato, University of Cambridge Childbearing and raising children in the context of military occupation: experiences of Palestinians living on the margins of Jerusalem – Doaa Hammoudeh, University of Oxford BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 35 SESSION 8 (TUE 6TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 8G) Roundtable: Perils of our field: discrimination, censorship, and intimidation Chaired by Miriyam Aouragh, University of Westminster Anne Alexander, University of Cambridge Ray Bush, University of Leeds Neve Gordon, QMUL Ala’a Shehabi, UCL Mandy Turner, University of Manchester Lena Salaymeh, University of Oxford Established in 2002 and based in London, AKU-ISMC promotes scholarship that opens new perspectives on Muslim heritage, modernity, culture, religion, and society. With a focus on research, outreach, education and publications, AKU-ISMC’s scholarship is interdisciplinary and diverse and includes anthropology, archaeology, economics, history, law, literary studies, sociology, international relations and political sciences. Our popular MA in Muslim Cultures is also offered as a dual degree with Columbia University. 10 Handyside Street, London, N1C 4DN BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 37 SESSION 9 (WED 7TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 9A) Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker – Dr amina wadud: Islamic Feminism: What’s in a Name? This presentation will provide a overview of the historical development of a hybrid Islam combined with an intersectional feminism: Islamic Feminism. Islamic Feminism is a conflation of several factors impacting discourse, research and activism by and about Muslim women. Islamic Feminism is distinct from Muslim Feminism as a critical hermeneutical approach to texts in deference to contexts. It creates alternative readings to those canonized throughout Muslim history in order to remove Islam from the centuries long privileging of patriarchy. Biography Dr amina wadud is a world renown scholar and activist with a focus on Islam, justice, gender, and sexuality. After achieving Full Professor, she retired from US academia— except as Visiting Researcher to the Starr King School for the Ministry, California, USA. After 15 years in retirement, she has recently returned as Visiting Professor at the National Islamic University in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. She migrated to Indonesia in 2018 to avoid the chaos of US politics and ethics first-hand. Author of Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective (1999), a classic that helped towards the development of epistemology and methodology in Islamic feminism, which is the most dynamic outcome of Islamic reform today. It is 3 decades old and translated over 10 times, most recently into French. Her second manuscript, Inside the Gender Jihad: Women’s Reform in Islam (2006), then moved the discussion further and aligned with the mandate for ethics and activism to be in collaboration. After completing a 3-year research grant investigating 500 years of Islamic classical discourse on sexual diversity and human dignity, funded by the Arcus Foundation, she is organizing an International Center for Queer Islamic Theology: the first in the world. Mother of five and Nana to six, she is best known as The Lady Imam. BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 38 SESSION 10 (WED 7TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 10A) Exploring Memory through Art and Popular Culture Chaired by Nadia Yaqub, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill From Mass Media to Social Media: Exploring the multiple co-productions of the nation and its pasts Egyptian Facebook – Nermin Elsherif, University of Amsterdam The chanted memory of the Tunisian Left: protest songs as a dissenting archive – Alessia Carnevale, La Sapienza University, Rome Memory Activism in Palestinian Performative Arts and Scholarship – Farah Aboubakr, The University of Edinburgh Redrawing Palestine: Visibility, Humanity, and Counter-Narratives in Joe Sacco’s Graphic Novel. – Holly May Treadwell, University of Kent Colonial imagery and Middle Eastern visual culture: Napoleon in Egyptian eyes – Thomas Richard, ESPOL, Université Catholique de Lille 10B) Conceptualising Revolution Chaired by Recep Onursal, University of Kent Decolonising revolutions after the Arab Uprisings – Sandra Pogodda, University of Manchester Throwing the touchstone into the Nile: Reflections on Reorienting and Decolonising the Study of the Revolution in Egypt – Mohammad Afshary, University of Kent Gramsci in Palebystine: Reflections on beginnings, and theorizing counterhegemony through the praxis of the single democratic state intellectual in Palestine – Cherine Hussein, The Institute of International Relations in Prague Re-visiting Palestinian Revolutionary Knowledge – Klaudia Wieser, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna; Noura Salah Aldeen, Institute for Social Anthropology at the Austrian Academy of Science BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 39 SESSION 10 (WED 7TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 10C) Colonial legacies in education: historic and present Chaired by Alessandro Columbu, The University of Westminster International Law and the Middle East: The Challenge of Decolonization – Dina Hadad, Kuwait International Law School British Women and the Agency of Children in Mandate Palestine – Charlotte Kelsted, European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter Do we only have a history as long as we are colonised? The History/Memory Nexus and the challenges of uncovering the postcolonial state in Morocco. – Yasmine Zarhloule, University of Oxford Authenticity and Exceptionalism in Teaching Middle Eastern Languages – Jona Fras, The University of Edinburgh 10D) Cultural Interactions in Arab Diasporic and Globalized Spaces Chaired by Ala Al-Hamarneh, Orient Institute Beirut (OIB) Multilingualism in “The Bullet Collection”: Contact Zones, Checkpoints, and Liminal Points – Syrine Hout, American University in Beirut Glocalized linguistic landscapes: (In)visible linguistic borders and identities within institutions of higher education in the UAE – Afaf Bataineh, Zayed University Arab Refugee Aid: What divides Diaspora donors and diminishes the dividend? – Shelley Deane, Brehon Advisory Lost Compatriots? “Western” Diasporic Spaces in Egyptian Cinema – Ala Al- Hamarneh, Orient Institute Beirut BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 40 SESSION 10 (WED 7TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 10E) Roundtable: Decolonising heritage in the Middle East Chaired by Eleanor Robson, UCL & Nahrein Network Lina Tahan, Nahrein Network Bijan Rouhani, Oxford University Isber Sabrine, Heritage for Peace Mehiyar Kathem, UCL & Nahrein Network BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 41 SESSION 11 (WED 7TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 11A) Decolonizing Feminism: Knowledge and Activism Chaired by Sara Tafakori, London School of Economics Decolonizing feminism? A transnational feminist analysis of Jineolojî – Nadje Al-Ali, Brown University; Isabel Käser, SOAS & University of Bern Decolonial Feminism and Internationalization of Gender Injustices in the Middle East – Jihan Zakarriya, AIAS “No Free Homeland Without Free Women” The case of Tali’at – Federica Stagni, Scuola Normale Superiore Majnūna: Women’s Madness and the Professionalization of Psychiatry in Egypt Under British Rule – Yasmin Shafei, American University of Beirut Reproductive Governance & The Migrant Subject: An Ethnographic Critique – Morgen Chalmiers, University of California San Diego 11B) Rethinking militaries, militias and non-state armed actors in politics Chaired by Burak Sayim, Graduate Institute Geneva The rise of militiatocracies in the Middle East – Yaniv Voller, University of Kent What is the role conscription played in producing sustained systematic violence and its employment to support authoritarianism and conflict in post-colonial Egypt? A Case study of conscription of the Central Security Forces (CSF) at the Egyptian Police. – Hussein Salahaldin, University of Bradford EU diplomacy and the 2013 military coup in Egypt – Ragnar Weilandt, KU Leuven International Relations and Foreign Policy of State-like Actors (SLA) in the Middle East: PLO and Hezbollah – Zakia Aqra, University of Peloponnese BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 42 SESSION 11 (WED 7TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 11C) “The Century of Camps” – Imagining Encampment and Containment in the Middle East Chaired by Are John Knudsen, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) Aerial photography and the image of the refugee camp in the Middle East from Baquba to Zaatari, 1918-2018 – Benjamin Thomas White, University of Glasgow UNRWA, the Refugee and the Camp: Imageries, Representations and Practice – Kjersti Berg, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) The Ghettoization and Densification of Beddawi Refugee camp, Lebanon – Ismail Cheikh Hassan, Independent Researcher Visualizing the Evolution of Refugees’ Housing in the Zaatari Camp, Jordan – Kamel Doraï, Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo-Beirut) Gaza Buildings: Spatial Archives of Displacement in Sabra, Beirut – Are John Knudsen, Chr. Michelsen Insitute (CMI) 11D) Historiography and the Politics of Memory: Jews from the Muslim World between Assimilation and Selfdetermination Chaired by Neophytos Loizides, University of Kent Iranian Jewish emigration to Israel: an experience between the “East” and the “West” – Alessandra Cecolin, University of Aberdeen Oriental Jews – European Religiosity? Religious Orthodoxy among Iranian Jewish Communities – Ariane Sadjed, Austrian Academy of Science, Institute for Iranian Studies Different Perspectives on Jewish and Muslim Relations in Yemen: Between the Jews of Yemen and the Yemenite Diaspora in Israel – Menashe Anzi, Ben Gurion University of the Negev Remembering Jews in Post-Authoritarian Tunisia – Achim Rohde, Free University of Berlin BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 43 SESSION 11 (WED 7TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 11E) BRISMES Campaigns: Middle East Studies in Practice and Anti-Colonial Education Chaired by Hicham Safieddine, King’s College London; Jamie Allinson, University of Edinburgh Omar Barghouti, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel Sara Salem, LSE John Chalcraft, LSE Marcy Newman, Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 44 SESSION 12 (WED 7TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 12A) Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production: The relationship between state and scholarship Chaired by Matthew Hedges, Durham University Dancing in the Minefield: Feminism and Critical Pedagogy in Jordanian Academia – Amani Al-Serhan, University of Jordan/Center for Women’s Studies The Death of Critical Pedagogy in Jordanian Universities – Tayseer Abu Odeh, Al- Ahliyya Amman University Power/Knowledge, the Habitus and the Field: Russian Emigré Orientalists during the Interwar Period – Denis V. Volkov, National Research University Higher School of Economics State-sponsored academic narratives on Muslims and migration in Hungary – Daniel Vekony, Corvinus University of Budapest BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 45 SESSION 12 (WED 7TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 12B) Identities and narratives of the displaced and the diaspora Chaired by Syrine Hout, American University in Beirut Diasporic identity and religion: the case of second generation Iraqi youth in London and their transnational spaces of belonging – Oula Kadhum, University of Birmingham Continuum of forced displacement narratives among Palestinian refugees from Syria in Germany – Isis Nusair, Denison University Remembering the Syrian civil war through the lens of motherhood – Magdalena Suerbaum, Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Societal changes in the Syrian national identity during conflict and displacement – Kathrin Bachleitner, University of Oxford Cypriots in the island and abroad: reunification attitudes and peace prospects – Neophytos Loizides, University of Kent; Isik Kuscu, METU Disqualified Knowledges in the Refugee and Humanitarian Regimes: War, Displacement and Relief through the Narratives of Syrian Aid Workers – Nadine Hassouneh, Centre for British Research in the Levant; Elisa Pascucci, University of Helsinki BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 46 SESSION 12 (WED 7TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 12C) New Perspectives on an Elusive Conflict: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Conflict in Yemen Chaired by Alexander Weissenburger, Austrian Academy of Sciences From Periphery to the Core: an analysis of the Huthi local governance system – Luca Nevola, University of Sussex An ‘Empty’ Battle Zone: Insights from the Yemeni-Saudi Border – Lisa Lenz-Ayoob, Austrian Academy of Sciences The Hustle of Yemeni State Diplomacy: Material Constraint and Austerity in a Moment of Crisis – Judit Kuschnitzki, University of Cambridge Between Alignment, Imitation and Autonomy: The Huthi Movement’s Ambiguous Relationship with Iran from an Ideological Angle – Alexander Weissenburger, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Social Anthropology 12D) Sufism and Modernity: Alternative Takes on the 19th and 20th Century in Muslim Thought Chaired by Dženita Karić, University of Tübingen Bosnian Hajj and Political Propaganda – Dženita Karić, University of Tübingen Reading Rumi at the University: Abdülbaki Gölpinarlı and the Transformation of Sufi Literature – Micah Hughes, UNC Chapel Hill The Hikam in 1970s Syria: a Call to Political Action – Nadirah Mansour, Princeton University Mawlids in 19th Century Egypt – Ida Nitter, University of Pennsylvania BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 47 SESSION 12 (WED 7TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 12E) Geographies of war-care Chaired by Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London The meaning of death: ballistic science and search for ‘militarily acceptable wounds’ – Nisha Shah, University of Ottawa Legal Exceptions and the Killability of the Wounded Body – Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London Revealed in the Wound – Omar Dewachi, Rutgers University Repression and Repetition: The Construction of Palestinian Death(s) as an Exceptional Repetition in Israeli Military Courts – Revital Madar Decolonizing Humanitarian Medicine – a Gazan Perspective – Osama Tanous, Emory University Key Titles in Middle Eastern Studies Visit eurospanbookstore.com/brismes2021 to browse more Middle Eastern Studies titles, and use the code BRISMES21 at checkout for a 20% discount and free shipping. Brookings Institution Press The Iranian Revolution at Forty Edited by Suzanne Maloney 2020 200pp 9780815737933 Hardback £29.50 / €33.00 Re-Engaging the Middle East Edited by Dafna H. Rand & Andrew P. Miller 2020 330pp 9780815737407 Paperback £33.95 / €39.00 Lynne Rienner Publishers Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, Fifth Edition Edited by Jillian Schwedler 2019 461pp 9781626378414 Paperback £22.50 / €28.00 University of Michigan Press Fragile but Resilient? Ali Çarkoğlu & Ersin Kalaycıoğlu Apr 2021 360pp 9780472132430 Hardback £62.95 / €70.00 The University of North Carolina Press Realizing Islam Zachary Valentine Wright 2020 326pp 9781469660820 Paperback £29.95 / €33.00 University of Oklahoma Press The Campaigns of Sargon II Sarah C. Melville Jul 2021 320pp 9780806169071 Paperback £17.50 / €20.00 Syracuse University Press Readings in Syrian Prison Literature R. Shareah Taleghani Apr 2021 296pp 9780815637158 Paperback £27.50 / €31.00 Solitaire Hassouna Mosbahi Sep 2021 256pp 9780815611431 Paperback £19.95 / €23.00 BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 48 SESSION 13 (THUR 8TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 13A) Rethinking Gender and Islam: Comparative Perspectives Chaired by Demet Gülçiçek, University of Warwick Grounding Saudi women’s rights in local terms of reference: Islamic feminism as a tool for reform – Nora Jaber, King’s College London Self-appointed Saviors: Post-9/11 Muslim Women Memoirs – Sepideh Sami, Macquarie University Post-Islamist Young Women and the Reconfiguration of the Public Sphere – Dina Hosni, Frankfurt University Goethe The Postcolonial Assemblage of ISIS Brides: The Case of Shamima Begum – Shehnoor Khurram, York University; Fardosa Warsame, York University 13B) Conserving heritage and constructing histories Chaired by Youssef Choueiri, University of Manchester The use of past as part of Colonial discourse – a case study of the Jerusalem Archaeological Museum. – Chloe Emmott, University of Greenwich Historian’s Craft Between Empire and Nation: The Emergence of Historical Professionalism in the Ottoman Realm between the 1910s and 1920s – Yeliz Cavus, The Ohio State University Amplifying Local voices: narrating hidden pasts through museums in Jordan – Maria Elena Ronza, Sela for Vocational Training and Protection of Cultural Heritage; Arwa Badran, Independent consultant and researcher Imagining the Past in the Age of Reform: Ottoman Historical Writing in the Nineteenth Century – Erdem Sönmez, Social Sciences University of Ankara The Legacy of Enslavement: Representations and Discussions on Slavery and Racism in Qatar – Ameen Omar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 49 SESSION 13 (THUR 8TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 13C) Decolonial critique and the limits of international law Chaired by Teodora Todorova, University of Warwick The Question of Indigeneity in Israel-Palestine – Lana Tatour, Columbia University Theorizing the “Force of Law” in Palestine/Israel – Mark Ayyash, Mount Royal University Civilians and victims in Palestine: legal terminology shaping realities – Maayan Geva, University of Roehampton, London ‘Un-lawyering’ international law to see its role in settler-colonialism in Israel- Palestine – Alice Panepinto, Queen’s University Belfast 13D) How to get published panel Chaired by Giulia Guariento, Taylor & Francis Group Andrea Teti, University of Aberdeen Nora Parr, Freie Universitat Berlin 13E) Roundtable: Decolonizing Islamicate Manuscript Studies Chaired by Davidson MacLaren, The Islamic Manuscript Association Sumayya Ahmed, Simmons University Alya Karame, American University of Beirut Dženita Karić, University of Tübingen N.A. Mansour, Princeton University Torsten Wollina, Trinity College Dublin BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 50 SESSION 14 (THUR 8TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 14A) Plenary Student Section Session – Writing within and beyond academia Chaired by Zahra Tizro, University of East London Have you thought about writing beyond the dissertation and academic audiences? In this event, we bring together a number of academics from an array of disciplines who use their academic research and expertise to engage with public and wider audiences. The event offers an opportunity for graduate students and ECRs interested in pursuing an academic or related career in Middle East studies to engage with established scholars and learn about different writing practices for multiple and varied audiences: engagements with the media; writing in more than one language; accountability to the communities we write for or about; and ethics in writing practices. We invite students to come with questions relating to writing practices beyond academia. Each panellist will speak for 7-10 minutes on their experiences and expertise. The event will touch upon on a range of themes, including: (1) how to make your research accessible for different audiences; (2) writing in more than one language (3) accountability and ethics in writing for the communities we research; and (4) writing practices broadly. Dina Rezk, University of Reading Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut Adam Hanieh, University of Exeter BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 51 SESSION 15 (THUR 8TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 15A) Modes, considerations and consequences of International Intervention Chaired by Kathrin Bachleitner, University of Oxford When the wrong side wins: What history tells us about the prospect of a US-Syrian reconciliation after civil war – Christopher Phillips, Queen Mary, University of London No Engagement without Recognition? Forms, Causal Mechanisms and Dilemmas of Transnational Recognition in the Libyan Civil War – Irene Fernandez-Molina, University of Exeter State, Capital and Class in Iran: An Appraisal of Nuclear Sanctions and Their Impact – Gulriz Sen, TOBB University of Economics and Technology The US Responsiveness towards the Kurdish Strategic Framing of fighting ISIS in Syria during the Obama Administration – Turgay Demir, University of Leeds, School of Politics and International Studies 15B) “What is to be done?”: The Arab New Left in the ‘long 1960s’ – Session 1: Counter-hegemony and Legacies for a radical critique of the present Chaired by Rossana Tufaro, Italian Institute of Oriental Studies, “Sapienza” University of Rome, and Lebanon Support, Civil Society Knowledge Center (Beirut) An Egyptian 1968? The Season of Students’ Discontent – Gennaro Gervasio, University Roma Tre Plural Perspectives on Revolutionary Hopes: the Multiple Lives of the 1977 Uprising in Egypt – Mélanie Henry-Morin, IIAC & EHESS and member of the ERC-DREAM The “Che Guevara of the Middle East”: The Remembrance of Khalid Ahmad Zaki’s failed uprising in Southern Iraq – Philipp Winkler, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg Strangers on the Only Road: Epistemological Hegemony from Egypt’s Long 1960s to the Neoliberal Present – Walter Armbrust, University of Oxford BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 52 SESSION 15 (THUR 8TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 15C) On Arab Urbanism Session 2 Chaired by Noura Wahby, University of Cambridge Beyond Quiet Encroachment: Politicising Informality and Infrastructure in Cairo’s Districts – Noura Wahby, University of Cambridge Tafseela: Building in the Arab Region – Wesam Al Asali, University of Cambridge Political Economy of Light in fin-de-siecle Beirut – Ayse Polat, University of Cambridge Rewiring Sovereignty – Omar Jabary Salamanca, Ghent University 15D) Analysing activism, resistance and resilience in the everyday Chaired by Borja Wladimiro González Fernández, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Activism in Dead Time: Politics and the Anticipation of Failure in Lebanon – Sophie Chamas, SOAS, Centre for Gender Studies Law, settlements and Palestinian resilience in East Jerusalem – Sonia Najjar, Queens University Belfast “Resilience through place-making” as a model for decolonization: The West Bank case of Battir – Elisa Ferrato, School of Architecture Oxford Brookes University Resilience in Greater Khartoum and the Sudanese Revolution of 2019 – Josepha Wessels, Schools of Arts and Communication On Indigenous Resistance against Western-Imposed Models in Historic Palestine – Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal, Fundación Alternativas 15E) Roundtable: Innovating and decolonising Arabic language teaching the UK higher education sector Chaired by: Alessandro Columbu, The University of Westminster Rasha Soliman, University of Leeds Safaa Radoan, The University of Exeter BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 53 SESSION 16 (THUR 8TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 16A) Deconstructing orientalism through Queer and Feminist theories Chaired by Tayseer Abu Odeh, Al-Ahliyya Amman University Decolonial Feminist Possibilities and Responsibilities in Teaching and Learning – Nadine El-Nabli, Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo The Queer State in the Middle East: Using Queer Theory to Understand Post- Colonial Statehood – Andrew Delatolla, University of Leeds Decolonial Orientations in Research: Thinking Palestine – Hazal Dolek, University of Sheffield The State’s “Attention to Motherhood” in Twentieth-Century Egypt – Marianne Dhenin, The American University in Cairo The political economy of research on women and media in Saudi Arabia – Naomi Sakr, University of Westminster 16B) The Politics of Economic Reform, Resource Management and Financial Governance Chaired by Imad El-Anis, Nottingham Trent University Algeria’s Liberalizing Decade: Debtor-Creditors Relations Reassessed. – Francesco Saverio Leopardi, University of Bologna The City also Vanishes? Climate Politics & Engaged Scholarship in Alexandria – Dina Zayed, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex Oman’s Experience of Islamic Banking – A Juristic Approach to Tackling the Crisis of Miscommunication – Al Muatasim Al Maawali, Sultan Qaboos University Redefining Natural Resources in the Context of the MENA Region – Ahmed Badreldin, University of Marburg BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 54 SESSION 16 (THUR 8TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 16C) Mechanics of Authoritarian Coercion Chaired by Hussein Salahaldin, University of Bradford The Justification of Punishment in Authoritarian States – Hend Hanafy, University of Cambridge ‘Refolutionary’ Resistance and Regime Response in a Transitioning Tunisia: The Case of Jendouba’s Agrarian Protests – Matt Gordner, University of Toronto It’s not postcolonial, stupid! Genealogy of State Aggression, Counterterrorism and Human Rights violations in Egypt – Ahmed Abozaid, University of St Andrews The friend enemy distinction in coup proofing – Sam Mace, University of Leeds In Search of “Effective” Elections: The Establishment of the Electoral Amendment 1925 in Iran – Yoshiaki Tokunaga, The University of Tokyo 16D) Matters of space in the Middle East Chaired by Deen Sharp, LSE Rethinking place, movement and lines through a walk on the Jordan Trail – Olivia Mason, Newcastle University Searching for a Place in a Map: War, Urban Space, and the Postcolonial Syrian State – Gabriel Garroum Pla, King’s College London A History of Cairo’s Rubbish Hills – Shehab Ismail, Max Planck Material Geographies, Geopoetic Entanglements and the Space of the Middle East – Aya Nassar, Durham University 16E) Roundtable: Decolonising Arabic Literary Studies Chaired by Nora Parr, Freie Universitat Berlin Tasnim Qutait, SOAS Ruth Abou Rached, University of Southampton Annie Webster, SOAS Ouissal Harize, Durham University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 55 SESSION 17 (FRI 9TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 17A) Self-determination and the (re)formation of national identity Chaired by Dilara Ozbek, University of Kent An Egyptian Victory: Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 and “Ottoman Consciousness” in Egypt – Doğa Öztürk, Ohio State University State Policies, Minorities and Nationalism: Armenian Citizens of Turkey – Yesim Bayar, St. Lawrence University ‘Arabisation’ in Morocco: the myth(s) of origins – Kaoutar Ghilani, University of Oxford Dis-claiming the Orient? Imagined Geographies of cultural Identities between Taha Hussein and Carl Heinrich Becker – Abdalla Iskandar, FU Berlin 17B) Forms and Dynamics of Violence and Justice in Israel- Palestine Chaired by Michael Samuel, Emory University Israeli Blockade, Hamas and International Dimensions: Deconstructing Gaza’s Politics – Yaser Alashqar, Trinity College Dublin-Ireland Israeli Green Colonialism and the Path to Environmental Justice – Ghada Sasa, McMaster University Securitization and Victimhood: Israeli Identity in the Shadow of the Second Intifada – Esther Garcia Monreal, Durham University Revisiting the Conflict over Sacred Places from Social and Economic Perspectives: What Does al-Haram al-Sharif Mean to Palestinians? – Kensuke Yamamoto, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Football, politics and identity. The case of Israel and Palestine – Francesco Belcastro, University of Derby BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 56 SESSION 17 (FRI 9TH JULY: 10AM-12PM) PANEL DETAILS 17C) Beyond oil fields and the desert: orientalism, decoloniality and the Gulf Chaired by Ahmed Dailami, University of Exeter Let a thousand consultants bloom: neoliberalism and stagist economic theory in the Arab Gulf states – Ashraf El-Taher, SOAS Kuwait’s Anticolonial and Progressive Agenda in the Gulf: The Case of Bahrain (1960s-1970s) – Wafa Alsayed, Gulf University for Science and Technology Between postcolonialism and decoloniality in the Khaleeji cultural sphere – Maia Holtermann Entwistle, SOAS 17D) Recovering Radical Knowledge Session 2: Radical Knowledge Cultivation across Space and Time Chaired by Omar Al-Ghazzi, London School of Economics The Arab Apocalypse: a queer feminist critique of masculinized politics and disaster – Andrew Delatolla, University of Leeds Radical understandings of past, present and future: Imagination and anticolonialism in the Islamicate – Jasmine Gani, University of St Andrews Centering the “south” in “decolonizing the university” debates – Aya Musmar, University of Sheffield 17E) Balancing power: challenges to the Middle East regional system past and present Chaired by Yaniv Voller, University of Kent Sectarianism vs pragmatism and interest: Turkey and Iran’s foreign policy during the Qatar crisis – Olivia Glombitza, Autonomous University of Barcelona Onward to Jerusalem?: Iran’s Decision to Continue the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) – Annie Tracy Samuel, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Federalism in the Middle East: Past Failures and Prospects – Neophytos Loizides, University of Kent BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 57 SESSION 18 (FRI 9TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 18A) Diversifying Research on the Arab World: Multi-local Perspectives on Twelver Shi’ism in Iraq Chaired by TBC The Genesis and Influence of Shi’a Islamism within Transnational Networks of Political Islam: Clerical Activism and Ideological Discourses in Republican Iraq (1958-1979) – Oliver Scharbrodt, University of Birmingham Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr on Islam and Social Justic – Chris Razavian, University of Birmingham The International Community in the Eyes of Ayatollah Sistani: Attitudes towards the United Nations and the USA Post-2003 – Yousif Al-Hilli, University of Birmingham Unpacking the Role of Religion in Political Transnationalism: The Case of the Shi’a Iraqi Diaspora Post-2003 – Oula Kadhum, University of Birmingham 18B) The Politics of Translation: Understanding Gender and Sexuality in Arabic-speaking Countries – Language, Power and Hegemony (Session conducted in Arabic) Chaired by Nof Nasser-Eddin, Centre for Transnational Development and Collaboration Translating Queer: Colonial Histories and Discourse Creation – Nour Abu-Assab, Centre for Transnational Development and Collaboration Queer Reading of Fuṣḥā: A Case for Decolonising Language Practices in Knowledge Production – Musa al-Shadeedi, Masaha (Accessible Feminist Knowledge) Escaping NGOization through Queering Language – Roula Seghaier, Masaha- Accessible Feminist Knowledge Centralising Kuwaiti-Arabic Articulations of Queerness: Towards Decolonizing Epistemologies – Nour al-Mazidi, London School of Economics BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 58 SESSION 18 (FRI 9TH JULY: 1PM-3PM) PANEL DETAILS 18C) Reinterpretations of the Gulf: Time for a decolonization of Gulf studies? Chaired by Marc Owen Jones, Hamad bin Khalifa University An Empirical Survey of the State of Gulf Studies – Marc Owen Jones, Hamad bin Khalifa University Rentier State Resilience: What the Qatar Crisis Can Teach Us About Rentierism – Hend Al Sulaiti, University of Southern Denmark Visa to the world: Egyptian expatriate workers in Qatar and second passports – Mari Norbakk, Chr. Michelsen Institute Are there really no refugees in Saudi Arabia? A history of refugees in a state not party to the Refugee Convention – Charlotte Lysa, University of Oslo 18D) Challenging Western-Centrism, Orientalism and Colonial Narratives Chaired by Erdem Sönmez, Social Sciences University of Ankara Narratives of Ottoman anti-colonialism and imperialism in Southeast Asia – Michael Talbot, University of Greenwich Decolonizing Middle East Economic History – Ryan Smith, Independent Scholar Decolonising Lebanon’s History – Youssef Choueiri, University of Manchester Professionalized Remedies of Early Orientalist Middle Eastern Studies: Colonialist, Patriotic, and Historians’ Images of Egypt’s Nationalist Party – Ahmed Ali Salem, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates The Spirit of the Revolt against the West: Anti-Western Political Thought in Turkey – Oguzhan Goksel, Istanbul 29 Mayis University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 59 SESSION 19 (FRI 9TH JULY: 3:15PM-5:15PM) PANEL DETAILS 19A) Plenary Keynote: Professor Pinar Bilgin: Nowhere to run? Decolonising the study of the Middle East between Area Studies and International Relations For years, we have come to think of the knowledge/power relationship in Middle East Studies in terms of the ways in which knowledge has served power via Oriental or Area Studies. More recently, we have come to understand the ways in which International Relations, too, has been shaped by concerns with ordering the world not only in terms of policy advice but also the shaping of concepts and theories. What does it take to decolonise the study of the Middle East when we are caught between two fields that are deeply implicated in concerns with ordering the world? Biography Pinar Bilgin is Professor of International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara, and an Associate Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences. She has held visiting positions at the Woodrow Wilson International Center (Washington, DC), King’s College London, Centre for the Resolution of International Conflicts (CRIC) at the University of Copenhagen, Centre for Contemporary Middle East Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, Amsterdam Centre for European Studies at the University of Amsterdam, and The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). She is the author of many journal articles and books in the field of Critical Security Studies, including Regional Security in the Middle East: A Critical Perspective (2005; 2nd ed. 2019), The International in Security, Security in the International (2016) and is co-editor of Routledge Handbook of International Political Sociology (with Xavier Guillaume, 2017), and Asia in International Relations: Unthinking Imperial Power Relations (with L.H.M. Ling, 2017). She is an Associate Editor of International Studies Quarterly (2019- ) and previously served as Associate Editor of Security Dialogue (2008-2013) and of International Political Sociology (2012-2017), an editorial board member of the journals ID:International Dialogue, Global Discourse, Security Dialogue, Contexto Internacional, International Studies Quarterly, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Political Sociology and Geopolitics, and an international editorial advisory board member of the journals Millennium: Journal of International Relations, Perceptions, and Uluslararasi Lliskiler. She is the co-editor (with Monica Herz) of the Palgrave book series, Critical Security Studies in the Global South. BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 60 SESSION 20 (FRI 9TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 20A) A journey through literary history Chaired by Tasnim Qutait, SOAS Adab and Formation of Canon in Modern Arabic Societies – Nuha Alshaar, The American University of Sharjah/the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London Immoral Polemics and Moral Politics: Clashing Politico-Moral Visions of the Late Ottoman Period – Melis Hafez, Virginia Commonwealth University The Reconfiguration of the Arabic Literary Canon at the Fin de siècle: Orientalism, Sexuality and the Nahda – Feras Alkabani, University of Sussex De-colonizing Travel Narratives – Sally Abed, Alexandria University (Egypt) Cultural Decolonization: The Case of Egyptian Nubia – Faten Morsy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt 20B) Women’s movements and agency across time and space Chaired by Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick Decolonizing Geographies of Affect: Iranian women’s rights and the politics of solidarity – Sara Tafakori, London School of Economics ‘Mood of Commitment’: Strategic Discourses of Motherhood in Ottoman Muslim Women’s Movements – Demet Gülçiçek, University of Warwick Women, Agency, and the Muslim Brotherhood: Dissecting Dichotomies of Dissent and Delusion – Zeina Dowidar, University of Cambridge Threads of Resistance and Preservation: Embroidery and the Making of Informal Politics in Women’s Spaces – Rasmieyh Abdelnabi, George Mason University Whose Issues? The Jordanian Women’s Movement, Intersectionality, and the Battle over Defining Women’s Issues in Jordan – Sara Ababneh, Jordan University BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 61 SESSION 20 (FRI 9TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 20C) Critical perspectives on Palestine, Western Sahara and the International Community Chaired by Suzanne Morrison, Zayed University The European Parliament and the Western Sahara conflict – Ragnar Weilandt, KU Leuven “Can Palestinian Non-Violence Win Over the International Community?”: The Case of Britain and the First Intifada – Colter Louwerse, University of Exeter The European Union, Morocco and the Western Sahara Natural Resources – Ángela Suarez-Collado, University of Salamanca; Raquel Ojeda-García, University of Granada 20D) Palestine through the lens of decolonial epistemologies Chaired by Mark Ayyash, Mount Royal University Toward a decolonial approach in researching human suffering: On hunger strike in Israeli Prisons – Ashjan Ajour, Leicester University “Freedom or Death”: Hunger Striking through Necroresistance – Malaka Shwaikh, University of St Andrews Land, Dispossession, and Rights – Heba Youssef, University of Brighton BDS as decolonial praxis – Teodora Todorova, University of Warwick BRISMES 2021 CONFERENCE KNOWLEDGE, POWER AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES PAGE 62 SESSION 20 (FRI 9TH JULY: 5:30PM-7:30PM) PANEL DETAILS 20E) Power, Knowledge and “Oriental” Studies in Europe. Interrogating National Traditions of Middle East Studies Chaired by Paola Rivetti, Dublin City University Spanish North Africa and Middle East Studies: An analysis of top-ranked publications in Spain and by Spanish scholars (1998-2018) – Beatriz Tomé-Alonso, Universidad Loyola Andalucía Between Orientalism and Security Studies: the struggle for the development of contemporary North Africa and Middle East studies in Spain – Ana Planet Contreras, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Alfonso Casani Herranz, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Being a Swedish female dissident voice in a male-Finnish dominated academia: The case of Hilma Granqvist (1890-1972) – Rosanna Sirignano, University of Heidelberg 20F) “What is to be done?” – The Arab New Left in the ‘long 1960s’ – Session 2: Investigating Transnational Entanglements Chaired by Gennaro Gervasio, University Roma Tre Entangled Histories of the Cuban and Palestinian Revolutions: Trajectories of Transnational Revolutionaries – Sorcha Thomson, Roskilde University Scandinavian Entanglement in the Palestinian Revolution – Sune Haugbølle, Roskilde University Towards a New Political Geography of the Global 1960s: Algeria, France, Italy, 1957-1975 – Andrea Brazzoduro, University of Oxford Local Magazines/Global Cultures: Internationalism, Third Worldism and Solidarity in 1960’s Journals of the Arab World – Chana Morgenstern, University of Cambridge, CRASSH The “paper comrade”: Nidal al-‘Ummal and the making of new radical subjectivities in Lebanon’s long-1960s (1970-1975) – Rossana Tufaro, Italian Institute of Oriental Studies, “Sapienza” University of Rome, and Lebanon Support, Civil Society Knowledge Center (Beirut)
E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.ukBRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7ALRegistered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer AdministratorBaroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy Brickhill Professor Daniel Chamovitz President Ben-Gurion University of the Negev P.O.B. 653 Beer-Sheva 8410501 Israel By Email: president@bgu.ac.il 9 June 2021 Dear Professor Chamovitz, I write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) to express our deep concerns about the events that took place on 11th May 2021 on and near your campus in Beer Sheva. These events, as we detail below, appear to demonstrate a hostile and discriminatory environment for your Palestinian and Arab students, and that on 11th May the University was unable and/or unwilling to provide them with safety and security. Founded in 1973, BRISMES aims to encourage and promote the study of the Middle East region, and to provide a forum for educators and researchers working in Middle East Studies. As part of our remit, we are committed to supporting academic freedom in the Middle East, for scholars and students alike. It is precisely in relation to our remit that we write to express our grave concerns about your University’s treatment of its students who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. According to footage that is available online,1 and according to reports in Haaretz,2 students from your University gathered in Beer Sheva for a protest against Israeli government policies and practices in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The students report that they 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&fbclid=IwAR0Q2Bud9YjguO2yOunvm-s-kWYgFb6YuXdnSLfU-yGoFIPSAbUgVTvInyw&v=GMPCO5RgaBY&feature=youtu.be&has_verified=1 2 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-facing-attacks-and-incitement-arab-students-flee-israeli-campuses-1.9823987 E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.uk BRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL Registered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90 President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Administrator Baroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy Brickhill had in advance sought and received a permit from the relevant authorities for their protest. Despite the presence of police officers, the students were subject to racist and violent behaviours, and the police did not assist them. Reports indicate that numerous students were arrested and continue to be detained. Furthermore, we are gravely concerned that the students involved have reported that they were subject to police brutality and beatings, and that they received no assistance from the University’s security officers who were present. Students who had not been arrested at the demonstration went to University Dormitory D and were followed by counter-protesters who clearly sought to harm and abuse them, yet the University security did not allow the students to enter the accommodation. Subsequently, a group of students attempted to return to their accommodation in Dormitory C. There they found the presence of those who had harassed and threatened them at the protest, as well as police officers and the University’s security units. As the aforementioned online footage appears to show with some clarity, they were subject to beatings and violence from the police, and were attacked with sound bombs and tear gas while on University accommodation premises. The reported treatment of these students, who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and in particular the University’s failure to protect or assist them, is chilling. Such events create a hostile and discriminatory environment for Palestinian and Arab students at your University. They indicate that the University is not able and/or willing to create an environment where Palestinian and Arab students receive equal treatment, nor at which they can exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. As Haaretz reported,3 many Palestinian and Arab students have fled Israeli campuses – including yours – because of the violence and discrimination they have faced in the past weeks. We call upon you to investigate thoroughly and impartially the events that took place on 11th May 2021, to hold accountable those university employees who failed to act to protect your students, to support any students who have been detained (including those released under draconian conditions), and to ensure that you uphold the rights of all your students to freedom of expression and assembly on campus. Furthermore, we call upon you to work actively to combat racism against Palestinian and Arab students in your University and to ensure that 3 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-facing-attacks-and-incitement-arab-students-flee-israeli-campuses-1.9823987 E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.uk BRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL Registered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90 President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Administrator Baroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy Brickhill those students who have left are safe to return to campus. We believe that you have a responsibility to guarantee their security, safety and rights on your campus. Yours sincerely, Professor The Baroness Afshar OBE President, BRISMES On behalf of the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom
E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.ukBRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7ALRegistered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer AdministratorBaroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy BrickhillMichelle Donelan MP Minister of State for Universities Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street Westminster London SW1P 3BT By Email: michelle.donelan.mp@parliament.uk 26 May 2021 Dear Ms Donelan, Minister of State for Universities, I write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) to express our deep concerns about comments that were made during the Education Select Committee on 27 April 2021, regarding the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the autonomy of universities. Founded in 1973, BRISMES aims to encourage and promote the study of the Middle East region, and to provide a forum for educators and researchers working in Middle East Studies. As part of our remit, we are committed to supporting academic freedom, particularly in relation to issues involving discussions of the region. It is precisely in relation to our remit that we write to express grave concerns about the ongoing pressure being exerted on universities to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, as evidenced in the Education Select Committee meeting of 27 April 2021. With respect to our mission, we condemn without reservation antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism and support UK universities’ efforts in this regard. At the same time, we wish to bring to your attention the concerns of our members that the IHRA definition (specifically its examples) is undermining the ability of academics to pursue legitimate academic activities, including research, teaching and wider public discussion of the history and current situation in occupied Palestine and Israel as well as the nature of Zionism, without fear of being accused of antisemitism. In reaching our stance on the IHRA definition, we have given due regard to the views of legal experts. For instance, Geoffrey Robertson QC issued an opinion on 31 August 2017 stating that ‘the definition does not cover the most insidious forms of hostility to Jewish people and the looseness of the definition is liable to chill legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel and coverage of human rights abuses against Palestinians’.1 1 https://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/news/ihra-definition-antisemitism-not-fit-purpose E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.uk BRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL Registered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90 President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Administrator Baroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy Brickhill Our view is also informed by widely-recognised authorities on antisemitism. For example, Kenneth Stern, the lead drafter of the IHRA definition and the Director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, has made clear that the definition was “never intended to be a campus hate speech code.” The definition, he explained, was “created primarily so that European data collectors could know what to include and exclude,” but political groups have “weaponized” the definition in ways that threaten freedom of speech.2 More recently, in March, hundreds of scholars in the fields of Holocaust history, Jewish studies and Middle East studies wrote that the IHRA working definition is not fit for purpose and, instead, proposed the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism as a more precise definition that provides more helpful guidance for combatting antisemitism.3 Meanwhile, the adoption of the IHRA definition does not add any substantive content that might help reduce racist speech and hate crimes on campuses. As the UCL’s Academic Board Working Group on Racism and Prejudice report found, “The IHRA working definition is unhelpful in identifying cases of harassment … the core definition itself is too vague and narrow, and the 11 examples often do not match experience.”4 Based on this report, the university’s academic board recommended retracting the adoption of the definition and replacing it with one “fit for purpose.” We are above all concerned that the IHRA definition is creating a chilling atmosphere for many of our members who teach and research on matters concerning Israel and Palestine, as well as their students, and that this will have a negative impact on pedagogy and knowledge production. Academics employed on temporary contracts (who constitute a significant proportion of university teaching staff), as well as students, are particularly susceptible to self-censorship out of fear that any sort of accusations, even if not upheld, could jeopardize their future ability to obtain permanent employment. In some cases, there is evidence that the IHRA definition is being deployed to suppress lawful speech that is critical of Israel, its actions and its supporters. Furthermore, we are alarmed that in the course of discussions of the IHRA definition at the Education Select Committee meeting, MP Jonathan Gullis called for the summary dismissal of Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick, and two other academics at the same university, in relation to unsubstantiated allegations of antisemitism. Whilst you explained to Mr Gullis that it is not possible for government ministers to “sack” VCs or academics, you then went on to say, “I agree with you, certain universities do need to go further on this area”, while Robert Halfon suggested that universities were “hiding behind employment law” in failing to sack academics. 2 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism-executive-order-trump-chilling-effect 3 https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/ 4 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucu/sites/ucu/files/wg-racism-and-prejudice-report.pdf , p. 4. E-mail: administrator@brismes.org Website: www.brismes.ac.uk BRISMES Administrative Office, Department of PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL Registered Charity Number 289804 VAT Registration Number 828 5681 90 President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Administrator Baroness Afshar Dr Nicola Pratt Prof John Chalcraft Prof Tim Jacoby Ms Amy Brickhill Academic freedom and freedom of speech are essential pillars of democracy. A cornerstone of academic freedom is the independence of universities and the freedom of academics to research and teach free from government interference. This is underlined in a 2018 report on Freedom of Speech in Universities by the House of Commons-House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights. It states: Everyone has the right to free speech within the law. This can include the right to say things which, though lawful, others may find disturbing, upsetting or offensive. This right is a foundation for democracy. It is important in all settings, but especially in universities, where education and learning are advanced through dialogue and debate. It underpins academic freedom. This right extends to all forms of expression.5 (Our emphasis). We urge you, as Minister for Universities, to reconsider the Government’s policy of imposing the IHRA definition of antisemitism onto universities and to make clear your full and unequivocal support for academic freedom and the autonomy of universities. Yours sincerely, Professor The Baroness Afshar OBE President, BRISMES on behalf of the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom CC: Professor Julia Buckingham CBE, President, Universities UK Dr Vicky Blake, President, UCU Mr Matt Western, Shadow Universities Minister 5 House of Commons-House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights report on Freedom of Speech in Universities (HC 859/HL PAPER 111) (2018) https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtrights/589/589.pdf, p. 48.
Stuart Laing President, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Cc. Vice President, Zahia Smail Salhi; Executive Director, Robert Lowe; Secretary, Louise Haysey 4 June 2019 Dear Stuart, We, the undersigned BRISMES members, believe that it is time for our Society to resolve to endorse the long-standing call to boycott Israeli academic institutions. We wish therefore to bring a resolution to this effect to the Society’s Annual General Meeting of 24 June 2019. In accordance with BRISMES’ procedure, we hereby submit the below resolution at least 14 days in advance of the AGM for inclusion on the agenda. The resolution is proposed by Professor John Chalcraft (LSE) and seconded by Dr Rafeef Ziadah (SOAS). The text of the resolution is as follows: Resolution to Endorse the Call to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions Whereas, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) is committed to encouraging and promoting the study of the Middle East in the United Kingdom and, specifically, to bring together teachers, researchers, students, diplomats, journalists and others who deal professionally with the Middle East; Whereas, in the occupied West Bank, the continued construction of the Wall, illegal settlement enterprise and a network of military checkpoints are creating an irreversible reality of permanent military occupation, while Israel’s siege of Gaza has condemned its inhabitants, who live in a vast open air prison, to poverty and the constant threat of military force; Whereas, Israel has obstructed Palestinians’ right to education by destroying Palestinian universities and schools, arresting students, raiding and forcing Palestinian universities to close, and restricting Palestinians’ movement; Whereas, Israel has restricted international academics from accessing Palestinian universities, including long-term travel bans to the occupied Palestinian territories; Whereas, Israeli universities are playing a key role in planning, implementing and justifying Israel’s illegal military occupation and are maintaining a close and supportive relationship with the Israeli military, including involvement in developing weapon systems, providing justification for military actions and extra-judicial killings, rewarding students serving in the occupation forces, designing and delivering special programmes for soldiers and officers, building on occupied land, and systematically discriminating against non-Jewish students; Whereas, Palestinian civil society, including the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, has called on people of conscience around the world to join them in carrying out campaigns of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law. Be it resolved that: BRISMES will show solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues living under military occupation and siege by endorsing the call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions until these institutions publicly end their support and complicity in violating Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law; BRISMES will facilitate educational events, discussions and debates among its membership on the boycott of Israeli academic institutions, including through its publications, conferences and relevant events; BRISMES will educate its members about ways to apply the boycott of Israeli academic institutions in their own professional practice, and encourage them to do so. This boycott pertains to Israeli academic institutions only and not to individual scholars. BRISMES will support the rights of scholars to engage in research about, to publish work about, and to speak publicly in support of, the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Maha Abdelrahman, Reader in Development Studies and Middle East Politics, University of Cambridge Reem Abou-El-Fadl, Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East, SOAS, University of London Marta Agosti Pinilla, PhD, SOAS, University of London Sabrien Amrov, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Geography, University of Toronto Raymond Bush, Professor of African Studies, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds John Chalcraft, Professor of Middle East History and Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Fabio Cristiano, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Political Science, Lund University Marwan Darweish, Principal lecturer in Peace Studies, Coventry University James Dickins, Professor of Arabic, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds Sai Englert, Visiting Lecturer in Politics & International Relations, New College of the Humanities, London Khaled Fahmy, Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa’id Professor of Modern Arabic Studies, University of Cambridge Neve Gordon, Marie Curie Fellow and Professor of International Law, Queen Mary, University of London Adam Hanieh, Reader in Development Studies, SOAS, University of London Aula Hariri, Research Officer, Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Tim Jacoby, Professor, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester Laleh Khalili, Professor in Middle Eastern Politics, SOAS, University of London Dina Matar, Reader in Arab Media and Political Communication, SOAS, University of London Vivienne Matthies-Boon, Assistant Professor in the International Relations of the Middle East, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam Martha Mundy, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Jacob Norris, Senior Lecturer in Middle East History, University of Sussex Hussein Omar, Lecturer in Modern Global History, University College Dublin Nicola Perugini, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Edinburgh Sharri Plonski, Lecturer in International Politics, Queen Mary, University of London Nicola Pratt, Reader in International Politics of the Middle East, University of Warwick Mezna Qato, Junior Research Fellow, King’s College, University of Cambridge Ruba Salih, Reader in Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London David Seddon, Professor, Department of Geography, University College London Patricia Sellick, Associate Professor, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University Andrea Teti, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Aberdeen Teodora Todorova, Teaching Fellow in Sociology, University of Warwick Lewis Turner, Postdoctoral Researcher, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, University of Freiburg Elian Weizman, Lecturer in Middle East Politics, SOAS, University of London Mark Zeitoun, Professor of Water Security and Policy, School of International Development, University of East Anglia Rafeef Ziadah, Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East, SOAS, University of London Signatures of BRISMES Members added since 4 June 2019 Lucia Ardovini, Research Fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs Erika Biagini, Postdoctoral Researcher, Dublin City University Marilyn Booth, Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, Oriental Institute and Magdalen College, University of Oxford Catherine Cobham, Lecturer, Head of Department of Arabic and Persian, University of St Andrews José Ciro Martínez, Research Fellow, Trinity College, University of Cambridge John Moreton, Part-Time Tutor, Arabic and Turkish, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds Dalia Mostafa, Lecturer in Arabic and Comparative Literature, University of Manchester Bill V. Mullen, Professor of American Studies, Purdue University Aya Nassar, Teaching Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Sussex Katie Natanel, Lecturer in Gender Studies, University of Exeter Paola Rivetti, Assistant Professor in the Politics of the Middle East and International Relations, Dublin City University Janet Watson, Professor, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds Endorsements by Potential Members of BRISMES since 4 June 2019 Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations, SOAS, University of London Jamie Allinson, Lecturer, University of Edinburgh Omar Al-Shehabi, Director of the Gulf Centre for Development Policies, Associate Professor in Political Economy at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait Mona Baker, Professor Emerita of Translation Studies, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester Luke Bhatia, Lecturer in International Politics, University of Manchester Haim Bresheeth, Professor, SOAS, University of London Stephanie Cronin, Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Research Fellow at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Vahideh Golzard, Lecturer in Persian Language and Audio-Visual Culture, University of Leeds Rebecca Ruth Gould, Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature, University of Birmingham Tajul Islam, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Leeds Ruba Khamam, Lecturer in Arabic, University of Leeds Nur Masalha, Professor, Centre of Palestine Studies, SOAS, University of London Mazen Masri, Senior Lecturer in Law, City, University of London Professor Ilan Pappé, Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies Hicham Safieddine, Lecturer in the History of the Modern Middle East, King’s College, London Myriam Salama-Carr, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester John Sidel, Sir Patrick Gillam Chair in International and Comparative Politics, Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Rasha Soliman, Lecturer in Arabic Language, University of Leeds Lucia Sorbrera, Senior Lecturer, Chair of Arabic Studies Department, University of Sydney
Dr. Yonatan Mendel teaches in the Department of Middle East Studies at Ben Gurion University. Unfortunately, Mendel, like many of his radicalized peers, is a long-time pro-Palestinian activist.
In the past decade, Haaretz published Mendel’s polemics in Hebrew, including: “The Joint List – the democratic soul here”; “The Arab parties – the last fortress of democracy in Israel”; “The last hours of Arabic as an official language”; “A scary four-letter word that justifies everything”; “A language doing her a favor”; “Praises for Umm al-Fahm”; “Answers to the question of what it means to be a Palestinian in your eyes”; “When speaking Arabic in the Knesset”; “What would we do without the “Palestinian incitement”?”; “Score, Ayman, Score”; “Silence in return for a lie”; “Israeli Hasbara Against Israel”; “Hamas – really no one to talk to?”; “Palestine Ultrasound”; “Unilateral State”; “Great experts for Arabs”; “The Palestinians are disappearing again”; “Now it is forbidden to remain silent.”
Mendel contributed a chapter “The Oslo ‘Peace Process’ and the End of Peace” to the 2019 book, From the River to the Sea: Palestine and Israel in the Shadow of “Peace,” edited by Prof. Mandy Turner. Between 2012-2019 Turner was the Director of the Kenyon Institute, a Palestinian British Academy-sponsored research center based in East Jerusalem. The book is a collection of anti-Israel diatribes. Mendel claims that “it was the Labor Party that was in office from 1948 and hence bears considerable responsibility for the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (including the rejection of the return of refugees); it led the military regime imposed on Palestinian citizens of Israel, inside Israel, from 1948–1966; furthermore, it led the government that occupied the West Bank and Gaza following the 1967 war and created the first settlements in the West Bank.”
Mendel’s 2014 book, The Creation of Israeli Arabic: Political and Security Considerations in the Making of Arabic Language Studies in Israel, discussed a “message of delegitimizing Palestinian Arab parties,” and that such a “message was further promoted by the popular mainstream media, which consistently portrays the Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel as a threat. Zionist opposition parties and leaders have also played a key role in this delegitimization by constantly insisting that Israel should be, first and foremost, a state for the political thought, aspirations and desires of Jewish citizens only.”
A review of the book by Muhammad Amara from Beit Berl College, published by the Journal of Palestine Studies, in 2016, stated about Arabic teaching that “the language and its culture evoke extremely negative and aggressive attitudes.” For him, Mendel was “investigating the process by which Arabic was transformed from the language of the neighbor into the language of the enemy.”
Not surprisingly, the book has won the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize in 2015.
In 2016, Mendel wrote an article in Haaretz justifying terrorism against Israelis and blaming it on the “Israeli occupation”. For him, a “reference to ‘Palestinian incitement’ after each attack, is very disturbing. There is no denying that there have indeed been those in the West Bank and Gaza Strip calling for the use of violence, but things must be stated accurately: These are secondary tremors. The main temblor is the reality that between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River there is only one state, Israel; only one army, the Israel Defense Forces; only one people that enjoys independence; only one Law of Return; only one hope; and also only one occupation.”
The worst is what he wrote on the killer of Dafna Meir, who was murdered at her doorstep in Otniel: “Try to imagine that the person who carried out the terrorist attack in Otniel, 16-year-old Murad Adais from Beit Amra in the southern West Bank, had not watched television in the days prior to the attack. What insight could be drawn from that? What would he have seen from the window of his home? Which Israelis would he have met? Soldiers at a roadblock? Settlers going around with weapons whose communities were built on Palestinian land?”
Mendel thinks that blaming Palestinian incitement for terrorism is “Pavlovian.”
This Mendel’s piece was picked up by the anti-Semitic website of “Jew World Order,” that “Jesus called them the Synagogue Of Satan – Antichrist.” Their “about us” chapter explains, “When you cannot criticize the Jews, without getting jailed for being anti Semite, you know we live in a Communist Dictatorship. Once you are awake, you cannot fall back to sleep. The truth has no agenda.” The website was created by a group of “concerned individuals, and true Christians,” wishing to tell the world about the “criminal murderous Khazars, that fraudulently call themselves Jews… We support the True Semites (Palestinians), not the fakes that call themselves Jews. We support the true Hebrews (Negros) not the fakes that call themselves Jews.”
Mendel’s view of Israel is highly misleading. He wrote about Israel’s elections in 2015: “What else can be said about a country whose electoral options run from bad to worse, from xenophobia to all-out racism?”
His latest venture is a course (with Dotan Halevi) “Gaza: History, Society, Culture and Politics” for second-year students. They boast about having hosted “more than 20 experts on Gazan including Israeli, Palestinian and international scholars; experts on the ground; representatives from the former Jewish settlement of Gush Katif, which Israel evacuated in 2005; journalists; artists; UN representatives; and Israeli government officials.”
However, in a public statement, they explained that “Of all the speakers, not even one found the siege of Gaza to be sustainable.”
This statement misrepresents the realities. In 2007, after a bloody purge of the Fatah forces, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad turned the enclave into an armed camp with projectiles threatening Israeli citizens. In the last round, some 4000 rockets and missiles were launched toward Israeli cities as far as Beersheba and Tel Aviv. The terror group has embedded with the population, effectively turning it into a human shield.
Over the years, IAM had repeatedly discussed the problems with radical academics who use their academic pulpit to spread anti-Israel propaganda under the guise of scholarship. This faux scholarship serves as a cover for the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic elements in the West. The pro-Palestinian camp is a major consumer of such writings.
The Israeli government has spent a small fortune fighting academic BDS and anti-Semitism. It would be well advised to note the role of some Israeli scholars in the delegitimization process.
Open Gaza immediately,’ says manager of Israel-Gaza crossing
The Erez Crossing manager debunks myth that restrictions on Gaza uphold security, believes Israel should engage directly with Hamas.
By Meron Rapoport
June 21, 2021
Opening up Gaza “is clearly in Israel’s interest,” said the manager of the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza, Shlomo Tzaban, during a talk with students at Ben-Gurion University last week.
“Gaza has to be opened up immediately, without linkage to prisoners and missing persons and without linkage to Hamas,” he said. “If we open it [Gaza] today, there will be no suicide bombings and Hamas will be severely weakened.”
Tzaban, who has been overseeing the civilian entry and exit point between Israel and Gaza since security at the crossing was privatized in 2006, was a guest speaker in a class on the history of Gaza headed by Dr. Yonatan Mendel and Dotan Halevi. In a recording of the talk that was reviewed by Local Call, Tzaban, who described himself as “the manager of all of Gaza,” contradicted the positions of many Israeli politicians regarding the strip and debunked the security myths that are commonly used to justify the siege, which Israel has imposed since 2007. The southern Rafah Crossing that Gaza shares with Egypt is the only crossing not controlled by Israel.
Tzaban insisted throughout his lecture that Gaza’s development and prosperity was a necessity — echoing the positions of many former Israeli military officials who have criticized the policy of maintaining the blockade. “If things are bad in Gaza, they will be bad in Israel,” he said.
In his talk, Tzaban outlined the strip’s history since 1948, “as told by Gazans,” he said. Palestinians in Gaza remember Egypt’s rule over the strip from 1948 to 1967 “as a Holocaust,” whereas the years between Israel’s occupation of Gaza from 1967 until the beginning of the First Intifada in 1987 are considered a time of prosperity. “They [Palestinians] remember these years with tears in their eyes,” he claimed.
Following the First Intifada, though, when Israel implemented restrictions on movement for Palestinians in Gaza, a “slippery slope” caused the strip to become a “fifth world” territory, Tzaban explained.
Since Israel’s latest military operation in May, during which Israel killed more than 250 people in Gaza and Hamas killed 13 in Israel, the situation in the strip has extremely deteriorated, said Tzaban. Before the 11-day war, around 700 trucks delivered goods to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing every day, he said. However, data collected by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied territories shows that an average of 300 trucks a day were entering Gaza in 2019, and Israel still severely restricts and often entirely forbids the entry of goods that are essential for industry, construction, and other civilian needs. As of the day of the lecture, however, only about 130 trucks were being let in a day, said Tzaban, which aligns with OCHA’s tracking of 4,300 truckloads last month.
‘Gaza is an Israeli problem’
When asked about Israel’s “separation policy” between Gaza and the West Bank, Tzaban replied that while it serves the West Bank, the policy “is very bad for Gaza.” Opening up Gaza, he added, would be very beneficial to Israel. “It is in Israel’s interest that 200,000 Gazans enter [into Israel] today to build us homes and provide financial support to the 2.2 million Palestinians [living there] who have nothing to do with the conflict,” he said.
Tzaban was firm in his position on the lack of security threats involved in opening up Gaza: “Since 2006 to this day, I’ve allowed 9 million Palestinians to enter from Gaza to Israel. There were zero casualties, and zero terrorists,” he said. “If you open the crossings, there will not be a single suicide bombing.”
The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, “knows how to distinguish between those who are good and those who are bad,” said Tzaban, and Israel “has the most advanced technologies in the world” to inspect those entering Israel. “We must let them [Palestinians] taste what they’ve known between 1967 and 1987, the perks of economy, employment, livelihood, and give them back their dignity,” he added.
Tzaban also expressed unwavering support for direct coordination with Hamas. “I’ve said this a long time ago: We must bring Hamas to the Erez Crossing, we must bring their officers,” he said.
“Do you know that before 1987, Hamas’s leadership, [co-founder] Ahmad Yassin and others, would visit the Kirya freely?” Tzaban remarked, referring to Israel’s military compound in Tel Aviv. “You must understand: agreements are made with enemies, there’s no need for deals with friends. I’m in favor of using mediators, but also of communicating directly [with Hamas], as we did in the Oslo Accords.”
Regarding Hamas, Tzaban claimed on the one hand that “terror organizations must be destroyed, terrorist leaders must be wiped out.” But in the same breath, he argued that opening the crossings between Israel and Gaza is a mutual interest. “Hamas will not prevent the residents of Gaza from entering Israel,” he surmised.
“In five years, there will be 3 million Palestinians in Gaza, living across 365 square kilometers [141 square miles],” stated Tzaban. “Gaza is an Israeli problem, not a Palestinian one.”
He continued: “If we don’t solve this, with immense courage, creativity and the investment of all the countries of the world — the United States, the European Union, the Quartet and others — we will continue to run from incident to incident, from confrontation to confrontation, from war to war, including our grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” said Tzaban. “It will not help — left or right, hawk or dove. We must take action here, open the gates of Gaza and within a decade there will no longer be a terror organization.”
In a statement, the class lecturers, Mendel and Halevi, said they had no part in leaking Tzaban’s talk to the press. They explained that this was the second year that their course on Gaza’s history is being offered, in which they’ve hosted more than 20 experts on Gaza. The class has heard from Israeli, Palestinian and international scholars; experts on the ground; representatives from the former Jewish settlement of Gush Katif, which Israel evacuated in 2005; journalists; artists; UN representatives; and even Israeli government officials. “Of all the speakers, not even one found the siege of Gaza to be sustainable,” the statement said.
In response to a request for comment on Tzaban’s remarks, an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesperson said that “Tzaban presented his personal opinions, which do not represent the Defense Ministry’s position.”
A version of this article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.Meron Rapoport is an editor at Local Call. ====================================================
https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/.premium-1.9827978 להם יהיה קשה לספר על “נזק אגבי” יונתן מנדל ודותן הלוי22.05.2021 נדמה שהתקווה הקמאית של ראש הממשלה המנוח יצחק רבין, שאמר על עזה לפני כשלושה עשורים, “הלוואי שהיתה טובעת בים”, משותפת לרבים בישראל. “הלוואי שהיתה טובעת בים”, מהדהדת הקריאה בין מטוסי חיל האוויר המטילים עוד ועוד פצצות על עזה, בין כתבים ופרשנים משולהבים, וממבול הודעות הטוויטר והווטסאפ של אזרחי ישראל. “הלוואי שהיתה טובעת בים”, מצטלצלת התקווה מהצהרותיהם חמורות הסבר של מנהיגי ישראל. אבל עזה איננה טובעת. היא צפה כל פעם מחדש, ו–1.5 מיליון הפליטים, 75% מאוכלוסייתה, שבים ומעלים את העובדות שהיינו רוצים להטביע: שהמדינה היהודית הוקמה דרך הפיכתם של מאות אלפי פלסטינים לפליטים ושהיום תפישת הביטחון של ישראל מושתתת, בין היתר, על כליאתם ודיכויים של צאצאיהם. בין אם נראה בכך מחיר רצוי, בלתי נמנע או בלתי נסבל, הרצון להשתיק את עזה נובע מההכרה שהיא תמיד תהיה שם להזכיר איפה אנחנו נמצאים. רבים מהנהגת פתח צמחו במחנות הפליטים ברצועה. האינתיפאדה הראשונה החלה שם, והסכמי אוסלו התבססו על “עזה תחילה”. בעזה נוסדה הרשות הפלסטינית, ושם צמחה תנועת חמאס. עמירה הס כתבה כבר ב–1996 שעזה “מקפלת בתוכה את כל תולדות הסכסוך הישראלי־פלסטיני”. זו היתה לא רק אבחנה אלא גם נבואה. התמקדות הסכסוך בעזה הלכה והתעצמה עם עליית חמאס לשלטון, וכך גם ההדחקה הישראלית של כל סוגיות הליבה של הסכסוך. אולי בגלל זה קל יותר לכתוב על עזה רק בשפה שמוחקת: טרור, ג’יהאד, מנהרות — עזה כַּמוות. “הרצועה כמו בית סוהר, בכל מקום תהפוך למטרה”: בין ההפצצות, בעזה סומכים על המזלצה”ל מכנה זאת “נזק אגבי”, אבל לאזרחים שנהרגו ברצועת עזה יש שמות כשהחלטנו ללמד קורס באוניברסיטת בן־גוריון שיוקדש כולו לעזה, על ההיסטוריה, החברה, התרבות והפוליטיקה שלה, ידענו שאחד הדברים הקשים ביותר שנבקש מהסטודנטים לעשות הוא לחשוב על עזה מחוץ למסגרת הדיון המוכרת. לשחרר אותה מהכבלים של הפרשנים הצבאיים; ללמוד על עיר מסחר מרכזית עם חגים עונתיים משלה עוד מהתקופה העותמנית, על היווצרותה של חברת פליטים דינמית אחרי 1948 ועל האמביציות של ישראל כלפי רצועת החוף הזו, מהכיבוש הראשון ב–1956, דרך הכיבוש של 1967 ועד ההתנתקות החד־צדדית ב–2005. רצינו שהתלמידים שלנו ייחשפו גם לכתיבה פלסטינית ובינלאומית, ושיעזו להסתכל על העולם מבעד לעיניה, דרך הפואמות של הארון האשם אל־רשיד ומועין בסיסו, הרומנים של עאטף אבו סייף ושיריו של מוחמד עסאף, הזוכה העזתי ב”ערבּ איידול”. חוקרות וחוקרים ישראלים ופלסטינים, נציגי ארגוני סיוע בינלאומיים, אנשי ממסד בעבר ובהווה, אפילו מפוני גוש קטיף, שמחו לקחת חלק בקורס. רק בדוברות צה”ל ומת”ק עזה העדיפו לא לדבר. בין אם מתוך אדישות, או מדיניות, סירבו שם להציג את עמדת הכוח ששולט בפועל על הרצועה.
לשמחתנו, הסטודנטיות והסטודנטים לא מחכים לעמדות רשמיות שיכתיבו להם מה לחשוב. מדהים באילו מהירות וטבעיות יכולים צעירים בישראל להשתחרר מהדימוי המוכר של “עזה כַּמוות”, ולעבור לדון על עזה של החיים. רק צריך לאפשר את זה. יותר מ–50% מאוכלוסיית עזה הם בגילם של הסטודנטים או פחות. הגיל החציוני בעזה הוא 18. אלה ואלה בגרו אל עזה סגורה ומסוגרת. יידרש מאמץ רב כדי שהדור הזה, שנולד בישראל, יחיה במציאות אחרת, במדינה שבה בעיות פוליטיות זוכות לפתרונות פוליטיים, לא צבאיים. בכיתה לפחות הם עושים את הצעד הראשון בנקל: כותבים ודנים על אזרחות ופליטוּת, על שלטון פתח ושלטון חמאס, על נקודות האור והצל שבהיסטוריה המשותפת של הישראלים והפלסטינים, על שירה ומוזיקה. בהקשבה לראשים המדברים את עצמם לדעת באולפנים, כשעזה החרבה נשקפת ברקע כשומר מסך, תהינו לא פעם כמה עמוקים ומפתיעים היו הדיונים עם סטודנטים אחרי שנחשפו למאמר, לשיר, למסמך ארכיוני. הם יודעים שמעבר לגדר חיים גם אנשים כמוהם, שכותבים, לומדים ומפתחים אפליקציות וגולשים בים. להם כבר יהיה קשה לספר על “נזק אגבי”. אפשר לעשות לעזה דה־הומניזציה. אפשר לעשות לקבלת ההחלטות שם דה־רציונליזציה. אפשר להגיד שהם הביאו את זה על עצמם. אפשר לדפדף לעמוד הבא כשקוראים שיותר מ–60 הרוגים בעזה הם ילדים בני חצי שנה עד 16. אפשר לייחל שעזה תמות ואִתה תמות הסוגיה הפלסטינית. אבל אלה מחשבות שווא, שמסיטות את המבט מהמציאות ומרחיקות פתרון. “מה היית רוצה לומר לישראלים”, שאלנו חבר בעזה, פעיל זכויות אדם. “הייתי רוצה להגיד להם את מה שהם לא רוצים לשמוע”, הוא ענה בלי להסס, “שאנחנו בעזה אוהבים את החיים בדיוק כמוכם, ושאנחנו שונאים את המוות לא פחות מכם”. ד”ר מנדל הוא מרצה במחלקה ללימודי המזרח התיכון באוניברסיטת בן־גוריון, הלוי הוא דוקטורנט באוניברסיטת קולומביה, והם מלמדים יחד את הקורס “עזה: היסטוריה, חברה, תרבות ופוליטיקה”
Israel’s army and schools work hand in hand, say teachers
Close ties means Israeli pupils are being raised to be “good soldiers” rather than good citizens
By Jonathan Cook
HAIFA – The task for Israeli pupils: to foil an imminent terror attack on their school. But if they are to succeed, they must first find the clues using key words they have been learning in Arabic.
Arabic lesson plans for Israel’s Jewish schoolchildren have a strange focus.
Those matriculating in the language can rarely hold a conversation in Arabic. And almost none of the hundreds of teachers introducing Jewish children to Israel’s second language are native speakers, even though one in five of the population belong to the country’s Palestinian minority.
The reason, says Yonatan Mendel, a researcher at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, is that the teaching of Arabic in Israel’s Jewish schools is determined almost exclusively by the needs of the Israeli army.
Mendel’s recent research shows that officers from a military intelligence unit called Telem design much of the Arabic language curriculum. “Its involvement is what might be termed an ‘open secret’ in Israel,” he told MEE.
“The military are part and parcel of the education system. The goal of Arabic teaching is to educate the children to be useful components in the military system, to train them to become intelligence officers.”
Telem is a branch of Unit 8200, dozens of whose officers signed a letter last year revealing that their job was to pry into Palestinians’ sex lives, money troubles and illnesses. The information helped with “political persecution”, “recruiting collaborators” and “driving parts of Palestinian society against itself”, the officers noted.
Mendel said Arabic was taught “without sentiment”, an aim established in the state’s earliest years.
“The fear was that, if students had a good relationship with the language and saw Arabs as potential friends, they might cross over to the other side and they would be of no use to the Israeli security system. That was the reason the field of Arabic studies was made free of Arabs.”
A year ago I applied for the job of Occupied Territories correspondent at Ma’ariv, an Israeli newspaper. I speak Arabic and have taught in Palestinian schools and taken part in many joint Jewish-Palestinian projects. At my interview the boss asked how I could possibly be objective. I had spent too much time with Palestinians; I was bound to be biased in their favour. I didn’t get the job. My next interview was with Walla, Israel’s most popular website. This time I did get the job and I became Walla’s Middle East correspondent. I soon understood what Tamar Liebes, the director of the Smart Institute of Communication at the Hebrew University, meant when she said: ‘Journalists and publishers see themselves as actors within the Zionist movement, not as critical outsiders.’
This is not to say that Israeli journalism is not professional. Corruption, social decay and dishonesty are pursued with commendable determination by newspapers, TV and radio. That Israelis heard exactly what former President Katsav did or didn’t do with his secretaries proves that the media are performing their watchdog role, even at the risk of causing national and international embarrassment. Ehud Olmert’s shady apartment deal, the business of Ariel Sharon’s mysterious Greek island, Binyamin Netanyahu’s secret love affair, Yitzhak Rabin’s secret American bank account: all of these are freely discussed by the Israeli media.
When it comes to ‘security’ there is no such freedom. It’s ‘us’ and ‘them’, the IDF and the ‘enemy’; military discourse, which is the only discourse allowed, trumps any other possible narrative. It’s not that Israeli journalists are following orders, or a written code: just that they’d rather think well of their security forces.
In most of the articles on the conflict two sides battle it out: the Israel Defence Forces, on the one hand, and the Palestinians, on the other. When a violent incident is reported, the IDF confirms or the army says but the Palestinians claim: ‘The Palestinians claimed that a baby was severely injured in IDF shootings.’ Is this a fib? ‘The Palestinians claim that Israeli settlers threatened them’: but who are the Palestinians? Did the entire Palestinian people, citizens of Israel, inhabitants of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, people living in refugee camps in neighbouring Arab states and those living in the diaspora make the claim? Why is it that a serious article is reporting a claim made by the Palestinians? Why is there so rarely a name, a desk, an organisation or a source of this information? Could it be because that would make it seem more reliable?
When the Palestinians aren’t making claims, their viewpoint is simply not heard. Keshev, the Centre for the Protection of Democracy in Israel, studied the way Israel’s leading television channels and newspapers covered Palestinian casualties in a given month – December 2005. They found 48 items covering the deaths of 22 Palestinians. However, in only eight of those accounts was the IDF version followed by a Palestinian reaction; in the other 40 instances the event was reported only from the point of view of the Israeli military.
Another example: in June 2006, four days after the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped from the Israeli side of the Gazan security fence, Israel, according to the Israeli media, arrested some sixty members of Hamas, of whom 30 were elected members of parliament and eight ministers in the Palestinian government. In a well-planned operation Israel captured and jailed the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem, the ministers of finance, education, religious affairs, strategic affairs, domestic affairs, housing and prisons, as well as the mayors of Bethlehem, Jenin and Qalqilya, the head of the Palestinian parliament and one quarter of its members. That these officials were taken from their beds late at night and transferred to Israeli territory probably to serve (like Gilad Shalit) as future bargaining-chips did not make this operation a kidnapping. Israel never kidnaps: it arrests.
The Israeli army never intentionally kills anyone, let alone murders them – a state of affairs any other armed organisation would be envious of. Even when a one-ton bomb is dropped onto a dense residential area in Gaza, killing one gunman and 14 innocent civilians, including nine children, it’s still not an intentional killing or murder: it is a targeted assassination. An Israeli journalist can say that IDF soldiers hit Palestinians, or killed them, or killed them by mistake, and that Palestinians were hit, or were killed or even found their death (as if they were looking for it), but murder is out of the question. The consequence, whatever words are used, has been the death at the hands of the Israeli security forces since the outbreak of the second intifada of 2087 Palestinians who had nothing to do with armed struggle.
The IDF, as depicted by the Israeli media, has another strange ability: it never initiates, decides to attack or launches an operation. The IDF simply responds. It responds to the Qassam rockets, responds to terror attacks, responds to Palestinian violence. This makes everything so much more sensible and civilised: the IDF is forced to fight, to destroy houses, to shoot Palestinians and to kill 4485 of them in seven years, but none of these events is the responsibility of the soldiers. They are facing a nasty enemy, and they respond dutifully. The fact that their actions – curfews, arrests, naval sieges, shootings and killings – are the main cause of the Palestinian reaction does not seem to interest the media. Because Palestinians cannot respond, Israeli journalists choose another verb from the lexicon that includes revenge, provoke, attack, incite, throw stones or fire Qassams.
Interviewing Abu-Qusay, the spokesman of Al-Aqsa Brigades in Gaza, in June 2007, I asked him about the rationale for firing Qassam missiles at the Israeli town of Sderot. ‘The army might respond,’ I said, not realising that I was already biased. ‘But we are responding here,’ Abu-Qusay said. ‘We are not terrorists, we do not want to kill . . . we are resisting Israel’s continual incursions into the West Bank, its attacks, its siege on our waters and its closure on our lands.’ Abu-Qusay’s words were translated into Hebrew, but Israel continued to enter the West Bank every night and Israelis did not find any harm in it. After all it was only a response.
At a time when there were many Israeli raids on Gaza I asked my colleagues the following question: ‘If an armed Palestinian crosses the border, enters Israel, drives to Tel Aviv and shoots people in the streets, he will be the terrorist and we will be the victims, right? However, if the IDF crosses the border, drives miles into Gaza, and starts shooting their gunmen, who is the terrorist and who is the defender? How come the Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories can never be engaged in self-defence, while the Israeli army is always the defender?’ My friend Shay from the graphics department clarified matters for me: ‘If you go to the Gaza Strip and shoot people, you will be a terrorist. But when the army does it that is an operation to make Israel safer. It’s the implementation of a government decision!’
Another interesting distinction between us and them came up when Hamas demanded the release of 450 of its prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit. Israel announced that it would release prisoners but not those with blood on their hands. It is always the Palestinians – never the Israelis – who have blood on their hands. This is not to say that Jews cannot kill Arabs but they will not have blood on their hands, and if they are arrested they will be released after a few years, not to mention those with blood on their hands who’ve gone on to become prime minister. And we are not only more innocent when we kill but also more susceptible when we are hurt. A regular description of a Qassam missile that hits Sderot will generally look like this: ‘A Qassam fell next to a residential house, three Israelis had slight injuries, and ten others suffered from shock.’ One should not make light of these injuries: a missile hitting a house in the middle of the night could indeed cause great shock. However, one should also remember that shock is for Jews only. Palestinians are apparently a very tough people.
The IDF, again the envy of all other armies, kills only the most important people. ‘A high-ranking member of Hamas was killed’ is almost a chorus in the Israel media. Low-ranking members of Hamas have either never been found or never been killed. Shlomi Eldar, a TV correspondent in the Gaza Strip, bravely wrote about this phenomenon in his book Eyeless in Gaza (2005). When Riyad Abu Zaid was assassinated in 2003, the Israeli press echoed the IDF announcement that the man was the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza. Eldar, one of Israel’s few investigative journalists, discovered that the man was merely a secretary in the movement’s prisoner club. ‘It was one of many occasions in which Israel “upgraded” a Palestinian activist,’ Eldar wrote. ‘After every assassination any minor activist is “promoted” to a major one.’
This phenomenon, in which IDF statements are directly translated into media reports – there are no checkpoints between the army and the media – is the result both of a lack of access to information and of the unwillingness of journalists to prove the army wrong or to portray soldiers as criminals. ‘The IDF is acting in Gaza’ (or in Jenin, or in Tulkarm, or in Hebron) is the expression given out by the army and embraced by the media. Why make the listeners’ lives harder? Why tell them what the soldiers do, describing the fear they create, the fact that they come with heavy vehicles and weapons and crush a city’s life, creating a greater hatred, sorrow and a desire for revenge?
Last month, as a measure against Qassam militants, Israel decided to stop Gaza’s electricity for a few hours a day. Despite the fact that this means, for instance, that electricity will fail to reach hospitals, it was said that ‘the Israeli government decided to approve this step, as another non-lethal weapon.’ Another thing the soldiers do is clearing – khisuf. In regular Hebrew, khisuf means to expose something that is hidden, but as used by the IDF it means to clear an area of potential hiding places for Palestinian gunmen. During the last intifada, Israeli D9 bulldozers destroyed thousands of Palestinian houses, uprooted thousands of trees and left behind thousands of smashed greenhouses. It is better to know that the army cleared the place than to face the reality that the army destroys Palestinians’ possessions, pride and hope.
Another useful word is crowning (keter), a euphemism for a siege in which anyone who leaves his house risks being shot at. War zones are places where Palestinians can be killed even if they are children who don’t know they’ve entered a war zone. Palestinian children, by the way, tend to be upgraded to Palestinian teenagers, especially when they are accidentally killed. More examples: isolated Israeli outposts in the West Bank are called illegal outposts, perhaps in contrast to Israeli settlements that are apparently legal. Administrative detention means jailing people who haven’t been put on trial or even formally charged (in April 2003 there were 1119 Palestinians in this situation). The PLO (Ashaf) is always referred to by its acronym and never by its full name: Palestine is a word that is almost never used – there is a Palestinian president but no president of Palestine.
‘A society in crisis forges a new vocabulary for itself,’ David Grossman wrote in The Yellow Wind, ‘and gradually, a new language emerges whose words . . . no longer describe reality, but attempt, instead, to conceal it.’ This ‘new language’ was adopted voluntarily by the media, but if one needs an official set of guidelines it can be found in the Nakdi Report, a paper drafted by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority. First set down in 1972 and since updated three times, the report aimed to ‘clarify some of the professional rules that govern the work of a newsperson’. The prohibition of the term East Jerusalem was one of them.
The restrictions aren’t confined to geography. On 20 May 2006, Israel’s most popular television channel, Channel 2, reported ‘another targeted assassination in Gaza, an assassination that might ease the firing of Qassams’ (up to 376 people have died in targeted assassinations, 150 of them civilians who were not the target of assassinations). Ehud Ya’ari, a well-known Israeli correspondent on Arab affairs, sat in the studio and said: ‘The man who was killed is Muhammad Dahdouh, from Islamic Jihad . . . this is part of the other war, a war to shrink the volume of Qassam activists.’ Neither Ya’ari nor the IDF spokesman bothered to report that four innocent Palestinian civilians were also killed in the operation, and three more severely injured, one a five-year-old girl called Maria, who will remain paralysed from the neck down. This ‘oversight’, revealed by the Israeli journalist Orly Vilnai, only exposed how much we do not know about what we think we know.
Interestingly, since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip one of the new ‘boo’ words in the Israeli media is Hamastan, a word that appears in the ‘hard’ news section, the allegedly sacred part of newspapers that is supposed to give the facts, free from editorialising. The same applies to movements such as Hamas or Hizbullah, which are described in Hebrew as organisations and not as political movements or parties. Intifada is never given its Arabic meaning of ‘revolt’; and Al-Quds, which when used by Palestinian politicians refers only to ‘the holy places in East Jerusalem’ or ‘East Jerusalem’, is always taken by Israeli correspondents to mean Jerusalem, which is effectively to imply a Palestinian determination to take over the entire capital city.
It was curious to watch the newspapers’ responses to the assassination of Imad Moughniyeh in Syria two weeks ago. Everyone tried to outdo everyone else over what to call him: arch-terrorist, master terrorist or the greatest terrorist on earth. It took the Israeli press a few days to stop celebrating Moughniyeh’s assassins and start doing what it should have done in the first place: ask questions about the consequences of the killing. The journalist Gideon Levy thinks it is an Israeli trend: ‘The chain of “terrorist chieftains” liquidated by Israel, from Ali Salameh and Abu Jihad through Abbas Musawi and Yihyeh Ayash to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi (all “operations” that we celebrated with great pomp and circumstance for one sweet and intoxicating moment), have thus far brought only harsh and painful revenge attacks against Israel and Jews throughout the world.’
Israeli correspondents on Arab affairs must of course speak Arabic – many of them indeed studied it in the security establishment’s schools – and they need to know the history and politics of the Middle East. And they have to be Jews. Strikingly, the Israeli-Jewish media prefer to hire journalists with average Arabic rather than native speakers, since they would be Palestinian citizens of Israel. Apparently, Jewish journalists are better equipped than Arab Israelis to explain ‘what Arabs think’, ‘Arab aims’ or ‘what Arabs say’. Maybe this is because the editors know what their audience wants to hear. Or, even more important, what the Israeli audience would rather not hear.
If the words occupation, apartheid and racism (not to mention Palestinian citizens of Israel, bantustans, ethnic cleansing and Nakba) are absent from Israeli discourse, Israeli citizens can spend their whole lives without knowing what they have been living with. Take racism (Giz’anut in Hebrew). If the Israeli parliament legislates that 13 per cent of the country’s lands can be sold only to Jews, then it is a racist parliament. If in 60 years the country has had only one Arab minister, then Israel has had racist governments. If in 60 years of demonstrations rubber bullets and live ammunition have been used only on Arab demonstrators, then Israel has a racist police. If 75 per cent of Israelis admit that they would refuse to have an Arab neighbour, then it is a racist society. By not acknowledging that Israel is a place where racism shapes relations between Jews and Arabs, Israeli Jews render themselves unable to deal with the problem or even with the reality of their own lives.
The same denial of reality is reflected in the avoidance of the term apartheid. Because of its association with white South Africa, Israelis find it very hard to use the word. This is not to say that the exact same kind of regime prevails in the Occupied Territories today, but a country needn’t have benches ‘for whites only’ in order to be an apartheid state. Apartheid, after all, means ‘separation’, and if in the Occupied Territories the settlers have one road and Palestinians need to use alternative roads or tunnels, then it is an apartheid road system. If the separation wall built on thousands of dunams of confiscated West Bank land separates people (including Palestinians on opposite sides of the wall), then it is an apartheid wall. If in the Occupied Territories there are two judicial systems, one for Jewish settlers and the other for Palestinians, then it is an apartheid justice.
And then there are the Occupied Territories themselves. Remarkably, there are no Occupied Territories in Israel. The term is occasionally used by a leftist politician or columnist, but in the hard news section it doesn’t exist. In the past they were called the Administered Territories in order to conceal the actual fact of occupation; they were then called Judea and Samaria; but in Israel’s mass media today they’re called the Territories (Ha-Shtachim). The term helps preserve the notion that the Jews are the victims, the people who act only in self-defence, the moral half of the equation, and the Palestinians are the attackers, the bad guys, the people who fight for no reason. The simplest example explains it: ‘a citizen of the Territories was caught smuggling illegal weapons.’ It might make sense for citizens of an occupied territory to try to resist the occupier, but it doesn’t make sense if they are just from the Territories.
Israeli journalists are not embedded with the security establishment; and they haven’t been asked to make their audience feel good about Israel’s military policy. The restrictions they observe are observed voluntarily, almost unconsciously – which makes their practice all the more dangerous. Yet a majority of Israelis feel that their media are too left-wing, insufficiently patriotric, not on Israel’s side. And the foreign media are worse. During the last intifada, Avraham Hirschson, then the minister of finance, demanded that CNN’s broadcasts from Israel be closed down on the grounds of ‘biased broadcasting and tendentious programmes that are nothing but a campaign of incitement against Israel’. Israeli demonstrators called for an end to ‘CNN’s unreliable and terror-provoking coverage’ in favour of Fox News. Israeli men up to the age of 50 are obliged to do one month’s reserve service every year. ‘The civilian,’ Yigael Yadin, an early Israeli chief of staff, said, ‘is a soldier on 11 months’ annual leave.’ For the Israeli media there is no leave.
Yonatan Mendel —
Yonatan Mendel was a correspondent for the Israeli news agency Walla. He is currently at Queens’ College, Cambridge working on a PhD that studies the connection between the Arabic language and security in Israel.
Yonatan Mendel, Research associate University of Cambridge; and post-doctoral researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is an Israeli linguist whose research centres on the status of the Arabic language within Israeli society. He is also a regular contributor to the LRB, most recently with a Diary piece on Israel’s March election. His latest book The Creation of Israeli Arabic sheds light on a unique corner of the Arab–Israeli conflict: the study and knowledge of Arabic in Jewish-Israeli society. The book explores how security considerations have shaped the study of the Arabic language and of Arab people in Israeli society. Based on research conducted in seven archives in Israel, the book uncovers a new ‘type’ of Arabic created in Israel ̶ passive and securitised. This ‘Israeli Arabic’ has enabled its users to observe the Arab world but not to interact with Arab people in general and with Palestinian citizens of Israel in particular. In their discussion of his book and the ideas surrounding it Dr. Mendel and Professor Yasir Suleiman (head of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge) will provide an unusual view of the Arab-Israeli conflict: through the lens of language studies.
The event will take place on Tuesday 28 April 2015 at 7 p.m at the London Review Bookshop, London.
Yonatan Mendel, Research Fellow, also discusses the forthcoming Israeli Elections in the London Review of Books
What else can be said about a country whose electoral options run from bad to worse, from xenophobia to all-out racism? There are, I believe, three main blocs. The first wishes to maintain the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in its current form, preferably with no negotiations, in a liminal situation between cold and open war. The second wishes to dance with the conflict – to negotiate and negotiate as if there were no tomorrow. For the third bloc, there is no conflict at all: the elections are about VAT, the middle class and ‘what it means to be Israeli’.
https://mondoweiss.net/2016/02/israel-returns-body-of-palestinian-to-his-family-65-days-after-he-was-killed-by-soldiers-in-jerusalem/ Palestinian violence bred by incitement? You mean the occupation? / Yonatan Mendel Haaretz 29 Feb 2016 — Did the killer of Shlomit Kriegman, who lives in the Qalandiya refugee camp, need a Twitter account to know that his life was in the dumps? — “Palestinian incitement.” Sometimes I wonder what we would do without that pair of words, or without expressions such as “a tailwind for terrorism,” “defensive democracy” and “What would you have done?” In January, Dafna Meir was murdered at the entrance to her home in Otniel. Most of the media outlets in Israel highlighted the fact that the young Palestinian who murdered her was influenced by inciteful statements broadcast on Palestinian television. On visiting the site of the killing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “Palestinian incitement is what is causing terrorism.” . . . This Pavlovian response, which has led public figures to pull out a reference to “Palestinian incitement” after each attack, is very disturbing. There is no denying that there have indeed been those in the West Bank and Gaza Strip calling for the use of violence, but things must be stated accurately: These are secondary tremors. The main temblor is the reality that between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River there is only one state, Israel; only one army, the Israel Defense Forces; only one people that enjoys independence; only one Law of Return; only one hope; and also only one occupation, which will soon be 50 years old. Try for a moment to imagine a world without “Palestinian incitement.” Try to imagine that the person who carried out the terrorist attack in Otniel, 16-year-old Murad Adais from Beit Amra in the southern West Bank, had not watched television in the days prior to the attack. What insight could be drawn from that? What would he have seen from the window of his home? Which Israelis would he have met? Soldiers at a roadblock? Settlers going around with weapons whose communities were built on Palestinian land? (Continued)
https://www.jewworldorder.org/israel-returns-body-of-palestinian-to-his-family-65-days-after-he-was-killed-by-soldiers-in-jerusalem/ JEW WORLD ORDER Jesus called them the Synagogue Of Satan – Antichrist About us When you cannot criticize the Jews, without getting jailed for being anti Semite, you know we live in a Communist Dictatorship. zionist jews Jew World order Once you are awake, you cannot fall back to sleep The truth has no agenda This website was created by a group of concerned individuals, and true Christians, who wish to spread the truth to the people of the world about the criminal murderous Khazars, that fraudulently call themselves Jews. We are happy to announce our website has reached 16,000 unique visitors per day and growing. Thank you to everyone’s support including Graphics Australia, for hosting us on their fabulous web server, that handles the thousands of visitors a day, including the kosher Hack attacks. Bloggers and Publishing Networks emailing me to get their articles published on my website, are welcome to publish their articles, so keep sending them, and we will keep publishing them. We support the True Semites (Palestinians), not the fakes that call themselves Jews. We support the true Hebrews (Negros) not the fakes that call themselves Jews.
Last Sunday, the Rector’s office at Tel Aviv University circulated a letter to all faculty by Prof. Zvi Ziegler, the Chairman of the Inter-University Forum for Combating Academic Boycott, within the Committee of University Heads (VERA). Ziegler noted that some distinguished academic bodies took a solid anti-BDS stand, dealing a blow to the movement. However, he warned that covert boycotts still exist and asked the universities to be on the lookout. He provided some examples: “Discrimination can be manifested in rejecting an article for wrong reasons; Un-invitation or cancellation of an invitation to attend, or lecture, at a conference; Refusal to attend a conference held in Israel, or under the auspices of an Israeli institution when the reason is that the event is Israeli. Organizations which are deciding to call for academic boycotts act contrary to the principle of the universality of science.” The Rector’s office announced the names of faculty in charge of dealing with the academic boycott of Tel Aviv University.
As it happens, Ziegler’s concerns about the academic boycott have coincided with a new boycott initiative against Tel Aviv University.
The Middle East Eye(MEE), an Arab-owned British media outlet founded in 2014, has promoted the new boycott call. The American Enterprise Institute reported that MEE is an English-language front for Qatari-supported groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso, a former official for both Al Jazeera in Qatar and the Hamas-affiliated al-Quds TV in Lebanon, owns and operates MEE through the London-based M.E.E. Ltd. Bessasso was previously employed by Al Jazeera satellite network in Qatar and the Samalink Television Production Company in Lebanon, an agent for Al Quds TV’s website.
The MEEpublished a petition signed by hundreds of the University of Manchester staff and postgraduate students. The petition addressed Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, and the Senate of the University of Manchester, asking the University of Manchester to end its research partnership with Tel Aviv University.
Among the petition’s signatories are the Israeli Dr. Eyal Clyne and his Ph.D. supervisor Professor Erica Burman.
The petitioners state that the partnership between the Universities of Manchester and Tel Aviv “contravenes the University’s [Manchester] ethical commitment to oppose racist violence and oppression.” The petition states that Tel Aviv University is a “university deeply implicated in Israel’s premeditated bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.”
The petitioners argue that Tel Aviv University is home to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) because it “takes credit for developing the ‘Dahiya Doctrine.’ This is a military doctrine of disproportionate force, adopted by the Israeli army, which privileges civilian over and above military targets and advocates, as one of its designers at TAU put it, ‘the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people.’ This implicates Tel Aviv University in the deliberate and premeditated bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.”
The accusations against Tel Aviv University and the INSS are scurrilous on many levels. The Dahiya incident occurred during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 when the Israeli Air Force bombed the Dahiya neighborhood where the Hezbollah command had sheltered. Under the tutelage of its Iranian master, the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah adopted a doctrine of embedding among the civilian population.
The IDF has developed many tactics and platforms to limit the number of non-combatant victims, effectively human shields of Hezbollah and Hamas. Precision bombing, tunnel detection capabilities, FireFly to monitor the presence of civilians in buildings, and the “knock on the roof” to let them know about an impending bombing. As a result, the number of deaths among Gazan people in the current Guardian of the Walls operation stood at 312, as opposed to more than 2000 during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge. The IDF estimates that more than 40 percent of the recorded death were Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
The statement “the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people” was written by Giora Eiland, who advised on how to prevent the “Third Lebanon War:” He wrote that a warning message should be given to Hezbollah, a message that “has to be clear and unequivocal” to Lebanon’s allies, the Lebanese government, and people. It “must be stated clearly, starting now. If Israel waits until the day the war starts, it will be too late.”
It is hardly surprising that pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Manchester would use false and twisted information to delegitimize Tel Aviv University and the State of Israel.
נושא החרם על מוסדות אקדמיים עלה לכותרות בתקופה האחרונה.
מצורף מכתבו של פרופ’ צבי זיגלר יו”ר הפורום הבין- אוניברסיטאי של ור”ה למאבק בחרם האקדמי.
נציגי אוני’ ת”א לנושא זה הם:
פרופ’ מרק קרלינר – הפקולטה למדעים מדויקים, לפניות מאנשי סגל בצד המזרחי
פרופ’ מאיר ליטבק – הפקולטה למדעי הרוח, לפניות מאנשי סגל בצד המערבי
שלום לחברות /חברי הסגל,נושא החרם האקדמי על אוניברסיטאות וחוקרות/חוקרים בישראל חזר לסדר היום בשבועות האחרונים. ההתנגדות לחרם אקדמי זכתה בתמיכה רחבה ממוסדות אקדמיים בכירים כגון האקדמיה הלאומית למדעים של ארה”ב, החברה המלכותית הבריטית, וראשי האוניברסיטאות במדינות אלה. כולם התנגדו לחרם אקדמי, שמשמעותו היא אפליה של חוקרים על בסיס השתייכות אתנית, לאומית או דתית . כתוצאה מהתגייסות כללית זו, יוזמות החרם המוסדי, של אגודות מקצועיות או של אוניברסיטאות ספציפיות, נכשלו. עם זאת, יש עדויות לתופעה של חרם סמוי מן העין, אשר קשה יותר לאתרו, אבל הוא עלול להיות מסוכן. לאחרונה, עם התחדשות הגלים של פעילויות הקוראות להחרמת ישראל, יש חשש מהתגברות התופעה של חרם אקדמי מסוג זה. חשוב שכל חבר/ת סגל היודע /ת, מידיעה אישית, על מקרה של אפליה מטעמים פסולים, ידווח/תדווח על כך לאחד מחברי הסגל שהתמנו לרכז את הפעילות בנושא באוניברסיטת תל אביב. האפליה יכולה להתבטא בדחיית מאמר משיקולים פסולים; אי-הזמנה או ביטול הזמנה להשתתף או להרצות בכינוס; סירוב להשתתף בכינוס הנערך בישראל, או בחסות מוסד ישראלי , כשהנימוק הוא היותו של האירוע ישראלי, וכדו’. ארגונים, המקבלים החלטות הקוראות לחרם אקדמי על מדינה, פועלים בניגוד לעקרון האוניברסליות של המדע. חבר/ת סגל היוד ע/ת על יוזמה לגבש החלטה כזו בארגון אקדמי מתבקש/ת להודיע על כך, כדי שניתן יהיה לפעול לסיכול היוזמה בטרם תבשיל . אודה לך על שיתוף פעולה. בברכה , פרופ’ צבי ציגלר יו”ר הפורום הבין- אוניברסיטאי של ור”ה למאבק בחרם האקדמי
============================================================== https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-israel-manchester-university-tel-aviv-staff-demand-end-ties Staff at University of Manchester demand end to Tel Aviv University tiesIn an open letter, 224 members of staff at the British university say the Israeli institution has helped develop Israel’s policy of disproportionate violence against Arab neighbours
By Shafik Mandhai Published date: 16 June 2021 11:44 UTC |
More than 200 members of staff and researchers at the University of Manchester are calling on the institution to cut its ties with Tel Aviv University in the wake of Israel’s recent bombing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.
An open letter addressed to the university’s vice-chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell said the Israeli university was “deeply implicated” in the May bombardment, which killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children.
The authors of the letter, signed by 224 people as of Wednesday, said the University of Manchester’s continued relationship with Tel Aviv University is in violation of its commitment to oppose racist violence and oppression.
“Not only does the University of Manchester fail to speak up for Palestinians and heed their call for material support, but we also forge a strategic partnership with Tel Aviv University, an institution deeply implicated in their violent oppression,” the letter said.
Around 1,900 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli bombings in May and close to 60,000 were displaced in the violence.
The attacks on Gaza came amid police and far-right violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as a deadly crackdown on protesters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Tensions came to a head in early May after Israeli settler attempts to appropriate Palestinian property in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and an Israeli assault against Palestinian worshippers protesting evictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holiest night of the Islamic calendar.
Dahiya doctrine
Tel Aviv University is home to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a think-tank close to the Israeli military establishment, which has helped define the state’s military philosophy when it comes to Palestinians and neighbouring Arab states.
The Dahiya doctrine, named after a Beirut neighbourhood nearly destroyed by Israel during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, encourages the destruction of civilian infrastructure as a supposed deterrence to groups taking up arms against Israel.
In a paper no longer hosted by the INSS website but cited by the Institute for Middle East Understanding, Gabi Siboni, director of the Military and Strategic Affairs programme at INSS says: “[Israel] will have to respond disproportionately in order to make it abundantly clear that the State of Israel will accept no attempt to disrupt the calm currently prevailing along its borders.”
Alongside other Israeli universities, Tel Aviv University is also heavily involved in arms research, in collaboration with Israeli arms manufacturers and the Israeli military.
A 2009 publication issued by the university’s marketing department lauds the institution’s role in developing technology used by the Israeli army.
Isaac Ben-Israel, a former general who heads the Israeli Space Agency and Tel Aviv University’s Security Studies programme, is quoted as saying: “Military [research and development] in Israel would not exist without the universities. They carry out all the basic scientific investigation, which is then developed either by defence industries or the army.”
Manchester ties
The University of Manchester’s website currently lists collaborative research projects with Tel Aviv University involving the schools of Natural Sciences, Medicine and Environment, Education and Development.
Officials at the university have previously been criticised after technology developed by the institution ended up being shared with Israeli arms manufacturers and the Israeli military.
Nanene, a graphene-based material developed by Manchester researchers, which has uses in aircraft production, is being purchased by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
IAI produces missiles and drones used by the Israeli military, as well as the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
One signatory told MEE that while they were proud of the university’s stated commitment to anti-racism and inclusion, officials had to match words with action. By not taking a stand on Israel’s policies against Palestinians, the university’s “opposition to racism becomes merely an empty phrase to use for public relations and marketing”, they said.
Another signatory to the letter said: “In our climate of renewed attention to racial oppression, it is glaring when an institution claims anti-racism in word but not in deed.”
The signatories did not wish to share their names as they wished to speak as a group and not as any one individual.
Middle East Eye reached out to the University of Manchester for its reaction to the open letter and to ask whether it had any plans to end its ties with Israeli institutions.
A spokesperson said the university would like to reassure its staff and students that “the partnership has nothing whatsoever to do with military matters or any political endorsement.
Solidarity with Palestinians against University of Manchester’s partnership with Tel Aviv University – open letterDear Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell and the Senate of the University of Manchester,
We, the undersigned, call on the University of Manchester to end its research partnership with Tel Aviv University, a university deeply implicated in Israel’s premeditated bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. This partnership contravenes the University’s ethical commitment to oppose racist violence and oppression, a commitment we request you uphold.
On May 18, Palestinians across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories called a general strike. They demanded an end to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, which has killed 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, wounded more than 1,900, and displaced at least 58,000. They protested the ethnic cleansing of residents of Sheikh Jarrah from their homes in Occupied East Jerusalem, the military attack on Al-Aqsa mosque, and the Israeli mobs attacking Palestinians in the streets and in their homes as police stand by. Fundamentally, the strike called for an end to 73 years of settler colonialism, not a conflict between two equal sides but a brutal regime of expulsion, military occupation, and apartheid, armed and supported by Western nations.
These are the words with which Palestinians have long named their oppression by the Israeli state. They are now also the words of Israel’s largest human-rights organisation, B’Tselem (1), and the words of the international human-rights organisation Human Rights Watch (2). They are the words of the letter of Palestinian solidarity endorsed by 221 international architecture and planning organizations (3), and another signed by an astonishing 129 gender-studies departments in the United States alone (4). We could go on. Declarations and practical measures of solidarity with Palestinians are growing by the day, part of a global movement against all racial and intersecting forms of oppression.
Palestinians also have good reason to expect support from the University of Manchester. Our University publicly states, “We at the University of Manchester condemn all racist violence and oppression.” We assert “a role in removing systemic inequities and speaking up for those without a voice” (5). However, not only does the University of Manchester fail to speak up for Palestinians and heed their call for material support, but we also forge a strategic partnership with Tel Aviv University, an institution deeply implicated in their violent oppression.
Israeli universities have played a key role in planning, implementing, and justifying Israel’s occupation, and Tel Aviv is no exception. Across a range of disciplines from mechanical engineering to philosophy, Tel Aviv University is heavily and openly involved in research and development in weapons and surveillance technologies, and in military strategy and operational theory (6). It has described itself thus: “In the rough and tumble reality of the Middle East, Tel Aviv University is at the front line of the critical work to maintain Israel’s military and technological edge,” noting “much of that research remains classified” (7). To give only one example, Tel Aviv University is home to the Institute for National Security Studies which takes credit for developing the “Dahiya Doctrine.” This is a military doctrine of disproportionate force, adopted by the Israeli army, which privileges civilian over and above military targets and advocates, as one of its designers at TAU put it, “the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people” (8).
This implicates Tel Aviv University in the deliberate and premeditated bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza – war crimes, in other words, as the UN has described previous military assaults on the people of Gaza. “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza,” the UN Secretary-General said against the Israeli onslaught (9). Israel should be held to account “for the atrocities it has committed over the last 12 days,” is the view of the head of Oxfam in Israel and the Palestinian Territories (10).
But the atrocities don’t end with the fragile ceasefire. After 14 years of devastating blockade by one of the most powerful militaries in the world, the two million people of Gaza effectively live in an open-air prison, where 80% rely on international aid to survive, 90% of the water is undrinkable, and electricity supply is intermittent, with crippling effects on economic activity and health and sanitation services. Amidst a global pandemic, 50% of essential medicines were at zero stock even before Israel’s latest onslaught. The military assault and blockade of Gaza also has appalling psychological consequences, inflicting untold trauma on a population where over 50% are under 18 (11). Meanwhile, in a deliberate act of aggression, Israeli police have launched a wave of arrests targeting Israeli Palestinians who rallied in support of Sheikh Jarrah, Al-Aqsa, and Gaza, thus far totalling 1,550 since May 9 (12).
For these reasons, we cannot, in all conscience, allow the research partnership with Tel Aviv University to continue. It brings our University into disrepute to publicly claim anti-racism while forging a partnership with an institution deeply implicated in racial violence and suffering. It’s also dangerous, for it discredits and hence weakens the claim to anti-racism, turning opposition to racism into empty phrases to use for public relations and marketing, when we should on the contrary be speaking out and taking principled and practical measures against racial oppression. Above all, this partnership makes our University complicit in the brutalisation, blockade, maiming, and killing of Palestinians who have suffered at the hands of the Israeli state for 73 years.
We request that you uphold the University’s own anti-racist ethical principles by ending the strategic partnership with Tel Aviv University.
**Scroll down to the bottom to sign – the letter is still open for signatures. Strictly for University of Manchester staff (academic/teaching, PS, Emeritus) and postgraduate research students. The list of signatories will be updated daily**
Signed by:
1. Dr Nick Thoburn, Reader in Sociology 2. Dr Simin Fadaee, Senior Lecturer in Sociology 3. Dr Meghan Tinsley, Presidential Fellow in Sociology 4. Dr Elisa Pieri, Lecturer in Sociology 5. Professor Peter Wade, Professor of Social Anthropology 6. Dr Chika Watanabe, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology 7. Dr. Seth Schindler, Senior Lecturer, Global Development Institute 8. Dr Pritish Behuria, Lecturer, Global Development Institute 9. Dr Kevin Gillan, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Sociology 10. Dr Ümit Kemal Yildiz, Senior Tutor in Education 11. Dr Peter McMylor, Senior Lecturer in Sociology 12. Dr Petra Nordqvist, Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives 13. Professor Mandy Turner, Professor of Conflict, Peace and Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute 14. Professor Bridget Byrne, Department of Sociology 15. Dr Luke Yates, Lecturer in Sociology and SCI 16. Caitlin Schmid, PhD candidate 17. Caroline Martin, IT Services 18. Stian Soiland-Reyes, Department of Computer Science 19. Dr David Alderson, Senior Lecturer in Modern Literature 20. Dr Jonathan Shapiro, Reader, Computer Science 21. Prof Khalid Nadvi, Professor of International Development, Global Development Institute 22. Judy Thorne, PhD candidate, Social Anthropology 23. Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, Presidential Fellow, Ethnicity and Inequalities 24. Vlad Schüler-Costa, PhD candidate, Social Anthropology 25. Claudia Eggart, PGR, Social Anthropology 26. Marie Kerguelen , PhD student 27. Aleksandra Szymczyk, PhD researcher, Department of Social Anthropology 28. Mariela Sánchez-Belmont Montiel , PhD student, Social Anthropology 29. Morgan Rhys Powell, PhD candidate, School of Social Sciences 30. Dr Amy Zhang, Lecturer in Urban Planning 31. Dr Michelle Obeid , Lecturer in Social Anthropology 32. ElSayed ElSehamy, PGR, Social Anthropology 33. Pedro Silva Rocha Lima, PhD candidate 34. Prof Julian Williams, Manchester Institute of Education, SEED 35. Sara Pozzi, PhD candidate, Social Anthropology 36. Santiago Irribarra, PGR, Social Anthropology 37. Dr Sophina Choudry, Presidential Fellow, Manchester Institute of Education, SEED 38. Dr Tom Gillespie, Hallsworth Research Fellow, Global Development Institute 39. Tim Jacoby, GDI 40. Professor Erica Burman, Manchester Institute of Education 41. Phil Reed, Library 42. Professor Ian Parker, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow, SEED 43. Dr. Luke Bhatia, Lecturer in International Politics 44. Dr Gail Davidge, Research Associate: School of Health Sciences 45. Dr Eyal Clyne, PhD in Israel Studies 46. Franco Galdini, Politics 47. Dr Tanja Bastia, Reader, Global Development Institute 48. Prof Graeme Kirkpatrick, Department of Sociology 49. Dr Deborah Ralls, Leverhulme EC Research Fellow Manchester Institute of Education 50. Artemis Christinaki, PhD student and Teaching Assistant in SEED and HCRI 51. Alexandra Ciocanel, PhD student, Social Anthropology 52. Tom Boyd, PhD student, Social Anthropology 53. Dr Blaise Nkwenti-Azeh, Humanities eLearning Team 54. Dr Andrew Howes, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Institute of Education 55. Rohi Jehan, PhD researcher 56. Dr Piyush Pushkar, PhD candidate, Department of Social Anthropology, and liaison psychiatry doctor, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust 57. Dr Laura Swift, Research Administrator, School of Social Sciences 58. Dr Anna Strowe, Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting Studies 59. Dr Sadia Habib, Research Associate, Centre of Dynamic Ethnicity 60. Dr Nadim Mirshak, Lecturer in Sociology 61. Manuela Latchoumaya, PhD candidate, Department of Sociology 62. Dr Kerry Pimblott, Lecturer in International History 63. Dr Neema Begum, Research Associate in Politics 64. Dr Charlotte Branchu, Lecturer, Department of Sociology 65. Manish Sen, PhD candidate, Department of Sociology 66. Madiha Khan, PhD candidate, Department of Sociology 67. Dr Chris Lyon, Senior Tutor, GDI 68. Dr David Swanson, Lecturer, Manchester Institute of Education 69. Dr Nick Jepson, Research Fellow, Global Development Institute 70. Dr Caroline Parker, Presidential Fellow of Medical Anthropology at the Department of Social Anthropology 71. Tiba Bonyad, PhD Candidate 72. Dr Graham Smith, Senior Lecturer, Law 73. Tania Payá Ramírez, PhD candidate, SEED 74. Prof Sam Hickey , Global Development Institute 75. Chris Millson, Library 76. Professor Chris Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Biostatistic, School of Health Sciences 77. Malte Skov, PhD student, Global Development Unit 78. Therese Kelly, PhD candidate, Social Anthropology 79. Sidra Iftikhar, Research Assistant, School of Environment, Education and Development 80. Dr Susan Hogan, PM FSE 81. Jared Davis, PhD candidate, Department of Social Anthropology 82. Dr Jillian McCarthy, Senior Lecturer AMBS 83. Dr Omar Bouamra, Medical Statistician, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health 84. Dr Lina Khraise, Global Development Institute 85. Dr Jasmin Ramovic, Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies 86. Jose Gustavo Gongora Goloubintseff , PhD candidate, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures 87. Dr Ali Bhagat, Department of Politics 88. Theresa O Bradaigh Bean, Research Associate, Politics/IR 89. Dr Ahmed Bhayat, Research Assistant, Computer Science 90. Dr Molly Geidel, Lecturer, EAC 91. Dr Carl Death, Senior Lecturer, Politics 92. Linzi Stirrup, Project Manager, Physics 93. Prof Kevin Malone, Social and Autoethnographic Composition, Music 94. Dr Roaa Ali, Research Associate, Sociology 95. Dr Jessica Hawkins, Lecturer, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute 96. Siham Al Hadhrami, PhD student, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences 97. Professor Liam Hart, Department of English, American Studies and Creative Writing 98. Dr Scott Midso, Lecturer in Liberal Arts (SALC) 99. 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Jack Kelly, Research Associate, Division of Population Health
8. Giora Eiland, ex-Chair of the National Security Council, writing as a senior research fellow at INSS at TAU, “The Third Lebanon War: Target Lebanon,” INSS Strategic Assessment, 11(2), Nov. 2008: 9‐17, p. 16, https://www.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/FILE1226472866-1.pdf See note 6 for further information about the Dahiya Doctrine.
Earlier this month, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) shared a Haaretz article written by historian Dr. Adam Raz. Raz, who specializes in Marxist theory, among others, penned an article “Israel Claimed Its 1967 Land Conquests Weren’t Planned. Declassified Documents Reveal Otherwise.” Raz based his article on a memorandum that he found in the State’s archives. However, Raz misrepresented his findings. The memo was essentially an exercise of speculative scenarios by the Israeli army intelligence generating hypotheses. It stated that if an opportunity arises for Israel to occupy lands, either for the short term or long term, it should be prepared for it, raising the possibilities as the means to push the battlefield away from Israel. In such a case, an occupation of the following could happen: a) the West Bank; b) the stretch of Sinai till the Suez Canal; c) The Syrian Heights including the town of Damascus; and d) South of Lebanon to the Litany River.
This, according to Raz, is proof that Israel has had a ready-made plan to occupy these places. However, since Israel has never occupied the Syrian Heights and Damascus, then this is questionable. Clearly, such a grand plan would not have stayed on one file had it meant to be implemented.
Behind this “revelation” is the Israeli NGO Akevot. The purpose of Akevot, as stated on the NGOs Registrar website, is the “Collection and accessibility of information concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Conducting and disseminating research on issues related to the belligerent conception and/or manner of control of Israel in the territories occupied by it, and to international humanitarian law, conducting public, educational activities and promoting transitional justice in order to promote an active and conscious civil society in Israel.”
Akevot was created in 2013 and was housed at Adv. Michael Sfard’s office in Tel Aviv. Sfard is a “lawyer and political activist,” specializing in international human rights law and the laws of war, who advances the idea that Israel is an apartheid state. Initially, when Akevot was created, it was called “The Occupation Archives,” it was changed later to Akevot. Akevot receives large sums of money from foreign governments such as Switzerland, according to the Akevot annual financial reports, and it signs agreements with donors. Unfortunately, the agreements are not available.
Akevot is interested in Israeli academia. In 2017, Dr. Noam Hofstadter, an Akevot researcher, formerly a lecturer at the BGU Department of Politics and Government, which the Council for Higher Education once censured for its excessive political activism and lack of core studies, posted on the Academia-IL Network an invitation to discuss “The Desired, the Available and what is Confidential” on the access to documentation in state archives in Israel. Stating that “most users in the state archives are unfamiliar with the law, regulations and case law concerning the possibilities of access to the archival material and are not used to assert their rights in the appropriate cases.” In the meeting, “We will look at the Archives Act and the review regulations and discuss ways to deal with decisions that prevent access to necessary archival materials. Among other things, we will find out: – What does the law say about the right to access materials held in state archives? – How to deal with laconic answers that state that requested archival material is ‘confidential’? – How to appeal against decisions to prevent access to archival material?” Rosa Luxemburg Foundation hosted the meeting.
Akevot organized another meeting for Israeli academics. Again, Hofstadter sent an invitation to the Academia IL Network, which stated: “As part of a series of meetings held by the Akevot Institute on the issue of public access to materials held in government archives,” this was an event with the State Archivist, Dr. Yaakov Lazovik, to “discuss the problems that we discussed in our previous meetings and others: Decisions for blocking and exposing material, the small amount of available material, the lack of catalogs, stopping the review of paper files and any other problem you would like to discuss with the state archivist.”
Akevot is interested in exposing Israel’s nuclear ambition, although Israel prefers to keep quiet about it. Raz is a member of the Wilson Center Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP), a project which gathers information about countries such as Israel’s nuclear proliferation project.
Akevot material serve those who work for the Palestinians. For example, Dr. Valentina Azarova refers to Akevot in her article “Israel’s unlawfully prolonged occupation: consequences under an integrated legal framework.” According to her, “A host of archival material from the first few years of the occupation recently discovered by Akevot – the Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research − demonstrates the politically premeditated character of Israeli government positions and its long-standing attempts to circumvent its obligations under IHL in disregard of the Palestinian people’s rights in international law.”
Azarova is an international law researcher and practitioner with a focus on the Israel/Palestine context. she is an Al-Shabaka Policy member, which draws upon the “vast knowledge and experience of the Palestinian people.” Azarova was a candidate to head the International Human Rights Program at the Law School of the University of Toronto, but donors blocked her appointment. They probably feared that Azarova would turn the program into a bastion of anti-Israel activism, as is the case with many departments and associations where Palestinians and pro-Palestinians are involved.
Akevot even helped the latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which charged Israel with “Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.” HRW reported that in a 1981 meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Settlement Affairs, together with the World Zionist Organization, Minister Ariel Sharon “justified designating additional land in the West Bank as firing zones by citing the ‘spreading of Arab villagers’ in the South Hebron Hills.” The information was based on minutes of the meeting found in the Israeli State Archives by the “Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research.” The references provided in the HRW report were the 1981 Government Secretariat, “Meeting minutes of the Joint Settlement Committee for the Government and the World Zionist Organization,” in Hebrew, and by Haaretz’s Ofer Aderet, titled “40-Year-Old Document Reveals Ariel Sharon’s Plan to Evict 1,000 Palestinians from Their Homes,” which is also based on the same document found by Akevot. However, anyone reading the minutes of the meeting gets an entirely different picture. Nowhere does it state that 1000 or any Palestinians will be evicted from their homes. Instead, the “spreading of Arab villagers” refers to nomads who violently settle on lands they do not own, which is considered illegal.
Another Akevot report has dealt with “Looting of Arab Property in the War of Independence,” a broad study that “reveals the extent of the looting of Palestinian property by the Israelis in the 1948 Nakba.” However, while they blame the Jews, they neglect to explore the looting or damages to Jewish property by the Palestinian Arabs, who get a free pass, from the 1936-9 riots to this day.
Akevot only provides information that presents Israel in a negative light.
Interestingly, in 2018 Akevot received donations from the Swiss Foreign Ministry, NIS 320,231, with an undisclosed agreement signed between the parties.
Switzerland, to recall, has made a secret deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1970s, designed to prevent terrorist attacks on Swiss soil. In 2016 it was revealed in a book by Swiss journalist Marcel Gyr. Switzerland offered support to the PLO. The deal was made following several Palestinian attacks in 1969 and 1970: In February 1969 Palestinian shooters opened fire on an El Al plane at the Zurich airport and killed the pilot. In 1970, a bomb exploded in a Swissair flight to Tel Aviv, killing everyone on board. In September 1970, a Swissair flight to New York was hijacked, and British and American planes, with some 300 passengers held hostages in Jordan. While Switzerland tried to get its hostages released, Swiss Foreign Minister Pierre Graber secretly contacted the PLO without informing government members. The suspects have never faced trial despite the arrest warrants against them. Robert Akeret, the Swiss investigator, handed his report to the federal attorney-general but said that the government in Bern “threw a cloak of silence’ over the case.” The investigations were discontinued permanently in 2000. Many of the documents are still classified under Swiss law. It would be interesting to see whether Akevot would be working to open the Swiss archives.
Akevot, as an institute working for the “Collection and accessibility of information concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” is not working to open the Palestinian archives as well.
Akevot is one of the more hostile among the NGOs which operate against Israel. It collects money as “protectors of Human Rights,” as stated on the last page of its 2019 financial report. It is questionable if opening archives protect human rights; if yes, Akevot could have exposed human rights abuse by the Palestinian authorities, but this, however, is not on the Akevot agenda.
Akevot employs Israeli scholars to give it a cover of legitimacy. However, as IAM has repeatedly demonstrated, many activist academics use their paid position to churn out anti-Israel propaganda disguised as academic research.
June 3, 2021 – Haaretz: Israel Claimed Its 1967 Land Conquests Weren’t Planned. Declassified Documents Reveal Otherwise (By Adam Raz) Note that the views expressed in these articles are these of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the PLO Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy. To access this article, please go to the following website. ==================================== https://forward.com/news/470923/israel-land-conquest-1967-occupation-six-day-war-plans/
Israel Claimed Its 1967 Land Conquests Weren’t Planned. Declassified Documents Reveal Otherwise
Contrary to the claim that Israel [sic] suddenly found itself holding territories after the June ’67 war,
declassified documents reveal detailed directives drawn up by the IDF ahead of the prolonged policing mission it would be tasked with
Adam Raz
Jun. 3, 2021 11:12 PM
For years, most Israeli historiography maintained that the country’s decision makers were taken by surprise by the fruits of the victory that were harvested with lightning speed in June 1967. “The war,” Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said, three days after its conclusion, “developed and rolled into fronts that were not intended and were not preplanned by anyone, including by me.” On the basis of these and other statements, the view took root that the conquest of the territories in the war was the result of a rapid slide down a slippery slope, a new reality that no one wanted.
However, historical documentation stored in the Israel State Archives and the Israel Defense Forces and Defense Establishment Archives in recent years demands that we cast doubt on the credence of that view. The information cited here constitutes just a small part of a wide range of documentation being held in governmental archives relating to the conquest of the territories, and which remain classified. Long-term stubborn persistence was necessary to effect the declassification of some of the documents on which this article is based.
The documents describe detailed preparations that were made in the military in the years before 1967, with the intention of organizing in advance the control of territories that the defense establishment assessed – with high certainty – would be conquered in the next war. A perusal of the information indicates that the takeover and retention of these areas – the West Bank from Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria – were not a by-product of the fighting, but the manifestation of a strategic approach and prior preparations.
The IDF’s meticulous preparations to conquer the territories had already begun early in the 1960s. They were, in part, the product of the short and bitter Israeli experience in the conquest – and subsequent evacuation – of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip in the Sinai War of 1956. It’s against this background that we should understand the document titled “Proposal to Organize the Military Government,” written by the head of operations, Col. Elad Peled, in June 1961, and presented to Chief of Staff Tzvi Tzur. Six years before the Six-Day War, the proposal consisted of detailed, initial planning for the forces that would be needed to rule in what would become the occupied territories.
Two years later, in August 1963, the IDF’s General Staff Branch (afterward the Operations Branch), which was then headed by Yitzhak Rabin, drew up a widely circulated directive regarding the organization of the military government in the territories. This order sheds light, in its words, on Israel’s “expected directions of expansion,” which in the assessment of the security personnel would be the focus of the next war. These territories included the West Bank, Sinai, the Syrian heights and Damascus, and southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
The August 1963 order was prepared following an evaluation two months earlier by the military government unit that controlled the lives of Arabs within Israel. In internal correspondence, it suggested that the future organization of rule in the territories had been executed “hastily” to date and “does not completely meet all the needs.”
The 1963 order. “A convenient political situation might develop which will make it possible to retain occupied territory indefinitely.”
Called the “Organization Order – Military Government in State of Emergency,” it stated that, “The IDF’s thrust to transfer the war to the enemy’s territories will necessarily bring about expansion [into] and conquest of areas beyond the state’s borders.” Based on the Israeli experience in the period following the Sinai campaign, the document stated that it would be necessary to install a military government quickly, because “these conquests might last for a short time only and we will have to evacuate the territories following international pressure or an arrangement.” The part that followed, however, was meant for those who would be tasked with administering the military government in the future occupied area, and it hints at the intention of the order’s authors: “However, a convenient political situation might develop which will make it possible to retain occupied territory indefinitely.”
Indeed, the exploitation of that “convenient situation” necessitated the meticulous organization of the modes of military rule in the occupied territories. Accordingly, the IDF devoted attention to training and preparing the units and administrative bodies that would rule the Palestinian population. They bore broad responsibility: from legal issues attendant on the occupation of territories, to intelligence gathering about the population and the infrastructures in the West Bank.
Whereas no one within the defense establishment disputed the IDF’s superior power and its ability to conquer swiftly the territories from Egypt, Jordan and Syria – before 1967, officers in the military government that existed inside Israel were apprehensive about the preparation of the units that would rule in the territories. Along with the military doctrine that called for the fighting to be moved into enemy territory, a doctrine existed concerning rule of civilians, based on the recognition that following such a takeover, Israel would control an occupied civilian population, whose administration would necessitate the establishment of a military government bureaucracy.
Col. Yehoshua Verbin, in his capacity as commander of the military government inside Israel until 1966, with extensive experience in operating the mechanisms of supervision and control over Israel’s Palestinians, played a central role in preparations for executing the order to establish a military government in the conquered territories. In a moment of frankness, in December 1958, he admitted to a ministerial committee that had convened to discuss the future of the military government within Israel, “I haven’t even decided for myself whether we are doing them more harm or good.” However, as a senior commanding officer, in June 1965, he warned his superior, Haim Bar-Lev, that the command structures of the administration for ruling occupied territories were insufficiently qualified to carry out their future mission. “Very little progress has been made on this subject.” He added, “It appears that the commands of the administration in occupied territories will not be suited to fulfill their tasks.” This was two years before the war.
Involving officers of the military government that had been imposed on Israel’s Palestinian citizens since 1948 in the planning was logical, because the organizational and military framework that operated vis a vis that community constituted the basis for rule in the territories that would be conquered in a war. In 1963, the units of the military government already had 15 years of experience in imposing “order” and supervision over those Palestinian citizens, by means of a strict regime of permits. From a military perspective, it made sense for this body to serve as the model for the structure of rule in the territories that would be conquered in the next war.
However, after the 1967 war, Defense Minister Dayan rejected the proposal of Shin Bet security service chief Yosef Harmelin to replicate the forms of control of the military government in Israel in the territories (a stance that for years was cited to demonstrate Dayan’s supposed enlightened view). However, even though Dayan generally refrained from appointing former military governors from within Israel as governors across the Green Line, the normalization of the “enlightened occupation” bore a character similar to that of the military government that had existed within Israel. Accordingly, the vaguer the temporariness of the occupation became, the cruder and more violent it became.
To illustrate the direct line that connected the military government that existed within Israel (until December 1966) to that operating in the territories after the June 1967 war, it’s sufficient to look at the metamorphosis its official branches underwent. In the months following the war, the unit that had operated the military government in Israel was rebranded as the “department of military administration and territorial security.” Today it’s known by a different, catchier name: “Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.”
Adam Raz is a researcher at the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research.
January 28th, 2019 Historian Adam Raz joins Akevot’s staff
We’re happy to announce the recent addition to our staff of historian Adam Raz. Adam has authored the books Kafr Qassim Massacre: a Political Biography (2018), Herzl (2017, with Yigal Wagner) and The Struggle for the Bomb (2015).
We have worked closely with Adam over the past couple of years, assisting his research on the circumstances leading up to the 1956 Kafr Qassim massacre, and we are delighted to formalize our relationship. Adam is already taking part in Akevot’s research activity and the struggle to remove unlawful barriers to public access to Israel’s government archives.
“אחרי זמן רב אנחנו מבינים שאנחנו לא מפלגת שלטון, שזה לא זמני” • אדם רז, מהקולות המבטיחים בשמאל הישראלי, חוגג כתב עת פוליטי חדש וחולם “לחזור להיות הגמוני” • בראיון עימו, הוא טוען שההגמוניה התרבותית של השמאל היא לא כצעקתה
איתן אורקיבי פורסם ב: 01.08.2019 16:4711
“אנחנו אנדרדוג. לא רק המפלגות שלנו אנדרדוג, גם האידיאות שלנו הן אנדרדוג”, אומר לי אדם רז בשיחה לרגל פרסום הגיליון הראשון של “תלם – כתב עת לשמאל ישראלי”, שהוא עורך במשותף עם טל ויינטראוב. את השער מקשט איור בניחוח הריאליזם הסוציאליסטי הארץ־ישראלי הנושן מאת יונתן פופר. אנחנו יושבים מטרים ספורים מארכיון מפלגת העבודה, בבית מעונו ההיסטורי, ליד שולחן הכתיבה והספרייה של ברל. הממורביליה הנוסטלגית שאופפת את שפתו החזותית של הגיליון ואת החדר היא תפאורה מושלמת לנושא השיחה שלנו. השמאל הישראלי, ותנועת העבודה בפרט, כפריט אספנות בעל ערך מוזיאלי. זו כבר קלישאה. רז מוכן לקבל את זה כנקודת מוצא עובדתית, אבל בשום פנים ואופן לא משלים עם פסק הדין ההיסטורי. בגיל 36, אדם רז הוא היסטוריון פוליטי החובק כבר שלושה ספרים שעוררו לא מעט הדים. “המאבק על הפצצה” (2015), חלק ראשון מתוך טרילוגיה העוסקת בגרעין הישראלי (החלק השני צפוי להתפרסם בחודש הבא), “הרצל: מאבקיו מבית ומחוץ” (2017), שחיבר יחד עם יגאל וגנר, ו”טבח כפר קאסם – ביוגרפיה פוליטית” שיצא לאור בסוף 2018.אבל הביוגרפיה שלו חריגה בנוף האקדמי; רז לא צמח בחממות הגידול המסורתיות של היכלי הידע הישראליים. הוא למד באוניברסיטה הפתוחה ומועסק היום בקרן כצנלסון, ולא באחת המחלקות להיסטוריה. “אם אני כותב על הגרעין בארץ או הרצל או הממשל הצבאי, זה לא בשביל קידום אקדמי”, הוא מתוודה, “אלא כטקסטים פוליטיים שיש להם עניין לשנות את האופן שבו אנחנו מבינים את עצמנו”. “אני רוצה לחזור לשלוט”, הוא יגיד לי עוד מעט, לא לפני שאנסה להבין במה שונה כתב העת החדש של קרן כצנלסון מאינספור הפעמים שבהן התכנס השמאל לשיח של חשבון נפש אחרי תבוסה בבחירות, והתפלש בקריסתו בסימפוזיונים בצוותא או באסופת מאמרים. “אחרי לא מעט זמן”, הוא אומר, “השמאל הציוני מבין שהוא לא בשלטון, ושהוא לא מפלגת שלטון. שזה לא סיפור של קוניונקטורה זמנית או שבחרנו יו”ר לא מוצלח. מבינים שהרעיונות שלנו לא הגמוניים”.זה חדש? מתבקש להזכיר לך שבמקום שאנחנו יושבים בו היום, לפני 42 שנים, בעקבות מהפך 77′, נערך רב־שיח דומה, בהשתתפות בכירי העבודה ואינטלקטואלים, בניסיון להבין את הסיבות למפלה. “ההבדל הוא קודם כל בתנאים השונים. כשהם שאלו זאת, זה היה על בסיס תנועה קיימת שחטפה נוקאאוט אלקטורלי. אבל הם שאלו את זה בנקודה שבה הם היו עדיין הגמוניים. אני שואל את השאלה ממקום שבו תנועת העבודה – לא מפלגת העבודה ומפלגות השמאל הציוני – אלא העבודה, כמחנה, כמעט לא קיים”. אני לא בטוח שהבנתי את ההבחנה.“בדרך כלל מה שזוכה למרכז תשומת הלב זה העניין המפלגתי, אבל המפלגות הן רק חלק מסוים מתנועה. קח את תנועת העבודה ההיסטורית – מפא”י, מפ”ם, אחדות העבודה – אלה מפלגות שייצגו את האנשים בפרלמנט. אבל היו לתנועה מוסדות: ‘דבר’, ‘עם עובד’, אגד, קופת חולים. תנועת העבודה היתה הגמונית כי היה לה זרם עובדים בחינוך; היא חינכה אנשים, היא דאגה לבריאות שלהם, היא דאגה אפילו לקבוצת הכדורגל שלהם”.אבל המוסדות האלה היו מונופוליסטיים. למציאות הזאת, ולכל הפרקטיקות הידועות שנלוו לה, אתה רוצה להחזיר אותנו?“אני רוצה לחזור להיות הגמוני. אני לא בא להצדיק את כל מה שנעשה בעבר. נעשו דברים קשים שצריך לדבר עליהם. היתה גם מדיניות שנישלה והפרידה וחילקה את המשאבים בצורה לא צודקת. אבל ב־40 השנים האחרונות אנחנו חיים תחת הגמוניה של הימין. המאבק שלי כיום הוא מעבר לתיקון עצמי, והשתפכות על כמה עווינו ופשענו”. תמונה אלקטורלית עגומהאתה מתאר את זה כמעט כמשבר ארגוני. אני מכיר הרבה אנשים שיגידו שאובדן ההגמוניה קשור באיזו התרחקות של השמאל הישראלי מערכי ליבה. תראה את ההתגייסות נגד חוק הלאום.”בדיוק להפך. הציונות קמה כתנועה חברתית עם רגל לאומית: לבוא לארץ ולבנות מחדש מרחב לעם היהודי. ‘חברה חדשה’ בלשונו של הרצל, אבל שתהיה מתוקנת ושוויונית, מה שנקרא כיום מדינת רווחה או מדינה סוציאל־דמוקרטית. במשך עשרות השנים האחרונות הדבר הזה מפורק לבנה־לבנה על ידי הימין.”מה שמצחיק הוא שדווקא הימין החדש – לא במובן המפלגתי – שצובר תאוצה לאחרונה, מתרחק מהימין שקרא תיגר על הציונות השמאלית של פעם. אם אתה לוקח כתב עת מוביל כמו ‘השילוח’, אין קשר בינו לבין התנועה הימנית שפעלה כאן במשך עשרות שנים. זה ימין ליברטריאני, רחוק לחלוטין מהערכים המכוננים שעמדו בלב הציונות הימנית עצמה”. מה בעצם אתה אומר לאנשי שמאל, אנחנו היורשים האמיתיים או האותנטיים ביותר של הפרוגרמה הציונית הראשונה, כמו שקרא לזה שמואל נח אייזנשטדט, ואלה שקוראים לנו בוגדים, סוטים בעצמם מהדרך של אבותיהם?“יש צורך בריקליימינג, לנכס מחדש את המושג ‘ציונות שמאלית’. הימין הצליח לפרק חלק אינטגרלי מהתוכן המכונן של ציונות העבודה, להכניס תוכן חדש ולהוקיע את כל מי שלא מחזיק בו כאנטי או פוסט־ציוני”. נשמע כאילו המשימה הדחופה שלך היא לרפא את השמאל מהדיכוי הפסיכולוגי שהופעל עליו. “חלקים בשמאל בהחלט אימצו חלק נכבד מהאידיאולוגיה שפיתחו נגדם. בסקרי זהות רק 8 אחוזים מהציבור בארץ מגדירים את עצמם כבעל זהות שמאלית. קשה לי לדבר בשם 8 אחוזים ולתאר את הפחדים שלהם, אבל כן הייתי אומר שהרטוריקה הימנית האלימה של השנים האחרונות חלחלה לעומק התודעה והעשייה של רבים בשמאל. פתאום אני צריך להוכיח שאני ציוני, שיש לי זיקה לארץ הזאת. המאבק הוא להסיר את הווירוס הזה, ששכנעו חלקים גדולים בציבור הישראלי ששמאל זה אנטי־פטריוטיות ואנטי־לאומיות”. לא הכל זה דה־לגיטימציה מצד הימין, גם למציאות יש חלק בתהליך שאתה מתאר.“ברור שיש איזו סוציולוגיה מסוימת. חלק גדול ממצביעי השמאל בארץ הם אנשים מבוגרים; רוב המצביעים עד גיל 35 תומכים בימין. יש מיליון וחצי ערבים, כמיליון יוצאי בריה”מ לשעבר, כמעט חצי מיליון מעבר לקו הירוק, שם רק 1.8 אחוזים מצביעים לעבודה ומרצ. כשמתחילים לפלח את העוגה, התמונה מבחינת האלקטורט השמאלי היא יחסית עגומה. העובדה שלא מצביעים בפריפריה כמעט למפלגות שמאל אומרת דרשני. אני לא מאשים רק את הימין”.אולי זה נובע מתפיסת עולם, הם מסתכלים על ביטחון, על כלכלה, מה יש למפלגות השמאל למכור? “יש כאן סיטואציה מעורבת. כשאנחנו עושים סקרים, יוצא שהפריפריה מחזיקה בעמדות סוציאל־דמוקרטיות הרבה מאוד פעמים. אני חושב שהאדם הממוצע היום עוסק בהישרדות חברתית, כלכלית, ביטחונית. אנשים שחיים בארץ נדרשים לשרוד, ישראל הפכה לארץ שקשה לחיות בה. פערים חברתיים מרקיעי שחקים, חיים תחת חרדה קיומית כל הזמן”.זה מנוגד לכל מדדי האושר למיניהם וגם לנתונים האובייקטיביים. אפשר להשוות את המציאות העכשווית לעידן ההגמוניה של מפא”י? “ההבדל הוא שבשנות ה־50, למשל, כשהיה צנע ממשי, המדינה והחברה באו והתמודדו איתו. היו ערכים מכוננים בתוך ההתמודדות הזאת – סולידריות, שיתוף פעולה”. אז מה שנעלם מהנוף זו הסולידריות, שהופכת את ההתמודדות לנסבלת?“לא רק הסולידריות. מה בעצם מפעיל בן אדם היום? מניע אישי או שהוא ציות לחוק. פעם היה עוד רובד; אדם פעל מתוך וולונטריות מסוימת, מתפיסה שאני חלק ממשהו גדול. הדבר הזה כמעט הוכחד היום”. “לא ציוני? לא שותף”אחרי המפולת ב־77′, המאמץ היה בידול העבודה מהימין ומהשלטון, וכחלק מכך הוקע האגף החדש בפוליטיקה הישראלית: המרכז, מפלגת ד”ש שהצטרפה לממשלת בגין. בשיח הנוכחי מתווסף למפת היריבים אויב חדש: השמאל הלא־ציוני, נקרא לו. “כיוון שיש לי זהות ותפיסת עולם של שמאל ציוני, אז יש כאלה שנכנסים ויש כאלה שלא שותפים. השמאל שהוא לא ציוני, שהוא חושב שאין לעם היהודי זכות על הארץ, הוא לא שותף שלי. הוא לא אויב – אבל הוא לא שותף. הימין פוגע בצורה קשה באידיאה הדמוקרטית בישראל, וכך גם השמאל האנטי־ציוני או זה של פוליטיקת הזהויות, השולל את זכותה של מדינת ישראל כמדינה יהודית ודמוקרטית. עם שני הגורמים האלה אני צריך להתמודד ולנהל מאבק אידיאולוגי”.יוצא מזה שיש לך פרטנר מפתיע: הימין הליברלי.“הימין הליברלי היום הוא שותף. דן מרידור, ציפי לבני, הם בהחלט שותפים לחלק מהדרך”. אז השמאל הלא־ציוני “לא פרטנר”, אבל מצד שני יש בכתב העת קריאה לשותפות יהודית־ערבית. “זה מורכב. תרופת פלאים אין. מוסטפא כבהא קורא בגיליון לשתף פעולה עכשיו, ללכת יחד חלק מהדרך. את הוויכוח אפשר לדחות לאחר כך”.ואז יש סיכוי שהערבים יסכימו למדינה ציונית?“כן, אם אנחנו נפתור את הסכסוך ויהיו גבולות חד־משמעיים, פלשתין ומדינת ישראל, אני חושב שהיכולת שלי לבוא לציבור הערבי ולומר לו ‘עכשיו נדרש מכם יותר’, תהיה גדולה יותר. כרגע זה פחות אפשרי. כמו שיהודי בארה”ב יכול להחזיק בזהות מורכבת, גם ערבי פלשתיני אזרח ישראל יכול להחזיק בזהות מורכבת”. בכותרת המשנה שלכם, אתם שואלים איך השמאל יכול לבנות מחדש את הכוח שלו. “היום אחרי הרבה שנים של פוסט־מודרניזם, כוח נתפס כדבר מתועב, משחית. חלילה. אני רוצה להיות הגמוני, אליטה, אני רוצה כוח בידיים שלי. תחשוב כמה שנים אנחנו לא נמצאים בתוך המוסדות והמשרדים שבהם מתקבלות ההחלטות הרציניות”. דווקא נראה שמפלגת העבודה לא מפספסת שום הזדמנות להחזיר קצת כוח לידיים. “הרצוג היה צריך להיכנס בזמנו לממשלת אחדות. אני חושב שגם גבאי היה צריך להיכנס. אם הדיווחים נכונים, אם נתניהו היה מבטל את פסקת ההתגברות ואת חוק החסינות, ונותן למפלגת העבודה כמה תיקים, ובהם שר האוצר, היה צריך להיכנס. הציבור השמאלי משווע לראות את הרעיונות שלו מתממשים”.אבל לא אצל נתניהו.“חלקים גדולים בשמאל מנוכרים למדינה, כי הם מזהים את המדינה עם שלטון נתניהו. חלק גדול מהעשייה של השמאל נדד לחברה האזרחית. יש אינספור ארגוני חברה אזרחית שעושים דברים נפלאים, אבל הם לא מאורגנים יחדיו. השמאל צריך לבנות מחדש מוסדות כדי שהדברים ייעשו תחת גג אחד”. בימין חושבים שכל המוסדות אצל השמאל.“אפשר להתווכח האם אלה מוסדות שהשמאל חזק בהם. אני לא חושב ככה. הרעיון הוא לבנות מוסדות שהאוריינטציה שלהם היא בניית תנועה. התנועה הקיבוצית בנתה חברה. ההסתדרות כמוסד בנתה חברה. אני רוצה מוסדות שיבנו דברים, שתהיה להם תפיסת עולם שלי, אני לא מתבייש. מי שעשה את זה בצורה הכי טובה בשנים האחרונות זה היה הימין. גוש אמונים זה פרויקט שאני מעריך בהקשר הזה, למרות שאני חלוק עליו”. אז אתה רוצה גוש אמונים של השמאל?“כן. בהחלט. אני רוצה נוער מגויס, מוסדות מגויסים. אני מסתכל בביקורת, אבל בקנאה, על האופן שבו צעירים פועלים בתוך התקשורת, בית המשפט, המפלגות, בצורה מאורגנת. יש להם להט ליצירה ומה שמניע אותם הם ערכים אמיתיים. אני חלוק לחלוטין על הערכים עצמם, אבל הם עוסקים באידיאה ובמעשה. והאנשים הללו, והמוסדות שהם הקימו, מייצרים סדר יום לחברה הישראלית. השמאל כבר שנים לא מייצר סדר יום”. מי יכשיר את האליטה שלי?מי שיקרא אותך יגיד, אני לא מבין, השמאל לא מייצר סדר יום? היית בדוקאביב לאחרונה, ראית ידיעון של מדעי הרוח? “בגילמן לומדים מאות בודדות של סטודנטים ודוקאביב, אני מכיר שלושה אנשים חוץ ממך שראו שם סרט. יש איזו דיספרופורציה, עיוות מסוים, אני בספק כמה אנשים ראו את הסרטים האחרונים שקיבלו חשיפה במוסף גלריה או קיבלו פרס ממפעל הפיס והרעישו עולמות. זה לא מה שמייצר סדר יום לחברה הישראלית”. מה כן מייצר סדר יום?“עיתון, מכוני מחקר, מכינות, לא של מפלגה, של תנועה. של שמאל ישראלי. בהחלט. עיתון הוא חלק מזה”. מה, “ישראל היום” של השמאל? “‘ישראל היום’ מראה לך את הכוח העצום שיש ביכולת לקחת אידיאה, לקחת רעיון, ולשים אותו לאנשים בראש. אני מסתכל על הדבר הזה בקנאה. אני מסתכל על המחויבות שיש לנוער הגבעות, לאידיאולוגים, לגוש אמונים, איך הם פועלים בנחישות בתוך מרכז הליכוד למשל, כתב העת “השילוח”, מרכז שלם. עם כל הביקורת שלי על השמרנות והניאו־ליברליות, מרכז שלם זה מוסד להכשרת אליטה. אליטה משרתת. איפה המוסדות שלי?”זאת אומרת, לא רק המדינה נסוגה מאחריותה ומהסולידריות, אלא גם השמאל?“כן, וקמו כמו פטריות אחרי הגשם ארגוני חברה אזרחית, כמוני, שפועלים בתוך מציאות מופרטת, שבה כל אחד מטפל בדבר קטן. אין סינכרוניזציה בין הדברים. כדי לבנות מחנה, צריך תיאום. זו לא איזו המצאה של כתב העת. תנועת העבודה היא ייחודית בהיסטוריית התנועות החברתיות; היחידה בעולם שקמה בלי מרות וכוח. עד 48′ הכוח היה בידי הבריטים. הכל קם וולונטרית: ההסתדרות; קופת חולים, בתי ספר. ההתגייסות הזו יצרה פרויקט ייחודי. הקואופרטיב הארץ־ישראלי מיוחד, וזה יצר חברה שעשתה הרבה דברים טובים והרבה עוולות. אבל את הדברים הטובים אני רוצה ללמוד ולקחת”. ============================================
The Israeli publishing house (Carmel) released a new book by the Israeli historian Adam Raz entitled “Looting of Arab Property in the War of Independence,” which is a broad study that reveals the extent of the looting of Palestinian property by the Israelis in the 1948 Nakba, and it confesses to the Prime Minister of the first Israeli government David Ben-Gurion Where he said: “most of the Jews are thieves,” according to the writer. Historian Adam Raz’s study is based on documents from dozens of archives and Hebrew newspapers. To check the news, click here.=====================================https://fmep.org/event/a-founding-generation-of-looters-new-research-on-israeli-theft-of-palestinian-property-in-1948/ A Founding Generation of Looters: New Research on Israeli Theft of Palestinian Property in 1948
OCT 202020 Tuesday 11:00AM – 12:00PM EST
A Founding Generation of Looters: New Research on Israeli Theft of Palestinian Property in 1948
Recorded Tuesday, October 20th
11am – 12pm EDT
featuring
Adam Raz (Akevot: Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research)
and
Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center Washington DC)
with
Sarah Anne Minkin (FMEP)
In a newly-published book (discussed in recent blockbuster Haaretz article), Israeli historian Adam Raz shatters the “conspiracy of silence” that surrounds the widespread Jewish looting of Palestinian property that took place in 1948. Drawing from materials he found in more than 30 archives, Raz documents how in the period around the 1948 War, Jewish civilians – who after the war became the founding generation of the state of Israel – pillaged private Palestinian property throughout the land. Raz also documents how, as the looting took place in full public view, Jewish leaders – including David Ben Gurion – knew what was happening and, even as some expressed disapproval, did nothing to stop it.
Raz’s research sheds light not only on this phenomenon of widespread theft by Israel’s founding generation, but also on the political impact this looting had on Israel’s relations with Palestinians and the fate of Palestinian refugees. As Raz observes, having robbed their neighbors, Israeli civilians became “accomplices to the political situation,” with a “vested interest” in preventing their former neighbors from ever returning.
To discuss this research and what it means for both Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the process of using archival materials and retelling history to achieve a more just future, we invite you to an FMEP webinar featuring: Adam Raz, researcher at Akevot: Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research and author of Looting of Arab Property in the War of Independence (Carmel Publishing House, in association with the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research; in Hebrew), and Yousef Munayyer, non-resident fellow at Arab Center Washington DC; in conversation with Sarah Anne Minkin, FMEP’s Director of Programs and Partnerships.
Participants
Adam Raz is an Israeli historian whose field of research is political history of the twentieth century (especially the history of nuclear weapons, and Israel-Arab relations) and Marxist thought. His newest book, Looting of Arab Property in the War of Independence, was co-published by Akevot and Carmel Publishing House in September 2020 and addresses the looting of Palestinian properties in 1948. In 2015 he published his first book about Israel’s nuclear history, The Struggle for the Bomb, with an emphasis on the domestic debate inside Israel regarding Israel’s nuclear program. The book is part of trilogy and part two, The Strong Hand Regime, was published in 2019. Adam also wrote Herzl (2017) with Yigal Wagner on the history of the Zionist movement in the context of international relations. He also wrote Kafr Qassem Massacre: A Political Biography (2018) which is the first academic book on the subject. He has published peer review articles in academic journals and writes regularly in Ha’aretz.
Yousef Munayyer, PhD, is a non-resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC (ACW). He writes on the Arab-Israeli conflict and is a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Some of his published articles can be found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, Journal of Palestine Studies, Middle East Policy, and others. Dr. Munayyer holds a PhD in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Maryland.
Moderator
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that American Jews approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She is an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies==================================== https://prc.org.uk/en/news/2927/new-israeli-book-jewish-soldiers-and-civilians-looted-arab-neighbors-property-en-masse-in-48
New Israeli Book: Jewish Soldiers and Civilians Looted Arab Neighbors’ Property en Masse in ’48
Category : Refugees News / Right of Return Published Date: 04 Oct 2020
A first-ever comprehensive study by historian Adam Raz reveals the extent to which Jews looted Arab property during the 1948 Nakba (mass-displacement of Palestinians from their homes and lands), and explains why Ben-Gurion stated: ‘Most of the Jews are thieves’, reported Haaretz daily in a recent article published on October 3.
“We turned a mahogany closet into a chicken coop and we swept up the garbage with a silver tray. There was chinaware with gold embellishments, and we would spread a sheet on the table and place chinaware and gold on it, and when the food was finished, everything was taken together to the basement”, a witness was quoted as stating in the book.
“In another place, we found a storeroom with 10,000 boxes of caviar, that’s what they counted. After that, the guys couldn’t touch caviar again their whole life. There was a feeling on one hand of shame at the behavior, and on the other hand a feeling of lawlessness”, added the witness.
“We spent 12 days there, when Jerusalem was groaning under horrible shortages, and we were putting on weight. We ate chicken and delicacies you wouldn’t believe. In [the headquarters at] Notre Dame, some people shaved with champagne”, the testimony proceeds.
The book provides instances on the misappropriation of Palestinian homes, shops, factories, farmlands, clothes, books, and other property ====================================
Archived documents uncovered by Akevot filed to High Court in petition on settlement jurisdiction allocation
June 22nd, 2017Akevot
The head of the council of Palestinian village of Jalud and human rights group Yesh Din filed a petition the High Court of Justice, demanding the court instruct proceedings for the demarcation of settlement jurisdictions be made public and transparent and include a public consultation process prior to jurisdiction declarations. The petition also seeks to revoke the jurisdiction allocated for the new settlement of Amichai. Petitioners submitted to Court two archived documents uncovered by Akevot.
The petitioners submitted to Court a document recently uncovered by Akevot Institute, which reveals that in 1981, a decision was made to designate all public land in the West Bank for Israeli local and regional councils. The document, written in February 1981 and entitled, “Inclusion of state land, Jewish-owned land and acquired land in the jurisdiction of regional councils”, says the jurisdictions of Israeli councils will include all such lands in the area of the councils, as well as land in the possession of the supervisor of abandoned and governmental property, including absentee property
The petitioners have also submitted a 1980 Legal Opןnion by then-Attorney General Yizhak Zamir. The Opinion deals with the legality of using expropriated private Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. This document was recently submitted to the High Court by petitioners against the Regulation Law.
Akevot has provided the documents to the petitioners as part of its programme of assisting human rights defenders with archival records of relevance to their work.
In their petition, Jalud council head and Yesh Din emphasize that designating public land to the jurisdiction of settlements or regional councils has a tremendous impact on the lives of Palestinian residents, and violates their fundamental human rights. Palestinians are barred from entering Israeli settlements and jurisdictions and from using many roads inside them. Palestinian land is often trapped in enclaves that can only be accessed with special permits and prior coordination, and such access often involves altercations with settlement residents and security personnel. The petition argues that decisions regarding the demarcation of Israeli councils’ jurisdictional boundaries are made behind closed doors without informing the public, which precludes any advance knowledge of planned expansions or new jurisdictions for existing or new settlements, despite the fact that such jurisdictions often include privately owned Palestinian land that has been seized for military needs or expropriated for public use.
High Court petition for transparency in the demarcation of jurisdictional boundaries in the West Bank
22.6.2017
HCJ 5073/17 – Head of the council of Jalud et al. V the IDF Commander in the West Bank et al. Petition submission date: 22.6.2017
The head of the council of the Palestinian village of Jalud, and Yesh Din have filed a petition against the IDF Commander in the West Bank and the Binyamin Regional Council, demanding the court instruct proceedings for the demarcation of settlement jurisdictions be made public and transparent. The petition also calls for the revocation of the jurisdiction allocated for the settlement of Amichai, which includes enclaves of privately owned Palestinian land.
The petition argues that decisions regarding the demarcation of Israeli councils’ jurisdictional boundaries are made behind closed doors without informing the public, which precludes any advance knowledge of planned expansions or new jurisdictions for existing or new settlements. Such jurisdictions often include privately owned Palestinian land that has been seized for military needs or expropriated for public use. The petition also argues that under the procedure for establishing new Israeli settlements, privately owned Palestinian land that has been seized for either military or public purposes, in violation of property rights, is considered public land and that this practice is unlawful and contradicts previous High Court rulings.
Because of the military commander’s practices, Palestinians who are harmed by changes made to jurisdictions, which often cover a much larger area than the settlement to which they belong, are unaware of any planned changes and therefore unable to present their positions to the authorities prior to the final decision. In contrast, when an area under the jurisdiction of one Israeli council is transferred to the jurisdiction of another, there is a public consultation process.
The petition encloses a document uncovered by the Akevot Institute, which reveals that in 1981, a decision was made to designate all public land in the West Bank for Israeli local and regional councils. The document, entitled, “Inclusion of state land, Jewish-owned land and acquired land in the jurisdiction of regional councils”, says the jurisdictions of Israeli councils will include all state land, Jewish-owned land and acquired land in the area of the councils, as well as land in the possession of the supervisor of abandoned and governmental property, including absentee property.
Designating public land to the jurisdiction of settlements or regional councils has a tremendous impact on the lives of Palestinian residents, and violates their fundamental human rights. Palestinians are barred from entering Israeli settlements and jurisdictions and from using many roads inside them. Palestinian land is often trapped in enclaves that can only be accessed with special permits and prior coordination, and such access often involves altercations with settlement residents and security personnel.
In response to the petition, in January 2018 the State announced its intention to change the way in which jurisdictional boundaries are demarcated in the West Bank, so that Palestinians with “personal interests” who may be harmed by the demarcation can make their position known before the decision is made, or request retroactive changes to the boundaries. However, regarding the present petition, the State Attorney’s Office argued that it should be dismissed as the jurisdictional area of the new settlement of Amichai includes only state land, and as the chosen location will enable establishment of the settlement “at a low cost”. Although the State Attorney’s Office admitted that the demarcation of the settlement’s jurisdiction has created enclaves of privately-owned Palestinian land, it argued that the owners will be able to access their land with prior coordination, based on the security situation at the given time, and therefore their rights will not be harmed.
Following the State’s response, in a hearing concerning the petition the judges recommended that it be dismissed, leaving open the possibility of resubmitting the petition should the State not fulfill its obligations. Consequently, the petition was dismissed.
Status: Dismissed, on recommendation of the Court ==============================================================
EXCLUSIVE Documents Reveal How Israel Made Amnesty’s Local Branch a Front for the Foreign Ministry in the 70sThe Israeli government funded the establishment and activity of the Amnesty International branch in Israel in the 1960s and 70s. Official documents reveal that the chairman of the organization was in constant contact with the Foreign Ministry and received instructions from it. Uri Blau Mar 18, 2017 8:53 PM Police Minister Shlomo Hillel with David Elazar, Shimon Peres, Michael Hazani and Rehavam Ze’evi in 1972. Fritz Cohen / GPOAt the beginning of April 1970 Police Minister Shlomo Hillel stepped up to the Knesset podium. He updated the legislators on contacts between the government of Israel and Amnesty International concerning detainees imprisoned in Israel and torture. He concluded: “We can no long trust the goodwill and fairness of the Amnesty organization.”What the minister reported to the Knesset was that for a number of years, Israel had tried to influence the Amnesty’s activity from within. Documents collected by the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research and revealed here for the first time show that some of the people who headed Amnesty Israel from the end of the 1960s to the mid-1970s reported on their activity directly and in real time to the Foreign Ministry, consulted with its officials and requested instructions on how to proceed. Moreover, the Amnesty office was at the time supported by steady funding transferred to it through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: hundreds of Israeli pounds for flights abroad, per diem allowances, registration fees and dues payments to the organization’s headquarters.The documents show that the most substantive connection was between the Foreign Ministry and Prof. Yoram Dinstein, who headed the branch between 1974 and 1976. Dinstein, an internationally renowned expert on the laws of war who later served as president of Tel Aviv University, had previously been a Foreign Ministry official and served as the Israeli consul in New York.During his time as chairman of Amnesty Israel, years after he left the ministry, he regularly reported to his former colleagues on his activities and contacts with the international organization.Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961 by British lawyer Peter Benenson, who, incensed over the arrests of Portuguese students, started enlisting people to petition their governments to release those who have since then been defined as “prisoners of conscience.”skip – How Amnesty International fronted for Israel’s Foreign Ministry Three years later, the Israeli branch of Amnesty began operations. They were volunteers working on behalf of prisoners worldwide. This activity, however, which from the outset was fairly limited, was damaged in the wake of a report Amnesty International published in 1969 about the situation of the Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. This dispute is the background to Minister Hillel’s report to the Knesset. “The Amnesty branch in Israel consists of one person (more precisely, one woman), who is Ms. Bella Ravdin who lives in Haifa. We are maintaining contact with her but it is not possible to trust her on every issue,” wrote Nathan Bar-Yaacov, the director of the Foreign Ministry department that dealt with international organizations and United Nations bodies, to head of the ministry director general’s office Hannan Bar-On in December 1971. A 1975 article about Ravdin in Haaretz described her as a serial writer of letters to the editor at various newspapers and an activist for various issues, from legalization of prostitution to benefits for students. According to the article, she invested the money she received as German reparations for her mother’s death in a concentration camp into developing the Amnesty branch. The report says that her criticism of the organization’s attitude towards Israel ultimately led her to cease acting on its behalf.According to Foreign Ministry documents, Ravdin’s activity was subsidized by the state, which paid her Amnesty International membership dues and funded her trip to the organization’s international conference in 1969. At the time, Ravdin was briefed to bring up the problem of the Jews in Arab countries at the conference and on how to react if the subject of “the Arab detainees in the territories” was raised. Bar-Yaacov wrote: “It is desirable from our perspective that the connection between her and the organization continue in the future as well and therefore it is desirable to make it possible for her to pay the membership fee. Last year, too, we approved this sum for the same purpose.” He signed his letter with a recommendation: “At this juncture it is perhaps desirable to think about establishing a branch of Amnesty in Israel consisting of people who are of somewhat higher status and have executive ability.”Bar-Yaacov was not the only one at the Foreign Ministry who thought so. In a 1971 letter Mordecai Kidron, the foreign minister’s advisor on the UN, wrote to his colleague Shmuel Dibon, the minister’s advisor in charge of public diplomacy: “Thus far, as you know, we haven’t found the suitable instruments for building a positive image abroad concerning human rights in Israel and in the occupied territories, and on this particular issue it is not possible to make do with government instruments. The establishment of a non-governmental body … which would be actively connected to organizations and personages abroad would be very useful to us.”In 1971 and 1972, Dinstein tried to establish a human rights institute at Tel Aviv University that would be funded by the Foreign Ministry. He discussed this idea with ministry officials but it was rejected, in part because of the size of the budget Dinstein requested – about 100,000 Israeli pounds (about $23,000 at the time, which, corrected for inflation, is in the neighborhood of $120,000 today). In July of 1972 the Israeli branch of Amnesty was reorganized and four lawyers were appointed to lead it in coordination with the organization’s headquarters. The Foreign Ministry documents have little to say about this period and there are hardly any reports in the various archives about what happened in the organization during the subsequent year and a half.skip – How Amnesty International fronted for Israel’s Foreign Ministry Things changed at the beginning of 1974, when Dinstein himself was chosen to head the local Amnesty branch. One of the documents shows that the meeting at which he was selected for the position was also attended by the Foreign Ministry officer who Dinstein would be in contact with during his time in office: the deputy director of the international organizations division, Sinai Rome.Dinstein immediately shifted the organization’s activity into higher gear: For the first time, Amnesty was officially registered as an association and adopted its articles of association. On May 22, 1974, Dinstein updated Rome on his activities – for the most part technical – since he had taken up the position. He requested 2,500 Israeli pounds (just under $600 in 1974; about $3,135 today) for routine expenses and attached an internal Amnesty document that detailed his income from branches abroad. Less than a month later, Rome wrote to “Dear Yoram” that his request had been granted and that 2,000 Israeli pounds (about $476 then; $2,490 today) had been transferred to him.At least judging from the Foreign Ministry correspondence, Dinstein viewed his work at Amnesty through the narrow prism of making the case for Israel’s position. Thus, for example, he conveyed through the Foreign Ministry an article he wrote in response to an article critical of Israel published by human rights lawyer Felicia Langer in June of 1974. He began by noting that he was writing as “chairman of the Israel national section of amnesty” and did not mention his connection to the Foreign Ministry. Shortly thereafter Dinstein reported to Rome that he had received a letter from an Arab women’s organization in the United States requesting any information he had about Palestinian detainees and prisoners. Including their letter, in which they also requested information about the Israeli branch of Amnesty, Dinstein wrote that he was leaning toward not replying but wished to consult with Rome on the matter. Rome replied: “It seems to us that there is scope for answering the letter and writing that ‘there are no Palestinian prisoners of conscience in the prisons but rather terrorists and others who have been tried for security offenses.’” He asked that all the correspondence be forwarded to Israeli consulates in New York and Los Angeles.In February 1975 Dinstein notified Rome about a letter he received from the French Amnesty branch concerning Police Minister Hillel’s remarks on the dispute with Amnesty. Dinstein advised the Foreign Ministry to “send the questioner public diplomacy material in French.” Rome replied: “As you have suggested, I am hereby forwarding Mr. Sinai’s[SIC] letter to Mr. Shlomo Drori, of our embassy in France, for his attention, together with the summary of our relations with Amnesty International.”In May of that year, Dinstein asked Rome for funding for a trip to an Amnesty conference in Switzerland. Rome was glad to tell him that he would receive 6,000 Israeli pounds ($1,000 at the time; about $4,650 today) for a plane ticket and four days per diem allowance. “Please inform me as to which travel agency we should send the money,” he answered. After the conference, which was held that September, Dinstein sent a report with a survey of the organization’s activities and noted that Dr. Nitza Shapiro-Libai also attended the conference as an observer on behalf of the branch. Dinstein wrote that Amnesty’s political leanings were generally left-ish but it could not be said that it was an extreme leftist organization. He explained that there had been a discussion about relocating the organization’s headquarters to Geneva and that the decision had not yet been taken. “The atmosphere that prevails in all of the international organizations centered in Geneva will, in my opinion, be a stumbling block for Israel,” he wrote.skip – How Amnesty International fronted for Israel’s Foreign Ministry In an accompanying letter to Rome, he wrote: “I am not forwarding this report to other people at the ministry, and therefore it is up to you to decide whether to send it on to anyone for their perusal (for example, to the embassy in London).” Rome thanked him for sending the report and wrote that they were accepting his recommendation “to distribute our replies to Amnesty concerning the report on the prisoners of war in Syria and in Israel to our diplomatic missions aboard.”Dinstein made it clear in a conversation last week that he does not think highly Amnesty. “I resigned after a few years when I became aware that this is a populist organization very far from everything I believe in, which is research and knowledge,” he said. According to him, “Today Amnesty International is dealing with an area about which it understands nothing – international humanitarian law.” Throughout the conversation, he denied that he had been in constant contact with the Foreign Ministry and had received funding from it during the period he ran the branch. When asked where the funding for the organization came from in those years, he said he had raised the money from his own sources. “There was no need for much of a budget. We employed people part-time then.”How was the Foreign Ministry involved? “There was no involvement. The Foreign Ministry had no interest.”Who is Sinai Rome? “He was head of a department at the Foreign Ministry. I knew him but I had no contact with him about this.””I don’t know anything,” replied Dinstein when told of evidence that shows otherwise. He added, “I don’t remember,” and ended the conversation.During those years, Avi Primor was a diplomat in the Foreign Ministry. He too is mentioned in a few items of correspondence from 1977, which were addressed to him as head of the international organizations division. He has known Dinstein personally ever since they were both 17-year-old university students before their conscription into the Israel Defense Forces.“He is a patriot in the sense of ‘whatever my country does is right,’ an absolute patriot,” said Primor of Dinstein. “I freed myself from that when I reached a certain age. He – less so.”Primor related that Dinstein joined the Foreign Ministry at the same time he did, but did not stay there for very long because he preferred the academic world.As for the Foreign Ministry’s conduct with respect to international organizations during those years, Primor explained: “Our aim was to influence. Not to fight them, not to vilify and not to forbid them to enter they do today. The aim was to debate, to persuade. I didn’t engage in that but I assume that persuading and influencing in every possible way also includes money.”It is difficult to imagine a situation today in which senior officials of a human rights organizations would maintain a relationship with the establishment and receive funding from it.“You can’t compare. It’s a different atmosphere and different concepts. Organizations like Breaking the Silence or B’Tselem – there wasn’t anything of the sort back then,” said Primor. “There were a few people, individuals, and they were perceived as naïve … In the first years of the occupation it was seen as something temporary. No one thought it would go on for 50 years. That was something unimaginable.”During that period, Dr. Edward Kaufman, who later became the chairman of the board of B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, worked alongside Dinstein at Amnesty. “It was a club of jurists and lawyers,” he told Haaretz this week. Kaufman relates that he had a conflict with Dinstein over the latter’s activity to benefit the state of Israel.” He saw himself as the State of Israel’s watchdog,” he recalls.However, Kaufman too is mentioned in Foreign Ministry documents as someone who was in contact with ministry staff, though he is depicted as less fervid than Dinstein. For instance, Rome thanks Kaufman for a report the he sent about an Amnesty conference on the subject of torture held toward the end of 1973, following the Yom Kippur War. “The main objective toward which the delegation worked was the release of the Israeli captives in Syria,” Kaufman wrote. He added that the cooperation with officials at the Israeli Embassy was productive and included a letter he had sent after the conference to the secretary of Amnesty International.Kaufman confirmed this and gave it context: He described an completely different atmosphere among human rights groups and the Israeli left operating under a different government than the one that prevails today, and notably, a different personal feeling toward the state. “There wasn’t a sense that there were grave problems with human rights. We are talking about the period of ‘enlightened occupation’ and at that time I felt quite good with respect to the situation of human rights in Israel and in the territories.” The Foreign Ministry, he said, wanted him to explain what was happening at Amnesty. “I don’t remember that I was given any briefing to do anything or to fight against anything,” he said.Dinstein resigned from his position at Amnesty against the backdrop of conflict that developed with Kaufman. Shapiro-Libai, who replaced Dinstein and served in the position until the mid-1980s, said that in her day, the branch didn’t receive any funding from the Foreign Ministry – Amnesty International paid its operating budget. “I think there was an interest that Israel should be a part of Amnesty because it is an important human rights organization,” she said. “I didn’t know that [Dinstein] reported in writing to the Foreign Ministry. I don’t assume that anyone knew but I do assume that he didn’t see any conflict of interest in that.”Lior Yavne, the executive director of Akevot, who found the documents, told Haaretz: “The manipulative exploitation of the civil society organizations in the years 1969 to 1976 in order to advance Israeli public diplomacy and refute findings and claims concerning violations of human rights in the territories is reminiscent of the activities of organizations and groups in recent years that supposedly originate in the civil society but have murky sources of funding and operate to damage the legitimacy of human rights organizations critical of the policy of the Israeli government. Now as then, this attack undermines the very existence of a free civil society.”The Israeli branch of Amnesty now operating in Tel Aviv was registered as a nonprofit organization in 1988 and is a late incarnation of the association established some three decades earlier. In recent years nearly its entire budget comes from Amnesty International. The organization does not receive any money from the Israeli government and last year there was even an attempt in the Knesset to deny its donors tax benefits.In a statement, Amnesty’s International Secretariat responded that the documents “present serious allegations suggesting that the leadership of our former Israel section acted in a manner that was blatantly at odds with Amnesty International’s principles.” Touting “impartiality and independence” as the organization’s core tenets, the statement points to a policy of not accepting government funds for any of its research or campaigns. “Our records show this principle was first formally agreed by the movement in 1975. No government should feel it is beyond our scrutiny,” said the statement.The statement says that “Amnesty International maintained rules at the time prohibiting sections from working on cases of human rights violations in their own country. Our work on Israel was therefore determined by the International Secretariat, not the former Israel section. Throughout this time Amnesty International highlighted human rights abuses being committed by the Israeli authorities, including calling for the suspension of Israel’s use of administrative detention.”During the period in question we were a movement that was still in its infancy. As we grew to become the truly global movement we are today, we have continued to develop robust governance policies and procedures to ensure stringent impartiality and accountability.”Amnesty Israel said that the documents it received demonstrates that the government of Israel has never refrained from making use of any means to evade accountability for the violation of human rights it conducts, in the 1970s as well as today. The branch said that the documents also show that the previous branch of Amnesty, registered as an Ottoman association in 1974, is not the branch that operates today, which was registered as an Israeli nonprofit in 1988, and added that the current Israeli branch is an active and integral part of the worldwide Amnesty movement.
על פי מסמכים רשמיים, ישראל מימנה את הארגון בעשור השלישי להקמתה. בתמורה, יו”ר הארגון דיווח בקביעות למשרד החוץ וקיבל הנחיות כיצד להדוף טענות על עינויים ויחס רע לפלסטינים 18.03.2017
אורי בלאו
באפריל 1970 עלה לדוכן הנואמים בכנסת שר המשטרה אז שלמה הלל. הוא עדכן את הכנסת במגעים שניהלה הממשלה עם ארגון “אמנסטי אינטרנשיונל” שהתלונן על היחס לפלסטינים הכלואים בישראל ועל עינויים. השורה התחתונה היתה: “אין אנחנו יכולים עוד לתת אמון ברצונו הטוב ובהגינותו של ארגון אמנסטי”.
השר לא דיווח לח”כים על המאמץ שהשקיעה הממשלה כדי להשפיע על אמנסטי מבפנים. ממסמכים שאסף מכון “עקבות” לחקר הסכסוך הישראלי־הפלסטיני, שנחשפים כאן לראשונה, מתברר כי כמה מהאנשים שעמדו בראש אמנסטי ישראל מסוף שנות ה–60 ועד אמצע שנות ה–70 דיווחו באופן שוטף למשרד החוץ, התייעצו עם אנשיו וקיבלו מהם הנחיות. יתרה מכך — סניף אמנסטי הישראלי התקיים אז בזכות מימון ממשלתי שהועבר דרך משרד החוץ: טיסות לחו”ל, הוצאות, דמי רישום ותשלום לארגון העולמי.
מהמסמכים עולה כי הקשר המהותי ביותר התנהל בין משרד החוץ למשפטן פרופ’ יורם דינשטיין, שעמד בראש הסניף בשנים 1974–19766. דינשטיין, חוקר בינלאומי של דיני מלחמה, שכיהן בהמשך כנשיא אוניברסיטת תל אביב, היה בעברו איש משרד החוץ. כאשר כיהן כיו”ר אמנסטי, שנים אחרי שעזב את משרד החוץ, הוא דיווח בקביעות על פעילות הארגון ועל מגעיו עם המטה העולמי שלו.
ארגון אמנסטי נוסד בלונדון ב–1961 על ידי עורך הדין פיטר בננסון, שגייס אנשים לקרוא לממשלות שונות בעולם לשחרר אסירי מצפון. הסניף הישראלי החל לפעול שלוש שנים לאחר מכן, אך פעילותו נפגעה בעקבות דו”ח שפרסם אמנסטי העולמי ב–1969, על מצבם של פלסטינים הכלואים בישראל. זה היה הרקע לדבריו של השר הלל בכנסת.קובץ מסמכים – דלגלקריאת המסמכים על מסך מלא – לחצו כאן
כיצד להגיב
בדצמבר 1971 כתב מנהל המחלקה לארגונים בינלאומיים במשרד החוץ נתן בר יעקב למנהל לשכת המנכ”ל במשרד, חנן בר־און כי “סניף אמנסטי בישראל מורכב מאיש אחד (נכון יותר אשה אחת) והיא גב’ בלה רבדין הגרה בחיפה. אנחנו שומרים על קשר עמה, אולם אי אפשר לסמוך עליה בכל דבר”. בכתבה ב”הארץ” ב–1975, מתוארת רבדין ככותבת סדרתית של מכתבים לעיתונים ופעילה חברתית. לפי הכתבה היא הקימה את סניף אמנסטי הישראלי בכספי הפיצויים שקיבלה מגרמניה על מות אמה במחנה ריכוז, אך בשל יחס הארגון לישראל, הפסיקה לפעול עבורו.
על פי מסמכי משרד החוץ, המדינה מימנה את פעילותה של רבדין, שילמה עבורה את דמי החבר באמנסטי אינטרנשיונל ומימנה את נסיעתה לכנס של הארגון בז’נווה ב–1969. לפני הנסיעה הודרכה רבדין להעלות בכנס את בעיית היחס ליהודים במדינות ערב, וכיצד עליה להגיב אם יעלה נושא “העצורים הערבים בשטחים”. בר יעקב כתב: “לנו רצוי שהקשר בינה לבין הארגון בלונדון יתקיים גם להבא ולכן רצוי לאפשר לה לשלם את דמי החברות. גם בשנה שעברה אישרנו סכום זה לאותה מטרה”.
הוא לא היה היחיד במשרד שהחזיק בדעה זו. ב–1971 כתב יועץ שר החוץ בנושא האו”ם מרדכי קדרון, לעמיתו יועץ השר הממונה על ההסברה שמואל דיבון: “עד כה כידוע לא מצאנו כלים מתאימים לבניית תדמית חיובית של ישראל כלפי חוץ בכל הנוגע לזכויות האדם בישראל ובשטחים המוחזקים, ודווקא בנושא זה לא ניתן להסתפק בכלים ממשלתיים. הקמת גוף לא־ממשלתי… תביא לנו תועלת רבה”.
דינשטיין, שבתחילת 1974 נבחר לעמוד בראש הסניף הישראלי של אמנסטי, אכן הביא תועלת. לפי אחד המסמכים בישיבה שבה נבחר לתפקיד נכח גם איש משרד החוץ סיני רום, עמו עמד דינשטיין בקשר לאורך כהונתו. במאי 1974 עידכן דינשטיין את רום על פעולותיו מאז נכנס לתפקידו, ביקש מימון להוצאות וצירף מסמך פנימי של אמנסטי, המפרט את הכנסותיו מסניפים בחו”ל.
לפי המסמכים ראה דינשטיין עצמו כחלק ממערך ההסברה של ישראל. כך למשל, הוא העביר דרך משרד החוץ מאמר שכתב בתגובה למאמר ביקורתי על ישראל, שפירסמה עורכת הדין ופעילת זכויות האדם פליציה לנגר ביוני 19744. במאמר הוא הציג עצמו כיו”ר אמנסטי ישראל ולא הזכיר את קשריו במשרד החוץ.
דינשטיין גם דיווח לרום כי באמנסטי התקבל מכתב מארגון נשים ערביות מארצות הברית, שביקשו מידע על עצורים ואסירים ערבים. הוא צירף את מכתבן, שבו ביקשו גם מידע על הסניף הישראלי של אמנסטי. דינשטיין נטה להתעלם מהפנייה, אך ביקש ייעוץ. רום סבר כי יש להשיב להן ולכתוב כי “אין בבתי הסוהר אסירי מצפון פלשתינאים אלא מחבלים ואחרים שנשפטו על עבירות ביטחוניות”. הוא גם ביקש שההתכתבות כולה תועבר לקונסוליות בניו יורק ולוס אנג’לס.
במאי 1975 ביקש דינשטיין מימון לנסיעה לכנס אמנסטי בשווייץ. משרד החוץ מימן בנדיבות: 6,0000 לירות לכרטיס טיסה והוצאות. לאחר הכנס, שהתקיים בספטמבר, דיווח דינשטיין למשרד ואף היתה לו הצעה: להפיץ בנציגויות של ישראל בעולם את תשובת משרד החוץ לאמנסטי בעניין שבויי מלחמת יום הכיפורים. דינשטיין כתב כי הנטיות הפוליטיות של אמנסטיהן בדרך כלל שמאליות אך אין לומר שזהו ארגון שמאלי קיצוני. רום הודה על הדיווח והוסיף כי המשרד קיבל את הצעתו של דינשטיין.סיכומו של דינשטיין לכנס אמנסטי – דלגסיכומו של דינשטיין לכנס אמנסטי
אלה היו זמנים שונים
בשיחה עמו בשבוע שעבר, אמר דינשטיין כי פרש מהארגון מפני שנוכח לדעת “שזה ארגון פופוליסטי, שרחוק מאוד מכל מה שאני מאמין בו, שזה מחקר וידע”. לדבריו, “היום אמנסטי אינטרנשיונל מתעסק בתחום שהוא לא מבין בו כלום — משפט הומניטרי בינלאומי”. דינשטיין הכחיש כי עמד בקשר שוטף עם משרד החוץ בזמן שניהל את הסניף, וקיבל ממנו למימון. לדבריו, באותן שנים הוא גייס את הכספים ממקורותיו: “לא היה צריך תקציב מי יודע מה, העסקנו אז עובד במשרה חלקית”.
מה היתה המעורבות של משרד החוץ?
“לא היתה מעורבות”, אומר דינשטיין, “למשרד החוץ לא היה עניין”.
מי זה סיני רום?
“הוא היה מנהל מחלקה במשרד החוץ. היכרתי אותו, אבל לא היה לו קשר אתי בנושא הזה”.
המסמכים שבידי מעידים אחרת.
“אני לא יודע על כלום”, השיב דינשטיין, “לא זוכר”, אמר, ובסופו של דבר בחר לנתק את השיחה.
הדיפלומט והשגריר אבי פרימור שכיהן באותן שנים במשרד החוץ, מכיר אישית את דינשטיין ולדבריו, הוא “פטריוט במובן של ׳מה שהמדינה שלי עושה — היא צודקת׳. פטריוט אבסולוטי. אני השתחררתי מזה בגיל מסוים, הוא פחות”.
על התנהלות משרד החוץ מול ארגונים בינלאומיים באותן שנים אומר פרימור כי “המטרה שלנו היתה להשפיע, לא ללחום בהם, לא להשמיץ ולא לאסור כניסה לארץ כמו שעושים היום. המטרה היתה להתווכח, לשכנע. אני לא עסקתי בזה אבל אני מניח שלשכנע ולהשפיע בכל דרך אפשרית זה כולל גם כסף”.קובץ מסמכים נוסף – דלגלקריאת המסמכים הנוספים על מסך מלא – לחצו כאן
לדברי פרימור, היו אז אווירה שונה ומושגים שונים: “ארגונים כמו ׳שוברים שתיקה׳ או ׳בצלם׳ — לא היו אז דברים כאלה. היו אנשים בודדים, אינדיווידואלים, והם נתפסו כתמהונים. בשנים הראשונות ראו את הכיבוש כזמני, איש לא חשב שזה יימשך 50 שנה. זה דבר שאי אפשר היה להעלות על הדעת”.
פרופ’ אדי קאופמן, לימים יו”ר הנהלת בצלם, פעל בשנות ה–70 באמנסטי לצד דינשטיין. בשיחה השבוע הוא אמר ש”זה היה מועדון של משפטנים ועורכי דין” וסיפר שהסתכסך עם דינשטיין מפני שהאחרון “ראה את עצמו ככלב השמירה של מדינת ישראל”. אבל גם קאופמן מוזכר במסמכי משרד החוץ כמי שעמד עמם בקשר. כך למשל, מודה רום לקאופמן על דיווח למשרד על ועידת אמנסטי בנושא עינויים, שהתקיימה בשלהי 1973. היו אלו הימים שאחרי מלחמת יום הכיפורים וקאופמן כתב כי היעד המרכז של המשלחת הישראלית היה שחרור השבויים הישראלים בסוריה. הוא צירף העתק של מכתב ששלח לאחר הוועידה למזכיר אמנסטי.
השבוע אישר קאופמן את הדברים וביקש להכניסם להקשר הנכון: “לא היתה תחושה שהיו בעיות חמורות של זכויות אדם. אנחנו מדברים על התקופה של ‘כיבוש נאור’ ואני הרגשתי אז די טוב עם מצב זכויות האדם בישראל ובשטחים”. משרד החוץ, הוא אומר, ביקשו בעיקר מידע על המתרחש באמנסטי: “אני לא זוכר שקיבלתי תדריך לעשות משהו או להילחם נגד מישהו”.
דינשטיין התפטר על רקע הסכסוך עם קאופמן. ניצה שפירא־ליבאי, שהחליפה אותו וכיהנה בתפקיד עד אמצע שנות ה–80, אומרת כי בתקופתה קיבל הסניף הישראלי תקציב רק מאמנסטי העולמי, לא ממשרד החוץ. “אני חושבת שהיה אינטרס שישראל תהיה באמנסטי כי זה ארגון זכויות אדם חשוב”, היא אומרת. היא לא ידעה שדינשטיין מדווח למשרד החוץ, היא אומרת ומוסיפה: “אני מניחה שהוא לא ראה בזה ניגוד עניינים”.
מנכ”ל מכון “עקבות” ליאור יבנה, שאיתר את המסמכים, אמר ל”הארץ” כי “הניצול המניפולטיבי של ארגוני החברה האזרחית בשנים 1969–19766 כדי לקדם את ההסברה הישראלית ולהדוף ממצאים וטענות על פגיעה בזכויות אדם בשטחים, מזכיר את פעילותם בשנים האחרונות של ארגונים והתארגנויות שכביכול הם חלק מהחברה האזרחית, אך מקורות המימון שלהם לוטים בערפל, והם פועלים לפגוע בלגיטימציה של ארגוני זכויות האדם שמבקרים את מדיניות הממשלה. היום כאז, המתקפה הזו חותרת תחת עצם קיומה של חברה אזרחית חופשית”.
סניף אמנסטי הישראלי הפועל מתל אביב, ממומן כעת כולו על ידי אמנסטי העולמי. הארגון לא מקבל כספים מגופים ממשלתיים ואשתקד אף נעשה בכנסת ניסיון לשלול את הטבת המס שמקבלים התורמים לו.
מאמנסטי ישראל נמסר כי “מהמסמכים עולה שממשלת ישראל מעולם לא בחלה באמצעים להתחמקות ממתן דין וחשבון על הפרות זכויות אדם, וכי עולה מהם גם שבעבר ההתנהלות בסניף הפרה באופן בוטה את כלליה של תנועת אמנסטי”.
עוד נמסר כי בניגוד לעבר, הסניף הישראלי הנוכחי הוא חלק בלתי נפרד מתנועת אמנסטי העולמית, ומנהל מאבקים נגד הפרות זכויות אדם שמבצעת ממשלת ישראל בשטחים הפלסטינים הכבושים, נגד הפרות זכויות האדם של פלסטינים בתוך ישראל, ולמען זכויותיהם של הפליטים ומבקשי מקלט בישראל, וכן לוקח חלק במערכותיה הבינלאומיות של התנועה. למען הסר ספק, בהתאם למדיניותה של תנועת אמנסטי, הסניף הישראלי אינו מקבל מימון כלשהו מממשלות, לרבות מממשלת ישראל”.
מאמנסטי העולמי נמסר כי “המסמכים מציגים האשמות חמורות נגד מי שעמד באותן שנים בראש הסניף הישראלי שלנו, והתנהל בצורה הסותרת בבוטות את עקרונות אמנסטי אינטרנשיונל. עצמאות ואובייקטיביות היו חלק מערכי היסוד של אמנסטי מאז הוקם. זו הסיבה בגינה המדיניות שלנו, החל מ-1975, אוסרת בקשת או קבלת תרומות מגופים מדינתיים. באותה תקופה כללי אמנסטי אסרו על סניפים מקומיים לעסוק בהפרות זכויות אדם במדינותיהם. לפיכך, העבודה שלנו בנושא ישראל נקבעה על ידי המזכירות העולמית של הארגון. לאורך התקופה הדגיש הארגון הפרות של זכויות אדם בישראל, וקרא להפסיק את הנוהל של מעצרים מינהליים. בתקופה המדוברת אמנסטי היה עדיין בחיתוליו, עם התפתחותינו לארגון הגלובלי שאנו כיום, המשכנו לפתח נהלים ועקרונות פעולה כדי להבטיח אובייקטיביות ומתן דין וחשבון קפדניים”.
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שלום לשותפות ולשותפים לרשימה, מרבית משתמשי/ות הארכיונים הממשלתיים אינם מכירים את החוק, התקנות והפסיקה שנוגעים לאפשרויות הגישה לחומר הארכיוני, ולא נעזרים בהם בכדי לעמוד על זכויותיהם במקרים המתאימים. ביום רביעי הקרוב נקיים את הראשונה בסדרה של פגישות חודשיות בנושא הגישה לחומרים המוחזקים בארכיונים הממשלתיים. נציץ בחוק הארכיונים ובתקנות העיון ונדון בדרכים להתמודד עם החלטות שמונעות גישה לחומרים ארכיונים נחוצים. בין השאר, נברר: – מה אומר החוק על הזכות לקבל גישה לחומרים המוחזקים בארכיונים הממשלתיים?- כיצד להתמודד עם תשובות לקוניות הקובעות כי חומר ארכיוני מבוקש הוא “חסוי”? – איך לערער על החלטות למנוע גישה לחומר ארכיוני? מתי: המפגש יערך ביום רביעי, 24 במאי 2017. נתכנס ב-18:15 ונתחיל ב-18:30. איפה: קרן רוזה לוקסמבורג, שד’ רוטשילד 11 (קומה 2), תל אביב-יפו. הכניסה חופשית אך מספר המקומות מוגבל. אנא הירשמו בטופס זה: https://goo.gl/forms/UFUsGUBw9jirVdHj1 להתראות, מכון עקבות ============================================
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אני מבקש לשלוח את ההזמנה הפתוחה הזו לרשימה, מקווה שתאשרו את ההודעה, תודה רבה, ד”ר נעם הופשטטר חוקר, עקבות – המכון לחקר הסכסוך הישראלי-פלסטיני
הזמנה
במסגרת סדרת הפגישות שעורך מכון ‘עקבות’ בנושא גישת הציבור אל החומרים המוחזקים בארכיונים הממשלתיים, נפגש ביום ג’, 18 ביולי, עם גנז המדינה, ד”ר יעקב לזוביק. נדון בבעיות בהן עסקנו בפגישותינו הקודמות וגם באחרות: החלטות חיסוי ונהלי חשיפה, מיעוט החומר הגלוי, העדר קטלוגים, עצירת העיון בתיקי הנייר וכל בעיה אחרת שתרצו לדון בה עם הגנז.
מועד: יום ג’, 18 ביולי, בשעה 18:15. נתארח במשרדי קרן רוזה לוקסמבורג, שד’ רוטשילד 11 (קומה שניה) תל אביב-יפו.
Jeffrey David Ullman, an emeritus professor at Stanford University, the co-recipient of the 2020 Turing Award, has been harassed by Iranian activists for holding pro-Israel views.
The A.M. Turing Award by the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) is the equivalent of the “Nobel Prize” of computing. It recognizes the profound impact on computer science and awards a $1 million prize annually. For the year 2020, ACM awarded Stanford University’s Jeffrey David Ullman, shared with his long-time collaborator Alfred Vaino Aho of Columbia University. The award recognizes their seminal work in compilers and algorithms for their nine co-authored textbooks dating back to the early 1970s, including 1974 The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms, and 1977 Principles of Compiler Design. These books became required reading for millions of computer scientists, and the catalog of standard techniques “divide and conquer” became the core of computer science theory. ACM has announced the selection of Ullman and Aho in late March.
Ullman, who is supportive of Israel and Zionism, has been harassed for his views during two dacades. In October 2001, Ullman published on his webpage polemics section “Some Thoughts on the Bombings of Sept. 11.” He stated that Islamic fundamentalists had used spectacular terror to confront the West. In 2002 he urged the Palestinians to forsake terror and “build better lives for themselves and a better relationship with their Israeli neighbors.” He noted that Israel, a country with about 1.5% of the US population, then suffered from severe terrorist attacks every 3 months; “Somehow the world largely failed to notice or care.”
Following these and other postings, Ullman started receiving many malicious emails. One comment stated: “if any one believes in what you said, I will call him the most arrogant idiot ignorant Zionist extremist, and racist I have ever seen.” Another declared: “You are a Zionist pig, and how dare you say all those nasty things about Yasser Arafat et al.”
Ullman has been targeted by Iranian students who sent him emails requesting his help in admission to Stanford University, some asking him political questions such as, “Why did the US shoot down an Iranian airliner/take land from Native Americans/Depose Mossadegh, etc. etc.?”, or “How do I justify ‘Zionist crimes’, etc.?”
In 2011, the President of Stanford University was asked to censure Ullman for “racially discriminatory and inflammatory” comments because Ullman responded to an email from a student at Sharif University in Tehran who asked him about admission to Stanford University, that he could not help the student gain admission since he has no involvement in the admissions process. Ullman also wrote that “If Iranians want the benefits of Stanford and other institutions in the U.S., they have to respect the values we hold in the U.S., including freedom of religion and respect for human rights.” As a result, he was accused of “bigotry and xenophobia.”
Not coincidently, Ullman has a long connection to Israel. He wrote that he lived in Jerusalem in 1984. Also, he has been working with Israeli universities for many years. In 2006, the Chair in Computer Sciences at Ben Gurion University
announced on his webpage that “Professor Jeffrey (Stanford University, CA) and Holly Ullman, in consultation with Professor Shlomi Dolev (BGU), recently established the Martha and Solomon Scharf Prize for Developing Excellence in Computer, Communications and Information Sciences, supporting excellent students. In addition, they will support research activity in the computer science disciplines.”
Likewise, The Hebrew University Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering reported that “Prof. Ullman is also a generous benefactor to our department, and his help is instrumental in providing student stipends, and supporting the Data and Computing Center.”
In 2016, the Ben Gurion University Board of Governors awarded Ullman an Honorary Doctorate for his achievements and held a seminar in honor of Ullman.
Ullman has also been fighting against anti-Semitism. Last month he signed a petition, “Opposing Antisemitism, Supporting IHRA,” organized by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), which recently circulated a letter supporting the Working Definition of Antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The letter garnered more than 300 signatures from leading scholars, intellectuals, and professionals.
His Iranian detractors went into high gear after the ACM made the 2020 Turing Award public. A recent petition organized by Iranians was published online, collecting international signatures, accusing “Ullman’s Repeated Discrimination against Iranian Students,” and charging that Ullman’s webpage “contains discriminatory and inflammatory statements regarding Iranians.”
ACM has read the complaint and responded that it will not change the selection: “As part of the Awards process, ACM routinely checks whether we have received any complaints about award nominees with respect to ACM’s Code of Ethics or other policies. In this case, we determined that no complaints had ever been filed against Jeffrey Ullman. ACM also relied on the submitted nomination package and carefully evaluated the letters provided by the nominator and the endorsers to assess the candidate’s worthiness for an award. No red flags were raised in the nomination package.”
Not satisfied with ACM response, a recent article by Mahdi Cheraghchi, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, published on the pages of Stanford Daily, accused Ullman of “rants of hate and bigotry against Iranians.” He requested the ACM, to “ensure that a clear precedent is set today by ACM that would not give a free pass to any future abusers of academic freedom,” and that “ACM needs to do better and bring back trust and hope to the community.”
Much of the agitation against Ullman was organized by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), known as a front for the Iranian regime’s propaganda work in America. Dr. Fredun Hojabri, the former vice-chancellor of the Sharif University of Technology in Iran, wrote Stanford University in 2011 to complain about Ullman. For decades now, Sharif University has carried many projects for the Revolutionary Guards, including its nuclear weapons program.
The Iranian involvement in anti-Israel activity on American campuses is worrying. With its long-lasting support of Palestinian causes, the regime sends people to harass those who support the Jewish state.
ACM Turing Award Honors Innovators Who Shaped the Foundations of Programming Language Compilers and Algorithms
Columbia’s Aho and Stanford’s Ullman Developed Tools and Fundamental Textbooks Used by Millions of Software Programmers around the World
ACM named Alfred Vaino Aho and Jeffrey David Ullman recipients of the 2020 ACM A.M. Turing Award for fundamental algorithms and theory underlying programming language implementation and for synthesizing these results and those of others in their highly influential books, which educated generations of computer scientists. Aho is the Lawrence Gussman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Columbia University. Ullman is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University.
Computer software powers almost every piece of technology with which we interact. Virtually every program running our world—from those on our phones or in our cars to programs running on giant server farms inside big web companies—is written by humans in a higher-level programming language and then compiled into lower-level code for execution. Much of the technology for doing this translation for modern programming languages owes its beginnings to Aho and Ullman.
Beginning with their collaboration at Bell Labs in 1967 and continuing for several decades, Aho and Ullman have shaped the foundations of programming language theory and implementation, as well as algorithm design and analysis. They made broad and fundamental contributions to the field of programming language compilers through their technical contributions and influential textbooks. Their early joint work in algorithm design and analysis techniques contributed crucial approaches to the theoretical core of computer science that emerged during this period.
“The practice of computer programming and the development of increasingly advanced software systems underpin almost all of the technological transformations we have experienced in society over the last five decades,” explains ACM President Gabriele Kotsis. “While countless researchers and practitioners have contributed to these technologies, the work of Aho and Ullman has been especially influential. They have helped us to understand the theoretical foundations of algorithms and to chart the course for research and practice in compilers and programming language design. Aho and Ullman have been thought leaders since the early 1970s, and their work has guided generations of programmers and researchers up to the present day.”
“Aho and Ullman established bedrock ideas about algorithms, formal languages, compilers and databases, which were instrumental in the development of today’s programming and software landscape,” added Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow and SVP, Google AI. “They have also illustrated how these various disciplines are closely interconnected. Aho and Ullman introduced key technical concepts, including specific algorithms, that have been essential. In terms of computer science education, their textbooks have been the gold standard for training students, researchers, and practitioners.”
A Longstanding Collaboration
Aho and Ullman both earned their PhD degrees at Princeton University before joining Bell Labs, where they worked together from 1967 to 1969. During their time at Bell Labs, their early efforts included developing efficient algorithms for analyzing and translating programming languages.
In 1969, Ullman began a career in academia, ultimately joining the faculty at Stanford University, while Aho remained at Bell Labs for 30 years before joining the faculty at Columbia University. Despite working at different institutions, Aho and Ullman continued their collaboration for several decades, during which they co-authored books and papers and introduced novel techniques for algorithms, programming languages, compilers and software systems.
Influential Textbooks
Aho and Ullman co-authored nine influential books (including first and subsequent editions). Two of their most widely celebrated books include:
The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms (1974) Co-authored by Aho, Ullman, and John Hopcroft, this book is considered a classic in the field and was one of the most cited books in computer science research for more than a decade. It became the standard textbook for algorithms courses throughout the world when computer science was still an emerging field. In addition to incorporating their own research contributions to algorithms, The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms introduced the random access machine (RAM) as the basic model for analyzing the time and space complexity of computer algorithms using recurrence relations. The RAM model also codified disparate individual algorithms into general design methods. The RAM model and general algorithm design techniques introduced in this book now form an integral part of the standard computer science curriculum.
Principles of Compiler Design (1977) Co-authored by Aho and Ullman, this definitive book on compiler technology integrated formal language theory and syntax-directed translation techniques into the compiler design process. Often called the “Dragon Book” because of its cover design, it lucidly lays out the phases in translating a high-level programming language to machine code, modularizing the entire enterprise of compiler construction. It includes algorithmic contributions that the authors made to efficient techniques for lexical analysis, syntax analysis techniques, and code generation. The current edition of this book, Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools (co-authored with Ravi Sethi and Monica Lam), was published in 2007 and remains the standard textbook on compiler design.
Statement on the Selection of Jeffrey Ullman for a Turing Award
Update: A copy of this letter listing 1,079 signatories (and 89 anonymous) was sent to the ACM administration on April 16, 2021, and ACM has acknowledged receipt. On April 19, 2021, ACM published a response to this letter. We continue to accept new signatures.
An Open Letter to Committee of the ACM A.M. Turing Award and ACM:
Professor Jeffrey D. Ullman of Stanford University has been chosen to receive the 2020 ACM A. M. Turing Award, generally regarded as the highest distinction in computing.
While we agree that the technical and educational contributions of Professor Ullman could meet the bar for a “Nobel Prize of Computing”, we condemn the selection as one that directly goes against the Diversity and Inclusion (D & I) values that the Computer Science community, and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in particular, aim to uphold. While we recognize Professor Ullman’s freedom of speech and freedom to hold and express his political views, we are concerned by his sustained discriminatory behavior against students and by ACM bestowing upon such a person an award named after Alan Turing, someone who suffered much discrimination in his tragic life [1].
ACM defines its mission as follows: “ACM is a global scientific and educational organization dedicated to advancing the art, science, engineering, and application of computing, serving both professional and public interests by fostering the open exchange of information and by promoting the highest professional and ethical standards.” Furthermore, ACM explicitly defines “Diversity and Inclusion” as one of its four core values [2].
We assert, based on documented evidence, that not only has Professor Ullman willfully violated the “highest professional and ethical standards” that ACM has the mission to uphold, but also that he has demonstrated a pattern of actively turning against the values of D & I for decades. History may judge this award as an indelible blot on the entire computing profession.
Ullman’s Repeated Discrimination against Iranian Students
There are indeed numerous documented instances of him corresponding, over the years, many to aspiring young Iranian students, with anti-Iranian sentiments as well as explicit discrimination based on presumptions on their political views [3,6–12,13]. In one instance, among countless others, Professor Ullman responded to an email from an Iranian student who had inquired about admission at Stanford saying [6–12]: “And even if I were in a position to help, I will not help Iranian students until Iran recognizes and respects Israel as the land of the Jewish people. I know that you may not hold the same insane position as the mullahs that run your country, but it is a matter of principle. If Iranians want the benefits of Stanford and other institutions in the US, they have to respect the values we hold in the US, including freedom of religion and respect for human rights.”
As another example of his correspondence, in support of the University of Massachusetts’s soon-to-be-reverted decision to ban Iranian students from certain engineering programs, Professor Ullman wrote in 2015 [13]: “I think we need to distinguish between Americans of Iranian descent, who have chosen to cast their lot with the United States, and Iranians who did not leave Iran when the religious fanatics took over, and who may well be sympathetic to Iran’s desires to build a nuclear weapon and to Iran’s support for terrorists throughout the world. While I’m sure there are some students living in Iran, who would like nothing better than to leave that country for as long as it is run by Islamic fundamentalists, can we afford to take that risk of educating them and then having them turn that education against us? Especially, can we afford the risk given all the bright students from other countries that share US values who would love to be accepted to a US school?”
Thus, Professor Ullman has explicitly advocated to distinguish between Iranians who left Iran before the 1979 revolution and those who did not. It is worthwhile to reflect that many of today’s key academic players of Iranian descent were once aspiring students in Iran. Perhaps the most prominent example is the late Maryam Mirzakhani, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University and the only woman to ever win the Fields medal, who studied in Iran before pursuing graduate studies in the US. Professor Ullman is simply calling for a categorical ban against such talents. That said, we emphasize that people should not need to have exceptional talents or make significant academic contributions to be treated with dignity and respect.
Ullman’s Rationalization of Crimes Against Native Americans
Professor Ullman’s insensitive opinions extend beyond individuals of a specific national origin. For example, he rationalizes the taking away of land from Native Americans, which included several acts recognized by scholars as genocide against such populations [14], as “Technologically more advanced civilizations replace less advanced civilizations” [3].
Bigger Picture on the Implications of ACM’s Action and Silence
At a time when the tremendous costs of discriminatory and inhumane behavior against minority groups, such as African Americans and Asians, among others, is being broadly recognized in the computing community and beyond, ACM should not ignore such explicit and repeated xenophobic language and behavior by the person they are bestowing their highest award upon. Furthermore, discrimination against students based on their national origin and their presumed political views is in direct violation of the academic and D & I values that ACM aims to uphold as a core value. Generations to come may see this action by ACM and their silence on how this award negatively impacts D & I in computing as defiling the very respectability of the Turing Award and as an insult to the memory of Alan Turing himself.
We ask ACM, and particularly the ACM A.M. Turing Award Committee, the following:
Report on the specifics surrounding this nomination, especially the extent of checks and balances that are in place to ensure that the process of awarding the highest distinction in computing is protected against violations of the ACM mission and its core values.
Clarity from ACM on establishing compliance with its core values, particularly on D & I standards, as an explicit criterion for receiving this award. If not, transparently state that behaviors that directly damage inclusivity and diversity in the computing field are not relevant in the criteria listed by ACM for this award.
Signed by 1,304 (including 275 anonymous)
Last update: May 20, 2021.
Some Notable Statistics (according to the disclosed data, updated periodically):
1 ACM Turing Award Laureate
1 Abel Prize Laureate
4 Nevanlinna Prize Laureates
4 MacArthur Fellows
21 ACM Fellows
16 ACM Distinguished Members
23 ACM Senior Members
479 ACM Members (including Student/Professional)
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Amirmohammad Ziaei, Research Assistant, Aalto University
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Jodi Julian, Professor
Joel Sommers, Professor, Colgate University
John Regehr, professor, University of Utah, USA
John S. Seberger, Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University
John Sarracino, Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University
John Wickerson, Lecturer, Imperial College London
Jon E. Froehlich, Associate Professor, Allen School, University of Washington
Jonathan Aldrich, Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Jonathan Crowcroft, Professor, University of Cambridge
Jose Antonio Ruiperez Valiente, Research Fellow, University of Murcia
Joseph Seering, Postdoctoral Scholar in Computer Science, Stanford University
Joshua A. Grochow, Assistant Professor, Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder
Joshua Cooper, Professor of Mathematics, University of South Carolina
Joshua Quicksall, Communications Specialist, Institute for Software Research, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Joss Wright, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
Juan Wang, Professor of political science, McGill
Julie Hui, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Julie J Lee, University College London
Julie Kientz, Professor, University of Washington
Kaave Hosseini, Postdoctoral Associate, Carnegie Mellon University
Kaivan Kamali, Computational Scientist, Penn State University
Kamiar Rahnama Rad, Assistant Professor, Baruch College, City University New York
Kamyar Khodamoradi, Postdoc in Computer Science, University of Würzburg
Karen Boyd, University of Michigan
Karen Fisher, Professor, University of Washington
Kate Starbird, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Katharina Reinecke, Associate Professor, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington
Katie Siek, Professor and Chair, Indiana University
Katta Spiel, Hertha-Firnberg Scholar, TU Wien
Katy E. Pearce, Associate professor, University of Washington
Kay Connelly, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Informatics, Indiana University
Kelly Lyons, Professor, Faculty of Information and Department of CS, University of Toronto
Kendra Albert, Clinical Instructor, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
Kenneth Holstein, Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University
Kentaro Toyama, Professor, University of Michigan
Kevin Skadron, Professor of Computer Science, FACM, University of Virginia
Kia Bazargan, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
Kiran Garimella, Michael Hammer Postdoc, MIT
Kolina Koltai, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington
Kyle Fox, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Dallas
Kyle Thayer, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Washington
Lance Eaton, Educator
Lara Letaw, Faculty, Oregon State University
Laura Alonso Alemany, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
Laura Forlano, Associate Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
Lauren Wilcox, Associate Professor, Interactive Computing, College of Computing, Georgia Tech
Lawrence H. Moulton, Professor of International Health and (joint) Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lawrence Kim, Postdoc, Stanford University
Lefteris Manassakis, Research engineer, FORTH-ICS
Lena Fanya Aeschbach, University of Basel
Leo Ducas, Senior Researcher in Cryptology, Centrum Wiskunde & Informaticas
Liang Huang, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Oregon State University
Libby Hemphill, University of Michigan
Lilly Irani, Associate Professor, 2021 Program Co-Chair ACM FAccT, UC San Diego, Communication and Computer Science (Affiliate Faculty)
Lindsay Jamieson, Associate Professor of Computer Science, St.Mary’s College of Maryland
Lindsey Kuper, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, UC Santa Cruz
LJean Camp, Fellow of the IEEE; Fellow of the AAAS, Professor of Computer Science, Professor of Informatics, Indiana University
Loren Terveen, Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, The University of Minnesota
Lorenzo Cavallaro, Professor of Computer Science, Chair in Cybersecurity (Systems Security), King’s College London
Loris D’Antoni, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lorrie Cranor, Bosch Distinguished Professor and FORE Systems Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; ACM, IEEE, AAAS Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University
Louigi Addario-Berry, Professor, Fellow of the Institute for Matthematical Statistics, Fellow of the Canadian Matthematical Society, Simons Fellow., McGill University
Luca Trevisan, Professor of Computer Science, Bocconi University
Lucy Bernholz, Sr. Research Scholar, Stanford University
LuEttaMae Lawrence, Postdoc Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University
Lukas Daniel Klausner, Researcher, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences
Lynn S. Dombrowski, Assistant Professor, IUPUI
Mahdi Cheraghchi, Assistant Professor of CSE, ACM Senior Member, University of Michigan
Mahdi Mirhoseini, Professor of Information Systems, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
Mahmood Shafeie Zargar, Assistant Professor of Innovation Management, VU Amsterdam
Maneesh Agrawala, Professor of Computer Science, Director Brown Institute for Media Innovation, MacArthur Fellow, Stanford University
Mar Hicks, Associate Professor of History of Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology
Maral Dehghani, Faculty, School of Computing & Academic Studies, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Marc Deisenroth, Professor, University College London
Marjan Farahbod, Simon Fraser University
Martin Joel Strauss, Professor of Mathematics, University of Michigan
Maryam Elahi, Assistant Professor, Mount Royal University
Maryam Siahbani, Assistant Prof., University of the Fraser Valley
Mason Kortz, Clinical Instructor, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
Masoud Hamedi, Adjunct Professor, Masters in Telecommunications Program, Adjunct Professor
Matin Bagherpour, Associate Professor of Energy Systems, University of Oslo
Matt Windsor, Research Associate, University of York
Matteo Maffei, Professor for Security and Privacy, TU Wien
Matthew Bietz, Lecturer, University of California, Irvine
Matthew Kay, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Communication Studies, Northwestern University
Maxime Turgeon, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Manitoba
Maziar Goudarzi, Associate Professor, Sharif University of Technology
Mehdi Javanmard, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Mehdi Kargar, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
mehdi shajari, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
Mehdi Tahoori, Professor and Chair of Computer Science, IEEE Fellow, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Melanie Mitchell, Professor, Computer Science, Portland State University
Michael Ann DeVito, Postdoctoral Computing Innovation Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder
Michael Bernstein, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University
Michael Cook, Research Fellow, Queen Mary University of London
Michael Nebeling, Assistant Professor of Information & CSE, University of Michigan
Michael P. Kim, Miller Institute, UC Berkeley
Michael Winikoff, Professor and Head of School, Victoria University of Wellington
Michel Steuwer, Lecturer, University of Edinburgh
Mike Rosulek, Associate Professor, Oregon State University
Milind Kulkarni, Associate Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
Mohamed Sarwat, Professor of Computer Science, Arizona State University
Mohammad Akbarpour, Professor of Economics and (by courtesy) Computer Science, Stanford University
Mohammad Hajiabadi, Assistant Professor of CSE, Pennsylvania State University, Assistant Professor of CSE, Pennsylvania State University
Mohammad Hajiesmaili, UMass Amherst
Mohammad Heydari, Dr., Research Fellow
Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi, Assistant Professor, UC Irvine
Mohammad Javad Amiri, Postdoc Researcher, University of Pennsylvania
Mohammad Mahmoody, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Virginia
Mohammad Malekzadeh, Postdoctoral Researcher, Imperial College London
Mohammad Sadoghi, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of California, Davis
Mohammad Saleh Zarepour, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Mohammad Shahrad, Lecturer in Computer Science, Princeton University
Mohammad T. Hajiaghayi, ACM Fellow, Minker Professor of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park
Mohsen Heidari, Postdoc, Purdue University
Mojtaba Azadi, Assistant Professor, San Francisco State University
Molly H. Olson, Mathematics and Coding teacher, Ely Memorial School
Mona Azadkia, Postdoc, ETH
Morteza Dehghani, Associate Professor of Psychology and Computer Science, University of Southern California
Morteza Rezanejad, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto
Moslem Habibi, Assistant Professor at Sharif University, Assistant Professor at Sharif University of Technology
Mostafa Milani, Assistant Professor, The University of Western Ontario
Motahhare Eslami, Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University
Munmun De Choudhury, Associate Professor of Interactive Computing; 2021 ACM-W Awardee, Georgia Institute of Technology
Murat Demirbas, Professor of Computer Science, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Muthuramakrishnan Venkitasubramaniam, Associate Professor, University of Rochester
Myounghoon Jeon, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech
Nachiket Kapre, University of Aaterloo
Nader Sehatbakhsh, Assistant Professor, UCLA
Naeem Khademi, Assoc. Prof., University of Stavanger
Nael Abu-Ghazaleh, Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Riverside
Nancy Smith, Assistant Professor, School of Information, Pratt Institute
Nanette Veilleux, Professor, Simmons University
Naomi Nishimura, Associate Professor, University of Waterloo
Nauman Chaudhry, Instructor, Oregon State University
Navid Hashemi, Assistant Professor, College of Charleston
Nazanin Andalibi, Assistant Professor of Information, University of Michigan, School of Information
Nicholas Spooner, Postdoctoral Scholar, Boston University
Nicole Ellison, Karl E. Weick Collegiate Professor of Information, University of Michigan School of Information
Nikhil Garg, Postdoc, UC Berkeley
Nikhil Srivastava, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Niklas Elmqvist, Professor of Information Studies and Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park
Niloufar Salehi, Assistant professor, UC, Berkeley
Nima Haghpanah, Assistant Professor of Economics, Pennsylvania State University
Noah Stephens-Davidowitz, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Cornell University
Nova Ahmed, Associate Professor, North South University, Bangladesh
Odest Chadwicke Jenkins, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
Oliver Haimson, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Om Damani, Professor of Computer Science, IIT Bombay
Omid Rohanian, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Oxford
Panos Parpas, Reader, Imperial College London
Parisa Rashidi, Associate Professor, University of Florida
Patricia Garcia, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Paul Dourish, ACM Fellow, Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics, University of California, Irvine
Paul H J Kelly, Professor of Software Technology, Imperial College London
Pejman Lotfi-Kamran, Associate Professor of Computer Science, IPM
Pernille Bjorn, Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Peter Shor, Professor of Mathematics, MacArthur Fellow, Nevanlinna Prize, ACM Fellow, MIT
Peyman Mohajerin Esfahani, Assistant Professor, TU Delft
Piper Jackson, Assistant Professor of Computing Science, Thompson Rivers University
Pooya Hatami, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Ohio State University
Pooyan Jamshidi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of South Carolina
Priya Kumar, University of Maryland, College Park
R. Benjamin Shapiro, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder
Rachit Agarwal, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Cornell University
Rad Niazadeh, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Rada Mihalcea, Janice M. Jenkins Collegiate Professor of Computer Science, University of Michigan
Rafael Oliveira, University of waterloo
Ramtin Pedarsani, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara
Rasit Eskicioglu, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Manitoba
Rasoul Etesami, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rebecca Wright, Druckenmiller Professor of Computer Science, Barnard College
Rediet Abebe, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, UC Berkeley / Harvard Society of Fellows
Reem Talhouk, Vice chancellor research fellow, Northumbria University
Reihaneh Rabbany, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McGill University
Reva Freedman, Department of Computer Science, Northern Illinois University
Reyhaneh Jabbarvand, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Reza Babanezhad Harikandeh, Research Scientist, Research Scientist
Reza Djeddi, Research Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Univeristy of Tennessee, Knoxville
Reza Rawassizadeh, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Boston University
Reza Sameni, Associate Professor, Emory University
Reza Zadeh, Adjunct Professor, Stanford and Matroid
Ricardo Baeza-Yates, ACM Fellow, Professor, Northeastern University
Richmond Wong, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley
Rob Comber, Associate Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Robert Soden, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Roberto Minelli, Ph.D., Software Institute – USI, Lugano, Switzerland
Robin Brewer, University of Michigan, School of Information
Roderic N. Crooks, Assistant Professor of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine., Assistant Professor, UC Irvine Informatics.
Roei Tell, Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT
Ron Eglash, Professor, School of Information, University of Michigan
Ron Wakkary, Professor (Former Editor-in-Chief ACM interactions 2010-16), Simon Fraser University
Ross Tate, Cornell University
Roya Ensafi, Assistant professor, University of Michigan
Rubén Salvador Perea, CentraleSupélec, IETR Lab
Ryan Cotterell, Assistant Professor, ETH Zürich
Sadegh Aliakbary, Faculty member as an assistant professor, Shahid Beheshti University
Sadegh Dalvandi, Research Fellow, University of Surrey
Sajin Koroth, Postdoctoral Fellow, Simon Fraser University
Salman Beigi, Associate Professor, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM)
Sam Malek, Professor, University of California, Irvine
Saman Zonouz, Professor, 2019 PECASE Awardee, Rutgers University
Samantha Breslin, Assistant Professor, University of Copenhagen
Sameer Singh, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine
Samin Aref, Computer Scientist and Former Lecturer, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Sandeep Kumar Shukla, Professor Of computer science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Sara Sartoli, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of North Georgia
Sarah Fox, Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Sarita Adve, Richard T. Cheng Professor of Computer Science, Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recipient of ACM/IEEE CS Ken Kennedy award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sarita Schoenebeck, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
Saugata Ghose, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Sauvik Das, Assistant Professor of Interactive Computing, Cybersecurity & Privacy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Scott David Dexter, Professor of Computer Science, Alma College
Sean Farley, Researcher, Argonne National Lab
Sean Munson, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Sean Murthy, Associate Professor of Instruction, University of Texas at Dallas
Sebastian Diaz, Cheif Geek, Berkman Klein Center at Harvard Univeristy
Sebastian Schelter, University of Amsterdam
Sepehr Nezami, Postdoctoral researcher, Caltech
Shahin Kamali, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Manitoba
Shahrooz Faghihroohi, Senior Research Scientist
Shaowen Bardzell, Professor, Penn State University
Shayan Oveis Gharan, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington
Shideh Dashti, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Shimon Edelman, Professor, Cornell University
Shirin Boroushaki, Assistant Professor, Thompson Rivers University
Shiva Nejati, Associate Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa
Siamak F. Shahandashti, Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Department of Computer Science, University of York, UK
Sibin Mohan, Research Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Siddharth Garg, Associate Professor of ECE, New York University
Sihem Amer-Yahia, Research Director, CNRS, Univ. Grenoble Alpes
Silvia Lindtner, Associate Professor of Information and Computer Sciences, Associate Director of the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing, University of Michigan
Simina Branzei, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Purdue University
Sina Fazelpour, Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University
Sina Tafazoli, Postdoctoral research associate, Princeton University
Soheil Mohajer, Associatie Professor, University of Minnesota
Sourav S Bhowmick, Associate Professor in Computer Science, Nanyang Technological University
Stacey Scott, Professor of Computer Science, University of Guelph
Stephen A Cook, ACM Turing Award, University Emeritus, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Stephen B Gilbert, Director of Human Computer Interaction and Assoc Prof, Iowa State University
Stephen Ramsey, Associate Professor, Oregon State University
Steve Easterbrook, Professor of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Professor of Robot Learning and Autonomy, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
Supratik Chakraborty, Professor, I.I.T. Bombay
Suvrit Sra, Associate Professor, MIT
Suzanne Rivoire, Professor of Computer Science, Sonoma State University
Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Taha Yasseri, Associate Professor, Former Turing Fellow, University College Dublin
Talayeh Aledavood, Lecturer in CS, Aalto University
Tara Javidi, Professor of ECE, University of California, San Diego
Tariq, Professors of Computer Sciences, University College of Technology Sarawak
Tawanna Dillahunt, Associate Professor, School of Information, University of Michigan
Tevfik Kosar, Professor, University at Buffalo
Thomas G. Dietterich, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), Oregon State University
Tiago Ferreira, Research Assistant, University College London
Tiffany Veinot, Professor of Information and of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan
Timothy M. Pinkston, Ph.D., Professor of ECE, ACM Fellow, University of Southern California
Timur Friedman, Sorbonne Université
Tugkan Batu, Assistant Professor, London School of Economics
Valerie Barr, Professor of Computer Science, Mount Holyoke College
Vasco T. Vasconcelos, Professor of Computer Science, University of Lisbon
Vasiliki Kalavri, Assistant Professor, Boston University
Vijay Chidambaram, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Vikram S. Adve, Donald B. Gillies Professor of Computer Science; ACM Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Virginia de Sa, Professora, UC San Diego
Wanda Pratt, Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Information School, University of Washington
Wayne Heym, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University
Wendy Norris, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Nazareth College
Yadollah Yaghoobzadeh, Professor of computer science, University of Tehran
Yan Chen, Professor of Information, University of Michigan
Yashar Ganjali, Professor of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Yasser Roudi, Professor, winner of Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientist Award 2015, Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, NTNU
Yavar Taheri Yeganeh, Senior Research Assistant, Shahid Beheshti University
Yifan Sun, Assistant Professor, William & Mary
Yvonne Coady, Professor of Computer Science, University of Victoria
Ziawasch Abedjan, Professor of Computer Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Zubair Shafiq, Associate Professor, University of California, Davis
– Academia: Students:
Aakash Gautam, PhD student, Virginia Tech
Abbas K. Rizi, PhD Candidate in CS, PhD Candidate
Abdallah Anees AbuHashem, Master’s Student at Stanford University, Master’s Student at Stanford University
Abduvosid Malikov, Student at MSc Business Analytics, CEU, Student
Abraham Mhaidli, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan
Abrar Rahman Protyasha, Undergraduate student, University of Rochester
Abtin Afshar, Phd student, Phd student
Adam Suhl, PhD student, UC San Diego
Afsoon Afzal, PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University
Agata Foryciarz, PhD Student, Stanford University
Ahmed Frikha, PhD student, LMU Munich and Siemens
Ahmed, Student, Penn State
Aidin Shiri, Computer Engineer, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Aishwarya Mandyam, PhD Student, Princeton University
Akshay Gopalakrishnan, MSc Thesis
Alejandro Flores-Velazco, PhD Student, University of Maryland, College Park
Alen K. Sabu, Doctoral candidate in Computer Science, National University of Singapore
Alexander Gamero-Garrido, PhD Candidate in Computer Science, UC San Diego
Alexander Hicks, University College London
Ali Farzanehfar, PhD candidate, Imperial College London
Ali Gorji, M.Sc. student, ETH Zurich
Ali Hajiabdi, PhD student, National University of Singapore
Ali Sharafat, PhD Student, Stanford University
Ali Varamesh, PhD cadidate, KU Leuven
Alicia DeVos, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Alireza Sanaee, Mr., Queen Mary University of London
Alyssa Wang, UCLA
Amber Horvath, Graduate Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Amin Jabini, PhD student at USC, PhD Student at USC
Amir Khordadi, PhD Student, University of Edinburgh
Amir Shahatit, Software engineer, UC Berkeley
Amirhossein Ghafari, Research Assistant, Student
Amirhossein Rajabi, PhD Candidate in CS, Technical University of Denmark
Anagha Zach, Computer science engineer, Student
Andi Peng, PhD Candidate in CS, MIT
Andrew Hu, PhD Student, Michigan State University
Ángel Alexander Cabrera, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Anja Kalaba, Princeton University
Ankit Pensia, PhD Student, UW-Madison
Anna Fang, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Anna Karanika, PhD student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Anna Kawakami, Undergraduate student, Wellesley College
Anne Spencer Ross, PhD Candidate, University of Washington
Antares Chen, PhD Student, University of Chicago
Arash Pourhabibi, PhD Candidate, EPFL
Arezou Fatemi, SFU
Argyris Mouzakis, PhD Student, University of Waterloo
Arjun Subramonian, Computer Science Student, University of California, Los Angeles
Artem Pelenitsyn, Northeastern University
Ashkan Kazemi, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan
Ashkan YekrangSafakar, Electrical Engineering, Louisiana State University
Ashwin Rajadesingan, PhD student, University of Michigan School of Information
Ashwin Singh, IIIT Delhi
Atefe Khodadadi, Student, Sharif University of Technology
Atia Hamidizadeh, M.Sc. student in Computer Science, Simon Fraser University
Bandar Al-Dhalaan, (none), University of Michigan
Behnam Rahdari, PhD Student, University of Pittsburgh
Behrad Moniri, Student of Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology
Ben Pullman, PhD Candidate, UC San Diego
Benjamin Elizalde, PhD student
Bharat Prakash, PhD Research Assistant, UMBC
Brandon Thai Tran, PhD Student, University of Southern California
Brian Zimmerman, Software Engineer, Graduate Student, Myself
Bryan Wang, PhD student, University of Toronto
Buzz Rankouhi, PhD candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Calvin Liang, University of Washington
Cella Monet Sum, Incoming PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Chloe Kliman-Silver, Postgrad Researcher, Northumbria University
Christian Seitz, PhD student, UCSD
Conlon Novak, DC, SCS ’20
Dana Afazeli, Data scientist, Cs student at sharif university of technology
Daniel Delmonaco, PhD Student, University of Michigan School of Information
Darya Kaviani, Undergraduate, UC Berkeley EECS
David Gray Widder, PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University
Dimitris Karakostas, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh
Divine Maloney, PhD candidate, inaugural Ada Lovelace fellow, Clemson University
Divyansh Kaushik, PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University
Dmitrii Ustiugov, PhD Student, University of Edinburgh
Earl W. Huff Jr., Ph.D. Candidate, Clemson University
Eliot W. Robson, PhD Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Elizabeth Resor, PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley School of Information
Emad Heydari Beni, PhD candidate, KU Leuven
Emilia Gan, PhD Student, University of Washington
Emily Tseng, PhD Student, Cornell University
Emma Lurie, PhD Student, UC Berkeley School of Information
Emma McDonnell, University of Washington
Emma McKay, PhD student, McGill University
Emmy Cao, UCLA
Evangelia Gergatsouli, PhD Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Evanjelin Mahmoodi, Computer Science and Mathematics Undergraduate Student, University of California, Santa Cruz
Farhad Vadiee, PhD student, University of Bergen
Farzin Soleymani, Grad student, Technical University of Munich
Felix Neutatz, PhD student, TU Berlin
Gabriel Grill, PhD Student, University of Michigan
Hafez Ghaemi, Graduate Student, Polytechnic University of Turin
Hamed Javidi, Computer science, Gradute Student
Harjasleen Gulati, CS Student at Oregon State University
Henry Zhu, Ph.D. Student, Stanford University
Hossein Golestani, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan
Hossein Maleki, Ph.D. Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
Hossein Moghaddas, Student, Sharif University of Technology
Hünkar Tunç, University of Konstanz
Hye Sun Yun, PhD student, Northeastern University
Ian Haliburton, UCLA
Ihudiya Finda Williams, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan
Ilir Kola, PhD Candidate in Artificial Intelligence, Delft University of Technology
J Weston Hughes, PhD Student, Computer Science, Stanford University
Jacob McLemore, PhD Student, The University of Tennessee
Jacob Ritchie, PhD Student, Stanford University
Jan-Oliver Kaiser, MPI-SWS
Jane Im, PhD student, University of Michigan Information & Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
Jonathan Lu, Medical Student, Goldwater Scholar, Stanford University School of Medicine
Jose Guaro, Undergraduate, University of California, San Diego
Josephine Hoy, Graduate Student, Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington
Julia Cervantes-Espinoza, Educator Advocating CS for All, LAUSD Educator, Advocate of CS for All, EdTech Coach
Julia Len, PhD Student, Cornell University
Julien Gamba, PhD student, IMDEA Networks Institute
Justine Zhang, PhD Student, Cornell University
K.A. Garrett, Ph.D. Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University
Kamen Brestnichki, Machine Learning Scientist, University College London
Kat Roemmich, PhD student, University of Michigan School of Information
Katherine Song, PhD student, UC Berkeley
Katie Z. Gach, PhD Candidate, ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
Kazem Cheshmi, PhD student, University of Toronto
Kentrell Owens, PhD Student, University of Washington
Khalil Mrini, PhD Student in Computer Science, University of California San Diego
Konstantin Aal, PhD Student, University of Siegen
Konstantinos Kallas, PhD student, PhD student
Kyle Liang, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Leo Chen, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Léo Stefanesco, PhD student, Collège de France
Lindsay Popowski, Undergraduate, Harvey Mudd College
Linghui Luo, PhD Candidate, Paderborn University
Liz B. Marquis, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan School of Information
Lucy Li, PhD Student, University of California, Berkeley
Luke Swanson, PhD Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lydia Burger, Undergraduate Student, University of Oklahoma
Lydia Stamato, PhD Student, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
M. Hammad Mazhar, University of Iowa
Mahdi Belbasi, PhD candidate
Mahdi Sedaghat, PhD student of Cryptography in Cosic, Ku Leuven
Mahsa Alimardani, PhD Student, University of Oxford
Majid Rasouli, Ph.D. Student, University of Utah
Mania Abdi, Northeastern university
María Virginia Sabando, PhD student, Departemnt of Computer Sciences and Engineering, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina
Mark Schultz, PhD Student, UC San Diego
Maroussia Lévesque, Attorney; doctoral candidate, Harvard Law School
Mary Anne Smart, PhD student, UC San Diego
Maryam Akbari-Moghaddam, Computer Science, McMaster University
Masoud Mokhtari, Machine Learning Graduate Student, University of British Columbia
Masoumeh Abolfathi, PhD Candidate, University of Colorado Denver
Matin Yarmand, PhD Student, UC San Diego
Matthew Jörke, PhD Student, Stanford University, PhD Student
Maximilian Berens, PhD Student, TU Dortmund University
Mayowa Oke, Princeton University
Mazda Moayeri, University of Maryland
Maziar Hafezi, Mr, University of Toronto alumni
Mehran Shakerinava, McGill University
Mehri mehrnia, PhD candidate, Illinois institute of technology
MG Hirsch, University of Maryland
Michael Levet, PhD Student, University of Colorado Boulder- Department of Computer Science
Michael Rivera, PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael Schröder, PhD Student, TU Wien
Michelle Lam, PhD Student, Stanford University
Michelle Lin, Student
Mihir Mongia, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Mohamed Elgaar, PhD Student of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Mohammad Amin Charusaie, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Mohammad Bakhshalipour, PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University
Mohammad Chegini, Student of Electrical Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University
Mohammad Dehghan, Graduate Student, University of Waterloo
Mohammad Hossein Rimaz, Computer Science Student
Mohammad M. Ahmadpanah, Ph.D. Student, Chalmers University of Technology
MohammadHossein AskariHemmat, PhD Student, Polytechnique Montreal
Mollie Shichman, University of Maryland, College Park
Molly Jane Nicholas, Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley
Morgan Wofford, PhD Student, University of Michigan
Mostafa Touny, Software Engineering Student, 6th of October for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA)
Nadia Karizat, Master of Health Informatics, Candidate, University of Michigan School of Information
Naji Shajarisales, Graduate Research Assistant, Carnegie Mellon University
Nalini Singh, Graduate Student, MIT
Nava Haghighi, Stanford University
Navid Rahimi, M.Sc. in Computer Science, Simon Fraser University
Navid Salehnamadi, Software Engineering, Graduate Student, University of California, Irvine
Negar Arabzadeh, Computer science graduate student, University of Waterloo
Negar Ghorbani, PhD Candidate in Software Engineering, University of California, Irvine
Negar Khojasteh, PhD Candidate, Cornell University
Negin Alimohammadi, PhD student, University of Washington
Neilly Tan, PhD Student, University of Washington
Neophytos Charalambides, PhD candidate, EECS Department, University of Michigan
Nishant Rodrigues, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign
Omid Heravi, UC Berkeley
Orfeas Stefanos Thyfronitis Litos, PhD Student, University of Edinburgh
Panayiotis Smeros, PhD Student, EPFL
Pang Wei Koh, PhD Student, Stanford University
Pashootan Vaezipoor, University of Toronto
Patrick Lin, PhD Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Patrick Naughton, PhD Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Pedram Daee, Aalto University
Pedram Safi, Graduate Student of Computer Science, University of Southern California
Peyman Momeni, Computer Science Graduate Student, University of Waterloo
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Psi Vesely, UCSD
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Robert Andrews, PhD Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Robert P Gauthier, PhD Student, University of Waterloo
Rolando Garcia, PhD Student, UC Berkeley
Rose Kunkel, Ph.D. student, University of California, San Diego
Roshni Sahoo, Stanford University
Roya Sabbagh Novin, Research assistant, University of Utah
Rucha Ravi Kulkarni, PhD candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Saber Sheybani, PhD candidate in Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington
Saeed Rashidi, PhD Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
Saeedreza Shehnepoor, PhD Student, The University of Western Australia
Saeid Amiri, PhD candidate, SUNY Binghamton
Sahand Mozaffari, Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Sam McGuire, UCSD
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Shaghayegh Esmaeili, Ph.D. Student, University of Florida
Shahriar Shayesteh, M.Sc. student, University of Ottawa
Shahriar Talebi, PhD student, University of Washington
Shawheen Y Naderi, Student
Shayan Hosseini, MSc Student, UBC
Shiva Ketabi, University of Toronto
Soheil Changizi, Computer Science Master Student, University of Manitoba
Sohil Vaidya, Graduate Student of Computer Science, University of Colorado Denver
Sophie Huiberts, PhD Candidate, CWI
Steven Rick, PhD Candidate, UC San Diego
Talia Ringer, PhD Student, University of Washington
Tanvi Bajpai, Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Tobby Lie, Student of Computer Science, University of Colorado Denver
Tom Darin, Graduate Student, UCLA
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Václav Rozhoň, PhD Student, ETH Zurich
Vahid Mafi, PhD Candidate, IT Manager, Modares University
Vahid shahrivari, SUT
vasilis gavrielatos, PhD student computer science
Victoria Dean, PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Vishvajeet N, PhD candidate, Rutgers University
Weena Naowaprateep, CSEd Ph.D. Candidate, Mahidol University
Yaghoubi, Neuroscience student, PhD student at McGill University
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Yaser Souri, Ph.D. Student, University of Bonn
Yixin Zou, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan
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Yuhao Zhang, PhD Student, UC San Diego
Zahra Tarkhani, University of Cambridge
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Zeerak Waseem, PhD student, University of Sheffield
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The Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hebrew University Congratulations to Prof. Jeffrey Ullman from Stanford University on winning the Turing prize
6/4/21
Congratulations to Prof. Jeffrey Ullman from Stanford University on winning the Turing prize (joint with Alfred Aho)! Prof. Ullman received this award, often called the Nobel prize of CS, for his work on fundamental algorithms and theory underlying programming language implementation and for synthesizing these results and others in highly influential books, which educated generations of computer scientists. Prof. Ullman is also a generous benefactor to our department, and his help is instrumental in providing student stipends, and supporting the Data and Computing Center.
Iranian-American Group Calls on Stanford to Censure Professor
By Josh KellerJANUARY 5, 2011
An Iranian-American group has asked Stanford University to censure a professor for what it calls “racially discriminatory and inflammatory” comments to an Iranian student who was asking him about admission to Stanford.
The professor, Jeffrey D. Ullman, wrote in an e-mail to a student at Sharif University in Tehran that he could not help the student gain admission to Stanford. “And even if I were in a position to help, I will not help Iranian students until Iran recognizes and respects Israel as the land of the Jewish people,” Mr. Ullman wrote.
The e-mail continued, “If Iranians want the benefits of Stanford and other institutions in the U.S., they have to respect the values we hold in the U.S., including freedom of religion and respect for human rights.”
The group, the National Iranian American Council, cited the e-mail in a letter to Stanford’s president on Monday. In the letter, the group calls on the university to distance itself from the comments and take disciplinary action against the professor. It also objects to a document about Iran and Israel that Mr. Ullman has posted on his faculty Web site.
“Racial and political discrimination such as this surely cannot be compatible with Stanford University’s values,” wrote the group’s policy director, Jamal Abdi. “Does the university not frown on professors making and communicating arbitrary policy decisions reflecting their own politics—and using university-hosted forums to do so?”
A Stanford spokeswoman said on Wednesday that Mr. Ullman has no involvement in the admissions process and that he does not represent Stanford. “He’s expressing his personal opinion and that’s his prerogative,” said the spokeswoman, Lisa Lapin. “We don’t have anything further to say about it.”
In an interview, Mr. Ullman acknowledged writing the e-mail but called the group’s claims “so freaking ridiculous.” He said he was expressing a political view about the actions of the Iranian government, and that Iranians need to know that “nobody’s going to treat them very kindly if the country behaves the way it does.”
He said he should have made it clearer in his e-mail that he was expressing his own view, not an official Stanford policy. “But it should be pretty obvious that I’m not a Stanford admissions officer,” he said.=============================================================================== https://web.archive.org/web/20061030080448/http:/infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/pub/iranian.html
Every few weeks I get an email from someone claiming to live in Iran. They usually have a Hotmail account or Yahoo mail account; some even managed to get a gmail account. They have a question for me, ranging from technical (“Is it true that all grammars can be put in an unambiguous form?”, “Is there a theory that information can be neither created nor destroyed?”) to the political (“Why did the US shoot down an Iranian airliner/take land from Native Americans/Depose Mossadegh, etc. etc.?”, or “How do I justify ‘Zionist crimes’, etc.?”).
I’m not sure why I get these, or whether other academics get them as well. I have a theory that there is a concerted attempt by some Iranian group to probe for friends in the US or elsewhere. I would be interested to know if others have experienced the same sort of email-writing campaign that I have. Possibly, the Article on Fundamentalism that I wrote is circulated in Iran. One correspondent commented “It is well known that I hate Iranians,” even though the article doesn’t mention Iran explicitly, and I actually have no such feelings. I do believe that the fundamentalist government of Iran is a huge problem, both to its own people and to the world. But the people are just fine, when allowed to participate in a free society.
So in order to save everybody a lot of time, I’m going to write down the answers to representative questions.
Question: Can I get into Stanford?
Answer: Probably not. At least I can’t help you. Admissions for undergraduates are not handled by faculty at Stanford or any US school. For graduate work, a committee of faculty and students selects admittees. The process is honest and fair; no faculty member can or would influence the process. See More on the Subject.
Question: Why did the US shoot down an Iranian airliner?
Answer: Did you know that at the time, Iran was threatening US shipping in the Persian Gulf? Were you told that the airliner was not carrying a transponder to identify it, and had taken off from a military airport? When a country such as Iran takes warlike actions, unfortunately mistakes happen. Had you been in command of the American ship involved, you could not have risked a sneak attack and would have done exactly the same thing.
Question: Why did the US take land from the Native Americans?
Answer: Because that’s the way things happen and always have happened. Technologically more advanced civilizations replace less advanced civilizations. I have a question of my own, which none of my Iranian correspondents was willing or able to answer. About 2500 years ago, there was a great Persian civilization. I have a suspicion that the people of Cyrus, Darius, and the other famous Persian kings were not living in Persia from the time of Homo Habilis. Where did the Persians come from, and whom did they replace? And why didn’t they respect the rights of the weaker civilization that was living on the land that is now Iran?
It is striking that Iranians have no trouble pointing to questionable actions of America and the rest of the free world, yet they give themselves, and Islamic terrorists in general, a free pass for much more heinous crimes. As a start, look at the first act of the fundamentalists in Iran: holding hostage the US diplomatic corps. Contrast that blatant violation of international law and tradition with the way America treated Japanese diplomats after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Diplomats were permitted to return home, as we were obliged in 1941 to do, and as Iran was obliged in 1979 to do. To make the contrast more extreme — the Japanese ambassador had been instructed by his government to present a declaration of war an hour before the Pearl-Harbor attack. But he neglected to do so!
Even more telling is the Iranian ranting over the fact that in the recent conflict between Israel and the Iranian-sponsored Hizbollah militia, Israel accidentally killed some civilians that Hizbollah was using as human shields. Yet at the same time, Iran provided missles whose sole purpose was to kill civilians. I think it is time that Iran looked into its own sense of ethics, and cleaned up its own act before presuming to tell the rest of the world about right and wrong.
Question: Why did the CIA depose Mossadegh in 1953?
Answer: As I understand it, Mossadegh nationalized the oil resources that had been developed by US and other Western oil companies. It is an interesting question whether natural resources should belong to the people who accidentally built homes on top of it, or to the people whose technology made it possible to extract those resources. I suspect that in 1953 the answer was clearly the latter, but as time went on, political philosophy went toward the former. Thus, seeing the events of 1953 through modern eyes, it looks different from what it was in its time. Regardless, if a country wants to import technology, as every developing nation should, it has to acknowledge the rule of law and respect its agreements with the companies that supply the technology. The penalty for not doing so is that the country will not have access to technology, and it appears that Iran is suffering from exactly that problem today.
Question: Why didn’t the US stop the Rwandan genocide (or other similar events)?
Answer: Curiously, Iran and many countries object to the US playing “policeman” for the world. Yet alone among countries, the US sometimes uses its resources to help countries when there is no benefit to us whatsoever. There are examples ranging from the Marshall plan in Europe after WW-II, to Kuwait and Kosovo. Where was Iran? Where is everybody now, when Arabs are killing and raping in Darfur?
Question: What do I think of Zionist crimes (sic)?
Answer: If you are referring to the actions of the state of Israel, I don’t see Israel as acting in a criminal way, given the circumstances. Rather, the criminals are Hamas, Hizbollah, and all the other Islamic terrorist groups that intentionally target innocent civilians rather than welcoming Israel into their midst. They could be having the benefits of a neighbor that is adept at modern, Western technology and is generous enough to share its advantages with friendly neighbors. It is not a crime for Israel, or any other country, to defend itself to the maximum extent possible from those sworn to kill its citizens.
I think that Iranians, from their president on down, could use a history lesson. Here are the relevant facts:
Jews have lived in the land that is now Israel for the past 3000 years. However, the Jewish population started to increase in the 1800’s, when Jews bought the land from its owners under Ottoman law. Nothing was stolen, and the influx of Jews was not a result of the Balfour declaration in 1917 or actions of the European powers. In fact, Great Britain acted to keep Jews out of the land of Israel prior to 1948. So when your president rants that the Holocaust was imaginary, tell him that, not only is he wrong, but it doesn’t matter. That is not why Israel exists.
Israel was formed by vote of the UN and has all the legitimacy of any other member of the UN. The notion that Arabs were pushed out of the land of Israel is nonsense. There was an exchange of populations similar to what had happened the year before when India and Pakistan were partitioned. In each case, I am sure that people on both sides chose to move because they preferred to be with their coreligionists. It may be that some of the 700,000 Jews who left Arab lands feared for their safety had they stayed, and it may be that some of the 600,000 Arabs who left Israel believed that they would be harmed if they stayed there. However, it is ridiculous to imagine that the motivations were different for these Arabs from what they were for the Moslems who left India for Pakistan (foolishly, it turns out — a secular, democratic state takes care of its people much better than a theocratic state), or the Hindus who left Pakistan, or the Jews who left Arab lands. The bottom line: there is neither precedent for, nor justification for, the “right of return” of Palestinians to the homes they chose to abandon for foolish reasons.
Immediately after its creation, Israel was attacked by Arab armies from countries 150 times its size. These Arab armies were crushed, and Arab land was lost, resulting in the “1967 borders.”
Although Arabs could have had the 1967 borders any time up to 1967, simply by making peace with Israel, they did not do so. Rather, they kept up terror attacks from wherever they could launch them, and many Israelis were killed by Nobel Laureate Yasser Arafat and his crew. It is important to bear this fact in mind, when you hear apologists for terror saying that it is justified by the fact that Israel won’t return to its 1967 borders. The real reason for the terror is that Islamic fundamentalists cannot accept a non-Moslem state in territory they fantacize belongs to them.
After 1967, Arabs attacked again in 1973 and were again beaten back. Over the past 20 years terrorist groups have launched several campaigns against Israel, and have had to be beaten back by attacking where they live. Like the cowards of Hizbollah, they hide behind their own children and their neighbors’ children in order to make it appear that it is the Israelis who are committing crimes. However, if you think about it, there is no other possible response to terrorists who hide among civilians (negotiating with terrorists just guarantees that the more vicious and irresponsible a group behaves, the more power it has to influence events). It is the responsibility of those around them to round them up and control them. If not, one should never blame the victim of terror for fighting back in the only way victims of this “asymmetric warfare” can.
So instead of crying about “Zionist crimes,” I strongly recommend that our Iranian friends look into the crimes of the Islamists among them and the Islamists that Iran sponsors.
Question: Why won’t Israel compromise?
Answer: I never did find out what sort of compromise this questioner had in mind, but the answer is that of course Israel will compromise. In the year 2000, Israel offered to give back 98% of what the Arabs had lost in 1967. However, the compromise should take into account the three generations of hostility that has come from Israel’s neighbors, and the fact that Israel has been victorious in all these actions. The proper comparison is what happened after World Wars I and II (or any other major war, I would imagine). The victor gets to determine the compromise. Look at what happened to Germany. They shrunk after WW-I and again after WW-II. But what remains is a prosperous, proud country. Look what happened to Japan after WW-II. They lost territory too, but came to be a dominant economic power.
I cannot speak for Israel, but I strongly believe that if the Arabs would offer a settlement that gave Israel a little extra land in compensation for the repeated aggressions of Arabs, and if the Islamic community would sincerely agree to drop the idea that there is something wrong with a democratic, non-Moslem state in the Middle East, then I think the rewards would actually flow to the Arab neighbors. Germany and Japan are excellent examples of what could happen. But while Germany and Japan had their own technology base on which to build after WW-II, in the case of Israel and its neighbors, the Israeli technology base would prove an added benefit to the Arabs. One of the great shames of Islamic fundamentalism is that it neglects to develop a technologically capable population. In the modern world, the benefits of “keeping up” are enormous. Israel could help its neighbors catch up with all the third-world countries that are now beginning to grow modern economies. But the choice is with the Moslem world: continue to wallow in self-pity, while patting yourselves on the back for your “piety,” or realize that the world today is not the world of Mohammed, and you need to throw off the yoke of religious extremism and get to work.
Question: Do I think Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons?
Answer: Of course. The proof is that oil-fired power plants are much safer than nuclear plants, as we saw at Chernobl, just to mention the most devastating case. Iran has plenty of oil and does not need to take the risk of developing nuclear power plants.
Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons puts into clear focus the foolishness of the mullahs who rule the country. When the Shah was calling the shots, he spent oil money to send Iran’s best and brightest to the US for a technical education. As soon as the mullahs took over, that all stopped, and Iran has done nothing to build a modern technology-based economy the way so many countries have done with a boost from US education. Unlike many of these countries, which are not blessed with copious oil revenue by the way, Iran has spent its money on incredibly stupid projects. Every Iranian must realize that should they ever build and use a nuclear weapon, the country would be obliterated in the next hour. So nuclear weapons will not enable you to be taken seriously on the world stage; only a strong technology base and an inventive people who contribute solutions to the great problems of the day can do that.
Perhaps worse, what money you are not spending on nuclear-weapons development is being spent equally unwisely. Recall the Chinese proverb about “give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What you are doing is definitely giving out fish. As mentioned above, you are failing to invest in the best available education for your brightest citizens. Worse, look at how you spend your money in Lebanon, and to an extent Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. You hand out charity to let Islamic fundamentalist parties gain supporters, but you never do anything to educate these people or help make them self-sufficient. You give them expensive missles to commit murder. Then, when their nonsense backfires (and even Nasrallah has admitted he made a big mistake), you throw more money at them to clean up the destruction, all the time claiming it is Israel’s fault for defending itself. No; it is your fault for choosing to start trouble with the very money that could have meant a better life for the poor of Iran or — should you choose to donate some of the money — poor people in places like Lebanon.
Response to the Open Letter from CSForInclusion to the Committee of the ACM A.M. Turing Award and ACM
ACM promotes the exchange of ideas and freedom of thought and expression as central to the aims and goals of ACM. Achieving these goals requires an environment that recognizes the inherent worth of every person and every group. ACM’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is explicit in ACM’s Core Values statement, in the efforts of the ACM Diversity and Inclusion Council, and in the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
Even with the best of intentions, however, the processes in place may not always guarantee we explicitly consider these goals in every step or action ACM takes. When we become aware of the need to improve processes, we do it. The Statement on the Selection of Jeffrey Ullman for a Turing Award affords such an opportunity by raising two important issues for ACM regarding our commitment to core values and ethical and professional behavior in the ACM awards program. We address these issues below.
Report on the specifics surrounding this nomination, especially the extent of checks and balances that are in place to ensure that the process of awarding the highest distinction in computing is protected against violations of the ACM mission and its core values.
Response: ACM, the ACM Awards Committee Co-Chairs, and the ACM Turing committee members first became aware of the statements of Jeffrey Ullman when the social media discussion began after the 2020 A. M. Turing Award was announced. As part of the Awards process, ACM routinely checks whether we have received any complaints about award nominees with respect to ACM’s Code of Ethics or other policies. In this case, we determined that no complaints had ever been filed against Jeffrey Ullman. ACM also relied on the submitted nomination package and carefully evaluated the letters provided by the nominator and the endorsers to assess the candidate’s worthiness for an award. No red flags were raised in the nomination package.
Clarity from ACM on establishing compliance with its core values, particularly on D & I standards, as an explicit criterion for receiving this award. If not, transparently state that behaviors that directly damage inclusivity and diversity in the computing field are not relevant in the criteria listed by ACM for this award.
Response: The Selection Criteria for the A.M. Turing Award emphasize technical achievement and lasting impact. ACM has already begun to design a process that explicitly takes ACM values into account in all award decisions. We will continue to check into the professional background of award nominees. Recognizing that ACM might not have access to all such information, we will enhance the nomination form beginning with the next ACM awards cycle later this year. Award Nominators and Endorsers will be required to indicate whether they know of any ACM Code of Ethics violations or behavior inconsistent with ACM values, and any positive responses will initiate further examination of the suitability of the candidate for the award. We will publish full details about this process for ACM awards before the next award cycle begins.
About this captureIf you are reading my pages with an eye to engaging in the NIAC vendetta, please be advised that I will not read your email, but I will archive it in case I decide later that I need to take legal action or turn the matter over to the police.
Also, please read the document carefully, and do not take Mr. Hojabri’s bizarre interpretation seriously. In particular, I have been accused of “racism” on the basis of my document, which is an absurd conclusion. Rather, as my email mentioned by Hojabri stated, I would (hypothetically) elect not to help a student from Iran gain admission to Stanford ahead of more qualified students, were such a thing possible (which it is not). It is my choice, after all, and my reasons are purely political. I suspect that many NIAC members boycott Israeli products, regardless of whether the manufacturer supports the present Israeli government (and they act in the real world, not my hypothetical world). Are they guilty of racism?
To make Mr. Hojabri’s misreading of my article even more ridiculous, the end of the second paragraph clearly states my admiration for Iranian students I have known at Stanford. Stanford policy, as well as my own ethics, dictates that all Stanford students in my classes or who come in contact with me in any way are treated in a uniform matter. In fact, when I grade my class, I do so from a spreadsheet that omits names, leaving only scores. That protects me from inadvertently downgrading a student for any reason (e.g., they’ve been obnoxious in class), not just their race, gender, or ethnicity.============================================= https://web.archive.org/web/20200213142924/http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/niac.html
About this captureThere is apparently a group on Facebook, the redundantly named “National Iranian-American Council” (NIAC), that has started a vendetta against me. I’m not on Facebook, so I can’t see for certain, but here’s an excerpt from my Wikipedia page as of 5:39PM Tuesday the 5th of January, 2011. There is apparently one of these little wars in cyberspace going on, where part of NIAC’s game is to edit in ridiculous accusations about what I said or believe, so if you view the page, you might get something entirely different. The following was apparently written by a member of a group that endeavors to monitor the activities of NIAC, and I appreciate their support.
In 2011, Ullman has come under fire for making allegedly discriminatory, anti-Iranian remarks through email correspondence and web postings, as was the opinion of the bullying group NIAC (National Iranian American Council).
In one email to an Iranian graduate student, the professor responded to an inquiry about admission to his department saying, “Even if I were in a position to help, I will not help Iranian students until Iran recognizes and respects Israel as the land of the Jewish people.” The professor went on to write, “If Iranians want the benefits of Stanford and other institutions in the US, they have to respect the values we hold in the US.” (See http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/pub/iranian.html)
The professor’s courageous public Stanford website includes a page entitled “Answers to All Questions Iranian,” in which he expresses his political views on questions such as why the US shot down an Iranian airliner in the 1988 or why the CIA deposed Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. The page, written as a series of questions from Iranians with answers from the professor that he receives repeatedly via email, also includes the question, “Can I get into Stanford?” with the honest response, “Probably not. At least I can’t help you. Admissions for undergraduates are not handled by faculty at Stanford or any US school. For graduate work, a committee of faculty and students selects admittees. The process is honest and fair; no faculty member can or would influence the process.”
Iranian Americans, notably Dr. Fredun Hojabri, the former Professor and Academic-Vice Chancellor of Sharif university of Technology, have raised the situation with Stanford in public without discussing this with Ullman first in a bullying campaign. NIAC condemned the allegedly “racially discriminatory and inflammatory public communications” in a letter to Stanford’s president in public. The National Iranian American Council called for Stanford, which is home to a large population of Iranian and Iranian-American students, to clarify the university’s position regarding the remarks and to take disciplinary measures, without first talking to Ullman.
Apparently much of the fuss has centered around the possibility that I was, in the quoted email about “If Iranians want the benefits…,” speaking for Stanford. It is an absurd conclusion, given that I also comment on “all US institutions,” and surely no one believes I speak for the entire academic community. However, I probably should have prefixed the comment with “in my opinion.” Emails are written quickly, and it is incredibly silly for the NIAC people to react this way without even asking what I meant.
Like everyone, I’ve been quite affected by the attacks apparently perpetrated by fundamentalists on 9/11/01. I’d like to set down a few thoughts, none of which are remarkable or original, but I’ll feel better putting them in print. Feel free to email me with your own point of view on the various subjects covered below. However, be warned that I reserve the right to make your email available on the Web, link to it, and comment upon it.
1. Fundamentalism
Just prior to the millenium, I was polled by a magazine about a number of questions I really couldn’t answer, like what will the world be like in 1000 years? The one question to which I felt I could respond was “What is the greatest danger in the world today?” My answer: Fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism is a belief that the world is not complex, but really simple if you follow the simplistic ideas of the group at hand. Many religions foster a fundamentalist offshoot; it’s not an Islamic thing. In fact, it’s not always a religious thing, and we see fundamentalism in various guises. It is always characterized, as the name implies, by a set of assumptions that are not open to debate and that trump all other concerns. The most insidious of these assumptions is that there is a supreme being who believes and wishes exactly what the fundamentalist group in question believes. You can’t argue with them, you can’t reason with them, and if you disagree with them, they have a “big brother” who will beat you up.
Right now, the Islamic fundamentalists have center stage. But we should never forget that there are other fundamentalist groups out there, such as the Christian fundamentalists in the US or the ultra-orthodox Jewish fundamentalists. And while they differ on their fundamental, nonnegotiable views of the world, they each claim a right to impose their simplistic view on the general population, without the normal constraints, such as respect for life, that apply to people without an imagined mandate from some god. Notice that the anti-abortion fundamentalists share with the perpetrators of the bombings of Sept. 11 a willingness to kill and to bomb, e.g., abortion clinics. Yes, I know that in each case, it is only a small minority of the adherents who kill. But in each case the fundamental assumptions, and the assumed undeniability of those assumptions, are used to justify murder.
In fact, the second most disgusting story of the week of Sept. 11 was Jerry Falwell announcing that the bombings were really a punishment from his god for our tolerance of people or positions he disagrees with, such as feminism or homosexuality. Nice going, Jerry. Thanks for reminding us that the healthy feeling of unity and solidarity among all kinds of Americans doesn’t apply to people who don’t meet your Procrustean standard of permissible behavior.
Even those fundamentalists who do not consider murder an appropriate method of carrying out their god’s wishes commit a crime of a more subtle nature. They limit the options their children have to create their own lives and to choose their own futures. (Thanks to my wife Holly for pointing out what should have been obvious to me.) The Taliban makes sure that women receive no useful education; so do the Jewish ultra-orthodox. Christian fundamentalists are big on “home-schooling,” to make sure their children are not exposed to ideas with which they disagree. To be honest, I am uncertain how one goes about assuring that children have opportunities. There are great dangers in having a state decide the set of ideas to which children need to be exposed. However, I also believe that the only long-term solution to the scourge of fundamentalism is broad educational opportunities and exposure of all children everywhere to the mix of possible ways to view a complex world.
Added 8/2/04: It’s been almost 3 years, and our President has evidently not yet seen the contradiction of fighting Islamic fundamentalism on one hand and leaping into bed with Christian fundamentalists on the other. In addition to muddling the war on terrorism, he has continued to support the Christian-fundamentalist agenda against abortion, gay marriage, and most ludicrously against stem-cell research. His lack of thought and reasoning points up another common property of fundamentalisms: they are frequently based on an interpretation of ancient text written by someone who could not possibly understand modern issues. Moreover, this interpretation is often the work of a modern “thinker” with an ax to grind. Ask yourself realistically: what would Moses have thought of stem-cell research? Did Jesus think that cold callers could enter the kingdom of heaven? What part of a spammer’s anatomy would Mohammed have advised cutting off? The answer, of course, is that none of these guys had any clue about these or other issues that have surfaced since they wrote. Unfortunately, we have in the United States today a leadership that fantacizes answers to these questions based on the writings of people who had no clue about the questions, let alone the answers.
2. Recommended Reading
A few weeks ago, we were cleaning house and a book called Big Trouble by Dave Barry surfaced. Barry’s books are very funny, so I read it. As soon as I finished, I learned that it was about to be released as a movie. But it’s never going to play in theaters, at least not for quite a while. However, I recommend the book highly, even if it does include episodes such as bad guys taking a nuclear weapon through an airport security check by waiting while all the guards converge on a businessman carrying a laptop.
Added 4/12/02: The movie has reemerged, although I have not seen it. I’m willing to bet that they redid it to soft-peddle Barry’s satire of the foolish security guards that concentrate on people that are obviously not the problem.
3. The Palestinians
Will the Palestinians finally forsake terror as a political approach and start building both better lives for themselves and a better relationship with their Israeli neighbors? We should not forget that Israel, a country with about 1.5% of the US population, suffers due to terrorist attacks a proportional World-Trade-Center bombing every 3 months. Somehow the world largely failed to notice or care, or equated random acts against civilians with carefully targeted military action. Suddenly the world comprehends that the Israeli approach to fighting terror is not a defect of character but is the only possible response other than surrender.
Let’s remember that the last attempt to build a peace fell apart when, after being given essentially everything they want short of the dismantling of the Jewish state, the Palestinian side suddenly demanded that millions of their number be allowed to live in Israel itself. A few historical facts and comparisons:
The Palestinian refugees fled Israel in 1948 as the result of a war imposed on Israel by six or seven Arab neighbors, with 150 times the population. The Arabs at that time not only failed to drive the Jews out, but they lost ground, and the “refugees” voluntarily fled from the ground they lost. Arabs have chosen to keep these people in camps as a festering sore.
At the same time, a roughly equal number of Jews fled from Arab lands to Israel. In contrast, these refugees were welcomed and integrated into the new state. No Arab state has offered any compensation for the property they lost.
Additional territory was lost in 1967, when Egypt blockaded the Israeli port of Eilat and Syria bombarded Israel from the Golan Heights, leading to an Israeli response that put an end to both these aggressions.
Compare the situation when India and Pakistan were divided. There, 40,000,000 people moved across the border to the side they preferred. All were accommodated on “their” side and not used as hostages by their own people to support territorial claims on the other side.
Added 5/11/02: Another interesting comparison is with what happened between Greece and Turkey in 1922. The Greeks suddenly had to resettle 1.5 million people, and did so without using them as hostages for political gain. An old friend has written an Account of the Events as told to him by his Mother, who was one of those relocated. Added 4/2/05: I received an email from Okan Kolak, a student at U. Maryland, who points out that there were also half a million refugees from Greek lands who suddenly had to resettle in Turkey. It was never my intent to suggest that the problem was one-sided. My informant tells me that the Turkish refugees were also “assimilated into the general population over time.” Again, there was no notion of “right of return,” a concept that seems unique to the Palestinians, among all historially known resettlements of refugees.
Added 9/16/02: I was reading The Middle East by Bernard Lewis (Simon and Schuster, 1995), and he tells what happened in the early days of the Islamic Jihad. The conquering Arabs took the land all over the Middle East from its rightful owners. They also took the women, and largely bred out of existence the indigenous populations. This is the land that Palestinians now protest so vehemently belongs to them, rather than the people their ancestors took it from.
Mr. bin Laden and other pro-Arab polemicists would have you believe that the land of Israel is really “Islamic territory” stolen by the Jews. The fact is that in the mid 19th century, the land was essentially unpopulated desert. Of the people living there, a substantial portion were Jews, as had been the case throughout recorded history with a few brief periods when Jews were evicted by the Babylonians, and then the Romans. In mid 19th century, European Jews, bringing the best agricultural technology of the day bought land from its rightful owners, and proceeded to reforest the land and to create agricultural settlements. These developments brought an influx of Moslems into the land, especially after the famine of 1905. It is mostly the descendants of these immigrants who are portrayed by the anti-Israel forces as the “original inhabitants of the land.” It ain’t so.
So here’s what I hope could happen:
Mr. Arafat gets serious about controlling the criminals in his own country, and prevents them from attacking another. He rearrests the known terrorists whom he let out of jail to further his chosen brand of “warfare.”
He accepts the consequences of two generations of mismanagement of the refugees and of the Arab relationship with Israel, and does not expect more than other states have gotten in similar circumstances.
The quarter of a billion dollars under the control of Mr. bin Laden is identified and turned over to the Palestinians, to start building a new life for these unfortunates. Build a few chip plants. Or how about a few universities that compare to the Israeli schools, to create a population that sustains a prosperous country? And how about big contributions from the Saudis and other oil kingdoms, and from all the Arab countries that allowed the Palestinians to fester in their “refugee camps,” both before and after they fell under Israeli control?
4. Avoid a Two-Front War
I predict that the “war on drugs” is going to get in the way of the war on terrorism. For a simple example, the first time I traveled to Israel, I was surprised when check-in included a search of my bags. It was explained that they were not looking for drugs or import violations, and even if they found such, they would not report it or make note of it. They did, however, demand to search for the sole purposes of security.
For another example: poppies are a principal crop of Afghanistan. If we want the friendship of the typical Afghani — and I hope our leaders realize that we can’t possibly win the war without winning friends — we can’t also try to eradicate a major source of their wealth. We can deal with the problem at the consumption end if we must, but let’s not get confused where our real interests lie. Aside Re Drugs. Added 4/12/02: Well the war in Afghanistan turned out better than I would have expected. The city folks, at least, seemed genuinely happy to be rid of the fundamentalist regime. But wouldn’t you know it — with all the other problems the Karzai government is facing, they have to start arresting the poppy farmers. I suspect US pressure is behind it; Hamid Karzai comes across as a pretty sensible guy. I have an idea. Leave the Afghani farmers alone, let them earn a little hard currency, and start arresting tobacco farmers in North Carolina instead. They sell a substance that is far more deadly, and they export their trouble around the world. (Thanks to Stu Reges for making me see the contradiction between how we treat the tobacco industry and the “drug” industry.)
The new issue is with the obvious need for integrating information sources of all kinds, such as credit-card and bank transactions, phone calls, enrollments in flight schools, purchases of crop-dusting equipment and a million things I can’t think of that, in the hands of a skilled analyst, could pinpoint a terror plot. However, in order to justify this step as a war measure, we need to make sure it is never used to track drug dealers, or develop evidence of infidelity, embezzlement, or any other crime that is not an act of war against this or another country. Apparently the Israelis have managed to keep the two separate, and we can too, if we have the will to do so. Added 5/14/02: It’s as bad as I feared. Dionne Warwick was busted at a security checkpoint for carrying marijuana in a lipstick case (note to self: find out why her “psychic-friends” network didn’t warn her). And a guy carrying grass was caught and claimed (falsely) that he had a knife. So what do our defenders of public safety and morality do? They shut down the terminal for three hours and rescreened everyone. “Procedures,” apparently.
Modern technology has given criminals and terrorists many new and deadly options. Just about the only defensive weapon to come out of the developments of the past 50 years is information technology: our ability to learn electronically what evils are being planned. If we use it wisely, we can keep our personal freedom, yet use information effectively against its enemies.
5. Battle of the Nephews
Added 4/12/02: I heard the following story after writing the original article. It’s hard to know what to make of it, but it is sufficiently weird I think it’s worth telling.
I have a nephew who went to a toney eastern college. He somehow got in with a bad crowd — conservatives who are as foolish for trying to steal our freedom to act as the liberal “political correctness” gang is for trying to control what we are permitted to say or think. Anyway, my Nephew wrote an article for the campus conservative magazine several years ago, advocating the profiling of Arab men at airport security checks.
This article caused a great hue and cry on campus. So great was the righteous indignation that the campus administrators did the only thing a politically correct campus administration could do: they closed down the conservative magazine.
Now here’s the funny part. Who was the leader of the voices raised against my Nephew’s improper thought? Ans.: One of the many nephews of Osama bin Laden.
6. Definition of Terrorism
Added 4/13/02: I received a number of emails arguing that US bombing in Afghanistan, which had the unfortunate effect of sometimes accidentally hitting civilians, or what Israel does to root out terrorists in the Palestinian territories, again sometimes killing civilians among which the terrorists hide, were themselves forms of terrorism. Nope; it ain’t, but the difference is remarkably subtle. Here’s my theory why the killers of 9/11, or the Palestinian suicide/homicide bombers, are different.
First, while it is far from obvious, organized (i.e., nonterrorist) warfare has a peculiar benefit. While our attention gets fixed on the times when nations go to war and on all the stupid devastation that results, we don’t notice the times that the “warfare process” causes a resolution of disputes without bloodshed. That is, there must be far more times when diplomats looked at what the capabilities of the other side were and decided not to go to war, but to resolve the question in the favor of the side that would have won anyway. Curiously, “lesser” species seem to have a better grasp of this idea than we do. It is quite normal for, say, two moose to resolve a dispute by batting horns, and the loser winds up with a headache, instead of dead, as they would if the combat continued to its natural conclusion.
Humans do a certain amount of this demonstrating as well. The USSR was fond of parading its missiles through Moscow, not because everyone loves a parade, but because it reminded other nations of the outcome of attack. The tragedies come when one side does not see the logical outcome of war, which is why making capabilities clear saves lives.
The great flaw of terrorism is that by its nature there can be no posturing, no demonstration of capabilities, no opportunity for two states to consider who could perform the most violent terrorist acts against the other. For example, you may have many suicide/homicide bombers already brainwashed and ready for action. But you can’t parade them through Ramallah. Anybody could dress up carrying real explosives around their waist pretending to be willing to carry out an act of terrorism, but you wouldn’t believe they represented a threat until the threat was carried out.
Thus, while conventional warfare gives the sides an option of reasoning out what the result of war would be, terrorism leaves the combatants with only one option: go at it until one is wiped out. Notice what happened in Israel when the Palestinians demonstrated their misunderstanding of this point. They caused the deaths of many innocent victims, and at the present time they are learning what the only outcome can be: tit-for-tat killings. I wish the Palestinian leaders had been able to think clearly about the inevitable outcome of their choice, and taken the very generous deal that Barak offered them almost two years ago. But I can only grieve for the innocents who never had the opportunity to tell Mr. Arafat not to kill in their name, and who became the victims of the inevitable reprisals caused by terrorism.
7. Report on a Year’s Worth of Comments
Added 9/16/02: I received a number of emails from people who read this article during the first year. Not surprisingly, they were, as far as I can tell, all from Computer Scientists, since no one else would have found it. (Google still lists no links to this document other than from my home page.) The responses generally fell into three categories:
All fundamentalists except my kind of fundamentalist are wrong, so you should change your article to exempt my group.
You are a Zionist pig, and how dare you say all those nasty things about Yasser Arafat et al.
How dare you criticize anti-abortionists.
The first group were typically Jewish ultra-orthodox. For example, one said of my comments that fundamentalists share a common disrespect for the lives of those who disagree with them: “you can’t find any quote or action of any ultra-orthodox person ever suggesting that anybody’s life should be taken in different circumstances than (sic.) the circumstances in which secular individuals would generally justify it.” Well it is true that the Islamic fundamentalists are in a class by themselves in this matter, but I recall living in Jerusalem in 1984, when the ultra-orthodox were throwing rocks through the windshields of cars that drove on the sabbath. They didn’t appear to concern themselves whether they caused an accident that killed the driver, or perhaps some innocent child.
In the second category, the following remark, edited only to correct grammar and spelling, stands out for its subtlety: “if any one believes in what you said, I will call him the most arrogant idiot ignorant Zionist extremist, and racist I have ever seen.” The gentleman was at least polite enough to allow me the “out” of admitting that I didn’t really mean anything I said in this article. This same fellow admonished me to (again, grammar and spelling edited) “Stop using your university resources to impose your political opinions because it is against the constitution to do so.” Apparently this fellow was in the US for some time and was teaching a course at a university, but a few basic concepts of how a democracy works had eluded him.
My favorite of the third category was a fellow who tried to resurrect the old argument that I think was due to Pascal (who when he wasn’t busy inventing programming languages, tried to prove the existence of God). It says basically, that if you follow what he perceives as God’s law — in this case, outlawing abortion — then your downside is limited: a few women have to deal with children they don’t want (his view, not mine). But if you flout God’s law, then the risk is infinite. In Pascal’s terms it was eternal damnation, while in the terms of my correspondent, it was the loss of millions of the souls of fetuses. The fallacy in this sort of argument is that it can apply to absolutely any idea. If God turns out to be a giant chicken, then I would impair my immortal soul to eat at KFC. Are you willing to risk it? As always, its people with these unalterable and undebatable ideas that want you to consider their theology as special and unique.
And curiously, no one was willing to put their arguments in a document that I could link to, although several wanted me to add their thoughts to my own document, which I ain’t gonna do.
Prof. Jeffrey and Holly Ullman, decided to support our Computer Science Department
Professor Jeffrey (Stanford University, CA) and Holly Ullman, in consultation with Professor Shlomi Dolev (BGU), recently established the Martha and Solomon Scharf Prize for Developing Excellence in Computer, Communications and Information Sciences, supporting excellent students. In addition they will support research activity in the computer science disciplines.
A new petition by international scholars deserves attention. It states that “In the classroom and on campus, we commit to Pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.”
The scholars who signed this petition affirm that the Palestinian struggle is an “indigenous liberation movement” that confronts a “settler colonial state” that enacts “policies of apartheid” with a “territorial theft” and “the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals.” This petition argues that Israel is once again “conducting a large-scale aerial bombing campaign against the fourteen-year besieged Gaza Strip, killing scores of Palestinians and making thousands more homeless.” Any talks about the Hamas rockets reflect the “thorough dehumanization of Palestinians and the abject disregard for Israeli military aggression.” The scholars promise to “Support community efforts and legislation to pressure our governments to end funding Israeli military aggression.”
The petition states that, since Palestinian scholars work “under the threat of settler colonial erasure and imposition of exile, it is understood that their ideas and experiences are inextricably bound to the intellectual project and tradition that is Palestinian studies.” However, “research and writing are not enough,” having only “Scholarship without action normalizes the status quo and reinforces Israel’s impunity.” Critical theory must be backed with deeds. Therefore, they “affirm that it is no longer acceptable to conduct research in Palestine or on Palestinians without a clear component of political commitment…It is no longer acceptable to speak over Palestinians, or publish without citation of Palestinian scholars.”
Among the hundreds of signatories are some renowned leaders of the anti-Israel front. They include Noura Erakat; Richard Falk; Haim Bresheeth-Zabner; Moshe Machover; David Lloyd; David Palumbo-Liu; Mark LeVine; Nick Riemer; Ilana Feldman; Adi M. Ophir; Ariella Aisha Azoulay; Beshara Doumani; Ilan Pappe; Nahla Abdo; Ophira Gamliel; Yael Politi; Noa Shaindlinger.
The Israeli signatories from Israeli institutions are Noga Wolff, The College of Management Academic Studies; Ilana Hairston, Tel Hai Academic College; Lama Midlej, Tel Aviv University; Nadeem Karkabi, University of Haifa; Maha El-Taji Daghash, University of Haifa.
The petition was widely circulated. It reached Jadaliyya, a journal published by the Arab Studies Institute, based in Washington DC and Beirut. It is a non-profit organization that “produces knowledge on matters related to the Arab world and its relations.”
In Ireland, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union and the Trinity College Dublin BDS campaign group have called their academics to sign this pledge. “A Google Form where staff members can sign the pledge has been sent to all heads of Trinity’s schools,” as reported by the University Times in Ireland. In the US, Newsweekreported that “Hundreds of Princeton Faculty, Students Sign Letter Opposing Israel’s ‘Jewish Supremacy.'”
Surprisingly, however, this petition has even reached the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Their CHCI-Global Humanities Institute on Migration, Logistics and Unequal Citizens in Contemporary Global Context has published this call on their website. This institute is dealing mainly with the international migrations that changed contemporary 21st-century societies, producing cases of massive displaced and precarious lives that impacted local communities.
Once again, the pro-Palestinian activists show their profound bias. They refuse to acknowledge that Israel has the right to respond, as per international war conventions, to the barrage of missiles that Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched from Gaza. Equally important, the petition advocates for Palestinian supremacy.
The Israeli academics who signed the petition raise another issue. Advocating for BDS is illegal in Israel since the Knesset passed the Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott, in 2011. Israeli academics are openly involved with BDS without any reaction from the authorities. Like any other breach of law, their action deserves scrutiny.
Open Letter and Call to Action – Palestine and Praxis: Scholars for Palestinian FreedomBy : Jadaliyya Reports
This is an open call for action issued by the Palestine and Praxis organization. Sign in solidarity here. As scholars, we affirm the Palestinian struggle as an indigenous liberation movement confronting a settler colonial state. The pitched battle in Sheikh Jarrah is the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Nakba that is the Palestinian condition. Israel has expanded and entrenched its settler sovereignty through warfare, expulsion, tenuous residency rights, and discriminatory planning policies. The ostensible peace process has perpetuated its land grabs and violent displacement under the fictions of temporality and military necessity. Together these policies constitute apartheid, bolstered by a brute force that enshrines territorial theft and the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals. And now, as has been the case for over a century, Palestinians continue to resist their removal and erasure.
Palestinian resistance to this eliminatory violence in Sheikh Jarrah and the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque have catalyzed protests across a violently separated landscape. Palestinians in Lydd, Nazareth, Acre, Haifa and elsewhere have raised Palestinian flags in mass protest affirming the national and singular character of the Palestinian people and their collective call for liberation. Israel is once again conducting a large-scale aerial bombing campaign against the fourteen-year besieged Gaza Strip, killing scores of Palestinians and making thousands more homeless.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Palestinian death is treated as a byproduct of Israeli vulnerability. The attempts to transform the conversation on Israeli state violence to a series of stale talking points about Hamas rockets reflect the thorough dehumanization of Palestinians and the abject disregard for Israeli military aggression. For decades, Palestinians have been subjects of academic research that scholars use to understand the functions of settler colonial state power. Yet in moments of crisis, we are humbly reminded that research and writing are not enough.
As Palestinian scholars write under the threat of settler colonial erasure and imposition of exile, it is understood that their ideas and experiences are inextricably bound to the intellectual project and tradition that is Palestinian studies. Living within a political context that challenges their very existence, it is imperative that we not enact their replacement and erasure within our own scholarship, as Palestinians are barred from the academy. Approaching Palestine as a field of knowledge, rather than a case study or site of theoretical extraction, demands engaging with the intellectual labor of its people as a genealogy of subjugated knowledge in praxis. Resisting their erasure from the historical record requires a citational practice that both names Palestinians as intellectual subjects and challenges the very intellectual discourse that relegates them to the margins.
We recognize our role and responsibility as scholars to theorize, read, and write on the very issues unfolding in Palestine and among all oppressed nations today. Scholarship without action normalizes the status quo and reinforces Israel’s impunity.
Scholarship must also be ethical by centering decolonization and raising the voices of Palestinian scholars, as well as other interlocutors, so that they remain sources of authority and not merely objects of study. We believe that the critical theory we generate in our literature and in our classrooms must be backed in deed. Therefore, we affirm that it is no longer acceptable to conduct research in Palestine or on Palestinians without a clear component of political commitment. It is no longer acceptable to study one fragment of Palestine, and claim knowledge of the whole. It is no longer acceptable to speak over Palestinians, or publish without citation of Palestinians scholars. Simply put, it is no longer acceptable to treat Palestine as a playground for intellectual curiosity while its fragmented nation continues to struggle for liberation.
Therefore, we affirm our commitment to the following actions, and we call on our colleagues to join us in our affirmation of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people and foundational principles of academic integrity.
In the classroom and on campus, we commit to
Pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.
Supporting student activism on campus, including, but not limited to sponsoring joint events and holding our universities’ accountable for violations of academic freedom.
Highlighting Palestinian scholarship on Palestine in syllabi, our writing, and through invitation of Palestinian scholars and community members to speak at departmental and university events.
Extending the above approach to any and all indigenous scholars within the university, and any Indigenous communities within the vicinity.
Centering Indigenous analyses in teaching and drawing links to intersectional oppression and transnational liberation movements.
In our research, we will actively
Include Palestine as a space and place worthy of substantive and historical integration into critical theory, not only as a case in a list of colonial examples.
Work to engage methods which highlight and elevate the voices and experiences of the places and moments we study over our own positions.
In places where we reside, we will
Support community efforts and legislation to pressure our governments to end funding Israeli military aggression.
=============================================== National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Open Letter and Call to Action Palestine and Praxis: Open Letter and Call to Action
PALESTINE & PRAXIS
SCHOLARS FOR PALESTINIAN FREEDOM
As scholars, we affirm the Palestinian struggle as an indigenous liberation movement confronting a settler colonial state. The pitched battle in Sheikh Jarrah is the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Nakba that is the Palestinian condition. Israel has expanded and entrenched its settler sovereignty through warfare, expulsion, tenuous residency rights, and discriminatory planning policies. The ostensible peace process has perpetuated its land grabs and violent displacement under the fictions of temporality and military necessity. Together these policies constitute apartheid, bolstered by a brute force that enshrines territorial theft and the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals. And now, as has been the case for over a century, Palestinians continue to resist their removal and erasure.
Palestinian resistance to this eliminatory violence in Sheikh Jarrah and the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque have catalyzed protests across a violently separated landscape. Palestinians in Lydd, Nazareth, Acre, Haifa and elsewhere have raised Palestinian flags in mass protest affirming the national and singular character of the Palestinian people and their collective call for liberation. Israel is once again conducting a large-scale aerial bombing campaign against the fourteen-year besieged Gaza Strip, killing scores of Palestinians and making thousands more homeless.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Palestinian death is treated as a byproduct of Israeli vulnerability. The attempts to transform the conversation on Israeli state violence to a series of stale talking points about Hamas rockets reflect the thorough dehumanization of Palestinians and the abject disregard for Israeli military aggression. For decades, Palestinians have been subjects of academic research that scholars use to understand the functions of settler colonial state power. Yet in moments of crisis, we are humbly reminded that research and writing are not enough.
As Palestinian scholars write under the threat of settler colonial erasure and imposition of exile, it is understood that their ideas and experiences are inextricably bound to the intellectual project and tradition that is Palestinian studies. Living within a political context that challenges their very existence, it is imperative that we not enact their replacement and erasure within our own scholarship, as Palestinians are barred from the academy. Approaching Palestine as a field of knowledge, rather than a case study or site of theoretical extraction, demands engaging with the intellectual labor of its people as a genealogy of subjugated knowledge in praxis. Resisting their erasure from the historical record requires a citational practice that both names Palestinians as intellectual subjects and challenges the very intellectual discourse that relegates them to the margins.
We recognize our role and responsibility as scholars to theorize, read, and write on the very issues unfolding in Palestine and among all oppressed nations today. Scholarship without action normalizes the status quo and reinforces Israel’s impunity.
Scholarship must also be ethical by centering decolonization and raising the voices of Palestinian scholars, as well as other interlocutors, so that they remain sources of authority and not merely objects of study. We believe that the critical theory we generate in our literature and in our classrooms must be backed in deed. Therefore, we affirm that it is no longer acceptable to conduct research in Palestine or on Palestinians without a clear component of political commitment. It is no longer acceptable to study one fragment of Palestine, and claim knowledge of the whole. It is no longer acceptable to speak over Palestinians, or publish without citation of Palestinians scholars. Simply put, it is no longer acceptable to treat Palestine as a playground for intellectual curiosity while its fragmented nation continues to struggle for liberation.
Therefore, we affirm our commitment to the following actions, and we call on our colleagues to join us in our affirmation of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people and foundational principles of academic integrity.
In the classroom and on campus, we commit to
Pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies. Supporting student activism on campus, including, but not limited to sponsoring joint events and holding our universities’ accountable for violations of academic freedom. Highlighting Palestinian scholarship on Palestine in syllabi, our writing, and through invitation of Palestinian scholars and community members to speak at departmental and university events. Extending the above approach to any and all indigenous scholars within the university, and any Indigenous communities within the vicinity. Centering Indigenous analyses in teaching and drawing links to intersectional oppression and transnational liberation movements.
In our research, we will actively
Include Palestine as a space and place worthy of substantive and historical integration into critical theory, not only as a case in a list of colonial examples. Work to engage methods which highlight and elevate the voices and experiences of the places and moments we study over our own positions.
In places where we reside, we will
Support community efforts and legislation to pressure our governments to end funding Israeli military aggression.
Signatories Affiliation/Institution Department Noura Erakat Rutgers University Africana Studies Sherene Seikaly University of California, Santa Barbara History Nour Joudah University of California, Los Angeles Geography Randa M. Wahbe Harvard University Anthropology Tareq Radi New York University American Studies Mezna Qato University of Cambridge History Dina Omar Yale University Anthropology Samer Anabtawi George Washington University Political Science Lana Tatour University of South Wales School of Social Sciences Basma Hajir University of Cambridge Faculty of Education Samee Sulaiman Brown University Anthropology Rahim Kurwa University of Illinois, Chicago Criminology, Law, and Justice Robin D.G. Kelley UCLA History J. Kēhaulani Kauanui Wesleyan University American Studies and Anthropology Tamar Ghabin New York University American Studies Hesham Sallam Stanford University Omar Jabary Salamanca Free University of Brussels (ULB) Political Science Lisa Hajjar University of California – Santa Barbara Sociology Maya Mikdashi Rutgers University Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Nasser Abourahme New York University Paola Rivetti Dublin City University Law and Government Isis Nusair Denison University Women’s and Gender Studies & International Studies Samia Errazzouki University of California, Davis History Rosie Bsheer Harvard University History Abdel Razzaq Takriti University of Houston History Alex Winder Brown University Middle East Studies Dean Itsuji Saranillio New York University Social and Cultural Analysis Sara Awartani Harvard University Charles Warren Center Ebony Coletu Pennsylvania State University African American Studies Marwa Daoudy Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies C. Māhealani Ahia University of Hawai’i Mānoa English Kahala Johnson University of Hawai’i Mānoa Political Science Fida Adely Georgetown University Arab Studies, School of Foreign Service George Bisharat UC Hastings College of the Law Law Anthony Alessandrini City University of New York English & Middle Eastern Studies Gina Athena Ulysse University of California, Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Marwa Daoudy Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Francesca Biancani Bologna University Dept of Political and Social Sciences Susan Slyomovics University of California, Los Angeles Anthropology Jemima Pierre UCLA African American Studies & Anthropology Sa’ed Atshan Swarthmore College Peace and Conflict Studies Anny Gaul University of Maryland Arabic Studies Cynthia Franklin U. of Hawai’i English Miriam R Lowi The College of New Jersey Political Science Adel Iskandar Simon Fraser University School of Communication Jenny Kelly University of California, Santa Cruz Feminist Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Andrew Ross New York University Social and Cultural Analysis Hadeel Assali Columbia University Anthropology Nada Moumtaz University of Toronto Study of Religion Thuy Linh Nguyễn Tu New York University SCA Aisha Mershani Gettysburg College Interdisciplinary Studies David Kanbergs New York University Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Maryam Griffin University of Washington Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Gina Velasco Gettysburg College Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Simone Kolysb Hood College Sociology Jennifer Mogannam University of California, Davis Omnia El Shakry University of California, Davis History Stacy D Fahrenthold University of California Davis History Maritza Geronimo University of California, Los Angeles Geography Loubna Qutami UCLA Asian American Studies Kimberly Miranda UCLA Chicana/o and Central American Studies Hanna Alshaikh Harvard University History/Center for Middle Eastern Studies John Smolenski University of California, Davis History Sherine Hamdy University of California, Irvine Anthropology Bayan Abusneineh University of California, San Diego Ethnic Studies Marya Hannun Georgetown University Arabic and Islamic Studies Esmat Elhalaby UC Davis History Samer Alatout University of Wisconsin, Madison Community and Environmental Sociology Kristian E Vasquez UC Santa Barbara Department of Chican@ Studies Ben Weinger UCLA Geography Candace Fujikane University of Hawai’i English Joy L Enomoto University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Pacific Islands Studies Zakia Salime Rutgers University Women’s Studies Rosalie Rubio George Washington University Political Science Sarah Ihmoud The College of the Holy Cross Sociology and Anthropology Osama Tanous Emory University Public Health Anjali Nath UC Davis Stephen Sheehi William & Mary Decolonizing Humanities Project Qais Assali Vanderbilt University Lara Sheehi George Washington University Clinical Psychology Lieba Faier University of California, Los Angeles Geography Michael Taussig Columbia University Anthropology Osama Abi-Mershed Georgetown University History Rochelle Davis Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Seleeke Flingai Vera Institute of Justice Jeff Jacobs Columbia University Political Science Dina Al-Kassim University of British Columbia Institute for Social Justice Sunaina Maira UC Davis Asian American Studies Adrien Zakar Stanford University History Aamer Ibraheem Columbia University Anthropology Keith Feldman UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Adam Moore UCLA Geography Charles Hirschkind UC Berkeley Anthropology Sima Shakhsari UMN GWSS Ruba Salih SOAS, University of London Anthropology and Sociology Ernest Tjia The Pennsylvania State University English/Literary and Cultural Studies Noura Alkhalili Lund University Human Ecology/ Human Geography Rami Salameh Birzeit University Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies Nadeem Karkabi University of Haifa Anthropology Ziad Abu-Rish Bard College Human Rights and the Arts Adam Hanieh University of Exeter Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Hana Sleiman University of Cambridge History Nesreen Hussein Middlesex University, London Performing Arts Laura Adwan Bethlehem University Department of Humanities Chrystel Oloukoi Harvard University Black Studies / Anthropology Bill V. Mullen Purdue University Emeritus Professor of American Studies Yara Hawari University of Exeter Middle East Studies Caitlin Procter European University Institute Department of Political and Social Sciences Polly Withers LSE Department of media and communications Samer Abboud Villanova GIS Mandy Turner University of Manchester Conflict, Peace and Humanitarian Studies Nesreen Hussein Middlesex University, London Department of Performing Arts Nayrouz Abu Hatoum Concordia University Anthropology Galen Stolee Harvard University Anthropology Brian Kelly Queen’s University Belfast Reader in History Ilan Pappe University of Exeter Director ECPS Ajantha Subramanian Harvard University Anthropology and South Asian Studies James Eastwood Queen Mary University of London Politics and International Relations Manijeh Moradian Barnard College, Columbia University WGSS Sharri Plonski Queen Mary University of London School of Politics and International Relations Ikram Masmoudi University of Delaware Arabic studies D Jaber Bard College Human Rights & International Law Emma Gieben-Gamal University of Edinburgh Design Cultures Elizabeth Perego App State History Amulya Mandava Harvard University Anthropology Elizabeth Bishop Texas State University San Marcos Department of History Jasmine Hazel Shadrack National Coalition for Independent Scholars Independent/Visiting Lecturer. Music/Undergrad David Warren Washington University in St. Louis Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies Heba Youssef University of Brighton Politics and International Relations Clive Gabay Queen Mary University of London School of Politics and International Relations Sophie Richter-Devroe Hamad Bin Khalifa University Middle East Studies/Gender Studies Jess Bier Erasmus University Rotterdam Science and Technology Studies & Sociology Kamilia Al-Eriani University of Melbourne SSPS Niyousha Bastani University of Cambridge Politics & International Studies Meghanne Barker London school of economics and political science Department of Media and Communications Mark Muhannad Ayyash Mount Royal University Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Sociology, Faculty of Arts Endika Rodriguez University of the Basque Country Education Sai Englert Leiden University Leiden Institute for Area Studies Felix Mantz Queen Mary University of London School of Politics and International Relations Jeremy Wildeman University of Ottawa Human Rights Norma Rantisi Concordia University Geography, Planning & Environment Nadia Abu-Zahra University of Ottawa International Development and Global Studies Joe Shaughnessy University of Cambridge Faculty of English Ratiba Hadj-Moussa York University Sociology Alexandra Kelly University of Wyoming History & Anthropology Cherine Hussein IIR and Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm International Relations Shailja Patel Five College Women’s Studies Research Center Women’s Studies Nesreen Hussein Middlesex University, London Performing Arts Viviane Saglier McGill University Anthropology Rehab Nazzal Dar Al-Kalima University of Art and Visual Culture, Bethlehem, Palestine Visual Arts Lila Abu-Lughod Columbia University Anthropology and Gender Studies Georgie Howard ECPS/IAIS at University of Exeter Middle East Studies Karuna Sinha University of Toronto Classics Kareem Rabie American University Anthropology Dhouha Triki York University Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies Aadita Chaudhury York University, Canada Graduate Program in Science & Technology Studies Rahima Siddique University of Manchester Politics Oliver Hayakawa Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, The University of Exeter Middle East Studies Adeem Suhail University of Southern California Anthropology Salwa Tareen Boston University Anthropology Sarah Farag University of Zurich Gender Studies and Middle Eastern Studies Aspen Bickel University of Houston Anthropology Jarrett Martin Drake Harvard University Anthropology Yahya El-Lahib University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work Jalal Kawash University of Calgary Computer Science Mazen Hotait Cégep de l’Outaouais Ghadeer Alhasan University of Jordan English Hylton White University of the Witwatersrand Anthropology Eli Cumings University of Cambridge English Amahl Bishara Tufts University Anthropology Alejandro I Paz University of Toronto Anthropology Michael Truscello Mount Royal University English and General Education Wassim Naboulsi University of Sussex International Relations Francesco Amoruso University of Exeter Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Boris Kilgarriff SOAS Middle East History Sandra Joy Russell University of Massachusetts Amherst Comparative Literature Goutam Piduri Brown University English Wendy Pearlman Northwestern University Political Science Leila Farsakh University of Massachusetts Boston Political Science Issrar Chamekh Northwestern University Political Science Ouissal Harize Durham university MLAC Nicolette Alayon Northwestern Political Science Lindsey Moore Lancaster University English literature Kaitlin Debicki McMaster U Indigenous Studies Fatima Rajina Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, De Montfort University Sociology Lameese Ahmad The University of Arizona Middle Eastern Studies Ozgun Burak Kaymakci Istanbul university Economy/Economic Policy Sonali Pahwa University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance Rupal Anand Jawaharlal Nehru University, India International Relations Matipa Mukondiwa University of Cambridge Steven C Caton Harvard University Anthropology Nancy Ko Columbia University History Nader Hashemi University of Denver Center for Middle East Studies Lori Allen SOAS University of London Anthropology Nadia Ait Said SOAS Assyriology Sinan Antoon New York University Literature Alexander Thurston University of Cincinnati Political Science Deborah Avant Josef Korbel School, University of Denver International Studies Samer Jabbour American University of Beirut Public Health Rola Hamed O’Neill UCC Sociology Seth Ray Merritt University of California, San Diego Sociology Nijmeh Ali Otago University:The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Peace and Conflict Studies Hela Yousfi Dauphine University Sociology Fawaz Gerges London School of Economics International Relations Mohammad Fadel University of Toronto Faculty of Law John L. Esposito Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service Jessica Lynn Godwin University of Washington Statistics, Center for Studies in Demography/Ecology Ashley Dawson City University of New York English Nathan Jessee Tulane University Environmental Studies Ely Orrego-Torres Northwestern University Political Science Xitlalli Alvarez Almendariz Harvard University Anthropology Abeer Elayyan University of Jordan Nuclear Physics Rafik Beekun University of Nevada Management Adriana Premat The University of Western Ontario Anthropology Caren Kaplan UC Davis American Studies Sarah M.A. Gualtieri University of Southern California American Studies, History Ananya Roy UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Chair in Inequality and Democracy Ebrahim Moosa University of Notre Dame Keough School of Global Affairs/History/Kroc Institute Yasmeen Abu-Laban University of Alberta Political Science Hakim Williams Gettysburg College Africana Studies Rawan Abdelbaki York University Sociology Nivi Manchanda Queen Mary University of London Politics Lauren M. Baker Northwestern University Political science Omar D. Foda Independent Scholar Middle East Studies Sara Armstrong VCFA Liberal Arts A. Naomi Paik University of Illinois, Chicago Criminology, Law, & Justice and Global Asian Studies Alina Sajed McMaster University Political Science Lena Obermaier Exeter Palestine Studies Kathleen Klaus University of San Francisco Politics Department Muzna Dureid Concordia University Public Policy and Public Administration Dina Georgis University of Toronto Women and Gender Studies Institute Leena Dallasheh Humboldt State University History Dean Spade Seattle University School of Law María González Universidade da Coruña Sociology Shohini Chaudhuri University of Essex Film Studies Victoria Okoye University of Sheffield Urban Studies and Planning Ilyan Ferrer University of Calgary Social Work Pritika Sharma Boston University Anthropology Lauren K. Alleyne James Madison University English/Creative Writing Fatima Ahdash Goldsmiths, University of London Law Nadim Khoury Lillehammer University College International Studies Margaret MacDonald Power Illinois Tech History Professor Deborah Cowen University of Toronto Geography & Planning Rana Sukarieh York University Sociology Carol Daniel Kasbari George Mason University Carter School for Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Ruth Marshall University of Toronto Political Science/Study of Religion Melanie Newton University of Toronto History Abdullah Al-Arian Georgetown University in Qatar History Candice Raymond Institut français du Proche-Orient History Melanie Newton University of Toronto History Ohoud Kamal Birzeit University Urban Planning Emile Badarin College of Europe European Neighbourhood Policy Hannah Howard Boston University Anthropology Sumeya Loonat De Montfort University Faculty of Business and Law Karam Dana University of Washington Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Art & Sciences Mahdi Chowdhury Harvard University PhD Student, Department of History Jeremy Bradford Graduate Center, CUNY Anthropology Paola Cossermelli Messina Columbia University Music Mona Damluji UC Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies Morgan Peter University of Geneva Political Science Beshara Kehdi UC Davis Cultural Studies Kareem A Tannous Cabrini University Business Lindsay Baker University of Gloucestershire Criminology Muhannad Hariri American University of Beirut Philosophy Claire Launchbury Leeds Modern Languages Mohammed Khaldi McGill University Medicine Charlotte Kelsted University of Exeter History John E Harfouch University of Alabama Huntsville Philosophy Alissa Trotz University of Toronto Caribbean Studies/Women and Gender Studies Yasmine Lucas University or Toronto Anthropology Hussein Ahmed Hussein Omar University College Dublin History Orisanmi Burton American University Anthropology Alex Lubin Penn State University African American Studies Jeremy Randall The Graduate Center, City University of New York History Constance Penley University of California, Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies Mattin Biglari SOAS University of London History Hollis France College of Charleston Political Science Serafina Ariel Pratt Institute Fine Art Abigail Bakan University of Toronto Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Jehad Abusalim New York University Hebrew and Judaic Studies and History Musa Hamideh University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Sociology Catherine Connolly Dublin City University School of Law and Government David Futman Manhattanville College History Carina Ray Brandeis University African and African American Studies Mira Al Hussein University of Cambridge Sociology of Education Basem Ezbid Birzeit University Political Science Walid Hasan Salem Al Quds University Trish Kahle Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Qatar History Nahla Abdo Carleton University Sociology/Anthropology Maïa Pal Oxford Brookes University International Relations Lisa Lowe Yale University American Studies Hege Hermansen Oslo Metropolitan University & the University of Oslo Education Corrie Decker University of California, Davis History Jean Beaman University of California, Santa Barbara Sociology Kell Miklas University of Missouri – Columbia Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Archaeology, MA Carol Daniel Kasbari George Mason University Conflict analysis and Resolution Chandni Desai University of Toronto Critical Studies of Equity and Solidarity sean wright Glasgow University Biomedical Engineering Lara Deeb Scripps College Anthropology Maxime Kuhlmey Humboldt University Social Sciences Zoha Salam McMaster University Global Health Melissa F Weiner College of the Holy Cross Sociology Muhammad Ridha Northwestern University Political Science Tanya Newbury-Smith University of Exeter Arab and Islamic Studies Suraya Khan San Antonio College History Beth E Richie University of Illinois at Chicago Black Studies and Criminology Amal Ghazal Doha Institute for Graduate Studies History Emmaia Gelman New York University American Studies Nima Bassiri Duke University Program in Literature Delaney Glass University of Washington Biological Anthropology PhD student Elora Shehabuddin Rice University Transnational Asian Studies and Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Aneirin Pendragon Independent Scholar Classical Studies Vanessa Stovall Independent Scholar Classical Studies Noa Shaindlinger College of the Holy Cross History Alexa Firat Temple University Arabic Studies Charmaine Chua UC Santa Barbara Global Studies Annelies Moors University of Amsterdam Anthropology Ghada Ageel University of Alberta Political Science Julie Carlson University of California Santa Barbara English Ardi Imseis Queen’s University Law Arang Keshavarzian New York University Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Maria Hantzopoulos Vassar College Education Lavanya Nott University of California Los Angeles Geography Aidan Mooney Rhode Island College History Goldie Osuri University of Warwick Sociology Fouzia Outmany University of Amsterdam Anthropology Russell Rickford Cornell University History Josh Honn Northwestern University University Libraries Zarah Khan University of Toronto Women and Gender Studies Utathya Chattopadhyaya University of California Santa Barbara History Gail Super University of Toronto Sociology Uahikea Maile University of Toronto Political Science Jillian Schwedler Hunter College and the Graduate Center Political Science Samar Nour University of Toronto NMC/Modern Middle East History Kate Breyer Bryn Mawr College Archaeology Katharina Grüneisl Durham University Geography Mark Sanagan University of Toronto Arts and Science Omar M Elamir St. Matthew’s University Veterinary Medicine Annerienke Fioole University of Amsterdam Department of Anthropology Kevin Morrow Independent Scholar Middle East History Cecilia Méndez University of California Santa Barbara History Jennifer Badger University of California Los Angeles Geography Laleh Khalili Queen Mary University of London Politics and International Relations Adam Talib Durham University Modern Languages and Cultures Russell Child Birkbeck College Philosophy John Collins St. Lawrence University Global Studies Axel Gonzalez University of New Mexico American Studies M. Bilal Nasir Pomona College Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies Maximilian Larter Naturalis Biodiversity Center Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Amy Walker Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg Human Geography Joey Ayoub University of Zurich Cultural Analysis Umer Jan University of Westminster Politics/International Relations Sophia Woodman University of Edinburgh Sociology Zareena Grewal Yale University Ethnicity Race & Migration & American Studies Walid Hasan Salem Al Quds University Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz Northwestern University Sociology Mo McGee John Cabot/Agnes Scott University Art History/Classic Civilizations Somdeep Sen Roskilde University Department of Social Sciences and Business Nick Clare University of Nottingham School of Geography Jessica Garber Boston University Anthropology Haifaa Khalafallah Sinai Centre for Islamic Mediterranean Studies History Zeynep Oguz Northwestern University Anthropology Nafis Hasan Tufts University Biomedical Engineering Lucas Koerner Harvard University History Department – Latin America and Caribbean History Emily Drabinski Graduate Center, CUNY Library Benjamin Thomas White University of Glasgow History Adam Rauf The University of Edinburgh Chemical Engineering Qasim Ali Hassain Nottingham Trent University Accounting and Finance Hamada Hamid Altalib Yale University Neurology Golnar Nikpour Dartmouth College Department of History Naveen Minai University of Toronto Sexual Diversity Studies Kate Drabinski University of Maryland Baltimore County Gender, Women’s + Sexuality Studies Jáfia Câmara University of Bristol Education Ántonia K. A. Peigahi California State University, Sacramento Librarian Zahid R. Chaudhary Princeton University English Yéléna Mac-Glandières Université Paris 8 IFG – Institut Français de Géopolitique Ruth Gilbert University and College Union/University of Glasgow School of Culture and Creative Arts Robert Beshara Critical Praxis Cooperative Critical Psychology Baris Cayli Messina University of Derby School of Law & Social Sciences Johnny Eric Williams Trinity College Sociology Sophia Azeb University of Chicago Black Studies, Department of English Asma Zubairi University of Cambridge Education Rosie Hampton University of Glasgow Human Geography Christina Hotalen University of South (alumnus) History Christina Hotalen University of South (alumnus) History Eoin Daly NUI Galway Law Yomna ElSharony Cornell University Development Sociology Mark Curran Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), Dublin, Ireland Photography & Visual Media Edward Painter University of California Los Angeles Geography Suzanne Gardinier Sarah Lawrence College Writing John Brissenden University of Westminster Media and Communication Jeanette Jouili Syracuse University Department of Religion Arianne Shahvisi Brighton and Sussex Medical School Philosophy Manijeh Moradian Barnard College, Columbia University WGSS Sirma Bilge Universite de Montreal Sociology David Delgado Shorter University of California Los Angeles World Arts and Cultures/Dance Silvia Pasquetti Newcastle University (UK) Sociology Jodor Jalit Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero Diversidad Cultural Claudia Garcia-Rojas Northwestern University African American Studies Benjamin Hulett Columbia University English and Comparative Literature Nagihan Haliloğlu Ibn Haldun University Comparative Literature Alex Warburton Harvard University Anthropology Yara Elias The University of Edinburgh Cognitive Science Gary Kinsman Laurentian University (Professor Emeritus) Sociology Jennifer Tyburczy University of California Santa Barbara Queer Studies Bridget Farahay University of Missouri Ancient Mediterranean Studies Tony S. Juge Pasadena City College Social Sciences Hana Masri University of Pennsylvania Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Erin Pineda Smith College Government Karen B. Graubart University of Notre Dame History Misha Falk Queen’s University Gender Studies Dr Mark Bahnisch ICMS School of Postgraduate Studies Maryam Jamshidi University of Florida Levin College of Law Megan Armstrong University College London Primary Care and Population Health B Ruby Rich University of California, Santa Cruz Film & Digital Media Department Ayesha Siddiqi University of Cambridge Department of Geography Sophie Chamas SOAS, University of London Centre for Gender Studies Arian University of Copenhagen Political Science Laura McAtackney Aarhus University Archaeology and Heritage Studies Clover Reshad New School for Social Research Politics Mark Firmani University of Pennsylvania English Alexandra Kokoli Middlesex University London Visual Culture Mariam Asad, PhD Georgia Institute of Technology HCI/Digital Media Claudia Vergara York University Masters of Environmental and Urban Change / Centre for Refugee Studies Akanksha Mehta Goldsmiths, University of London Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Tony Simmons Athabasca University Sociology David James Hudson University of Guelph Library Jason Read University of Southern Maine Professor of Philosophy and Liberal Studies in the Humanities Beth Capper Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta English and Film Studies Shehla Khan Keele University School of Social, Political and Global Studies Candace Lukasik Washington University in St. Louis Danforth Center on Religion and Politics Megan M Berkobien University of Michigan Comparative Literature Saphe Shamoun Columbia University Anthropology Claudia Youakim American University of Beirut Business Saphe Shamoun Columbia University Anthropology Vera Silvina Candiani Princeton University Latin American History, Dept. of History Vera Silvina Candiani Princeton University Latin American History, Dept. of History Gelare Khoshgozaran University of California Los Angeles Design Media Art Yasmin Dualeh University of Cambridge History Rachel Winter University of California, Santa Barbara History of Art & Architecture Cailin Potami The New School Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism Maha El-Taji Daghash University of Haifa International School Sarah Kizuk Marquette University Department of Philosophy Iris Bull Indiana University, Bloomington School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering Lara Deeb Scripps College Anthropology Jo Winning Birkbeck, University of London English, Theatre & Creative Writing John M. Willis University of Colorado, Boulder Department of History Rubén Juan Sebastián Sánchez Garcia University of Guadalajara Sociology Yasmin Dualeh University of Cambridge History Cathy Lisa Schneider American University School of International Service John Reynolds National University of Ireland, Maynooth Law Stephennie Mulder The University of Texas at Austin Art & Art History/Middle Eastern Studies Jerise Fogel Montclair State University Classics and Humanities Hanain Brohi Newcastle University Applied Linguistics Osamah Khalil Syracuse University Department of History Owain Lawson Columbia University History Muna Dubad University of Hertfordshire Psychology Marissa Fernholz Minnesota State University Communication Studies Bhaskar Sarkar University of California Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies Bishnupriya Ghosh University of California, Santa Barbara English/Global Studies Pascal Menoret Brandeis University Anthropology Muneer Ahmed Indira Gandhi National Open University Business Administration Nicholas Rynearson New York University Classics Alainna Liloia University of Arizona Middle East and North African Studies Charles H.F. Davis III University of Michigan Education Matt Hooley Clemson University English MT Oringer University of California Los Angeles Anthropology Ricarda Hammer Brown University Sociology Lisel Hintz Johns Hopkins University SAIS International Relations Jacob Hood New York University Sociology/Black Studies Catherine Craven SOAS University of London Politics and International Studies Kelley Gourley Boston University Anthropology Brian Veasna Sengdala Cornell University Performing and Media Arts/Performance Studies Salam Alsaadi University of Toronto Political Science Ahmad R. Salim University of California Berkeley Near Eastern Studies Robin Rönnlund University of Thessaly History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology Sintia Issa University of California Santa Cruz Visual Studies Mohammed Ezzeldin CUNY, Graduate Center History lucy MSP burns University of California Asian American Studies Ameil J. Joseph McMaster University School of Social Work Nichola Khan University of Brighton School of Applied Social Science Fadwa Alhalaiqa Philadelphia University Nursing Alf Nilsen University of Pretoria Department of Sociology Zaynab Quadri The George Washington University American Studies Greta LaFleur Yale University American Studies Cristi Whiskey University of California Los Angeles History Maja van der Velden University of Oslo Department of Informatics Celine Kuklowsky University of California Los Angeles Geography Awatef Ketiti University of Valencia, Spain Lenguajes Theorie and Science of Information Department Marc Mason University of Westminster Westminster Law School Spriha Gupta New York University Institute of Fine Arts Tarek Saad Ragab Effat University Architecture Ty Redden Gettysburg College Africana Studies Shana Minkin University of the South International and Global Studies James Trafford University for the Creative Arts Fine Art, Photography, and Visual Communication Josen Masangkay Diaz University of San Diego Ethnic Studies Gail Super University of Toronto Sociology Lauren Fritzsche University of Arizona Geography Yeliz Cavus The Ohio State University History Ather Zia University of Northern Colorado Anthropology Marral Shamshiri-Fard London School of Economics History Johanna Ray Vollhardt Clark University Psychology Kalle Cohen University College London Ancient Languages Sarita See University of California Riverside Media and Cultural Studies Bayan Haddad Birzeit University English Language and Literature Shatha Abdulsamad American University in Cairo AUC International Human Rights Law Awatef Ketiti University of Valencia Languages Theory and Communication Sciences Ekhlas Assaedi University of Alberta Neurology, Medicine Hana Masri University of Pennsylvania Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Michael Klajbor-Smith University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Communication Rachel arney University of Georgia Geography Nicole Dioquino San Jose State University Political Science Annie Claus American University Anthropology Mustafa Hammad University of Texas Austin Asian Studies Payal Srivastava Delhi University English Literature Taylor Kohn University of Iowa English Heather Ferguson Claremont McKenna College History Maarya Rabbani University of Oxford Politics Farzana Arab Loyola University Chicago Loyola Laboratory Medicine & Pathology Department Bhabani Shankar Nayak University of Glasgow, UK Business School Lina Fadel Heriot-Watt University School of Social Sciences Molly Swain University of Alberta Faculty of Native Studies Ana Isabel Terminel Iberri Arizona State University Communication Erica Genereux Smith York University Film Production Caroline Sandes University College London Institute of Sustainable Heritage Ashton Wesner University of California, Berkeley History Yumi Lee Villanova University Department of English Ramona Diana Miclea Goldsmiths College, University of London Visual Cultures Mark Williams University of Reading Social Studies Farah Bakaari Cornell University Literature Shahzad Gani University of Helsinki Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research Leon Elcock Johns Hopkins University Biotechnology Yoke-Sum Wong Alberta University of the Arts Critical Studies Vanessa Angelica Villarreal University of Southern California Department of English, Creative Writing Ed McKeon Goldsmiths College, University of London Music Wendy Russell Huron University College Centre for Global Studies Maria Khristine Alvarez University College London The Bartlett Development Planning Unit Hayley McMahon Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Public Health Viviana Coston University of Sussex Languages Elizabeth Holt Bard College Languages and Literature Sana Murrani University of Plymouth Architecture Zahra Ali Rutgers University-Newark Sociology and Anthropology Brunella Torricelli University of Cambridge Pure Mathematics Andrea Brady Queen Mary University of London English Literature Angje Galal Texas A&M University Communications Andrea Brady Queen Mary University of London English Literature Eng-Beng Lim Dartmouth College Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Ernst Karel Harvard University Anthropology Gaston Gordillo University of British Columbia Anthropology Jonathan Evershed University College Cork English Dilar Dirik University of Oxford Refugee Studies Center Mohit Mehta University of Texas at Austin Curriculum & Instruction Brenda Marquez University of California Berkeley Department of Letters and Science Victoria DeBlasio Florida State University Art History Benjamin Bradlow Harvard University Weatherhead Center For International Affairs Trish Kahle Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Qatar History Liyaqat Nazir Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Political Science Jonathan Wyrtzen Yale University Sociology and History Amanda Villafranco Indiana University Bloomington Latin American and Caribbean Studies Deep Narayan Chatterjee Jawaharlal Nehru University Centre for the Study of Law and Governance Erika Hanna University of Bristol School of Humanities Laura Galián Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Middle East Studies Susana Flores Central Washington University School of Education Jih-Fei Cheng Scripps College Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Nehal Amer City University of New York Anthropology Bryan McCann Louisiana State University Communication Studies Jake Gandy University of Manchester History Ivy Sichel University of California Santa Cruz Linguistics Mina Sol SOAS, University of London Anthropology Christopher Forster University of Birmingham Political Science Riadh Ben Amor University of Arizona Middle Eastern and North African Studies Maria Norris University of Warwick Political and International Studies Bogumila Hall Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures Andrea Brady Queen Mary University of London English Literature Moises Garduno Garcia National Autonomous University of Mexico International Relations and Middle East Studies Abdulla Moaswes University of Exeter Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Holly Westbrook University of South Carolina Marine Science Sankaran Krishna University of Hawaii at Manoa Political Science Tanya Matthan University of California Los Angeles Anthropology Eric Boyd Durham University Anthropology Asia Murphy University of California Santa Cruz Ecology Caroline Hartman Queens College Library and Information Science Felice Blake University of California Santa Barbara English Stephanie Milani Carnegie Mellon University Machine Learning Sara Abouelmagd Assiut University Pharmacy Piya Chatterjee Scripps College Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Orisanmi Burton American University Anthropology Alexandra Gilbert Arizona State University English Tariq Shah St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn English/Creative Writing Hadil Kamal Al-Quds University Dental College Mohmad Waseem Malla Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Middle Eastern Studies Julia Pruin The University of Chicago Psychology Claire Crawford King’s College London Political Economy Sophia P. 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Natalie Rothman University of Toronto Historical and Cultural Studies Shirin Vossoughi Northwestern University School of Education & Social Policy Patrick Miller University of Arizona Middle East Studies Amanda Batarseh University of California San Diego Literature Baasit Abubakr Sangmi Jawaharlal Nehru University Centre for Studies in Science Policy Febi R. Ramadhan Northwestern University Anthropology esethu monakali Lund University Gender Studies Catriona Gold University College London Geography Manmit Singh Chahal California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo Ethnic Studies Department Crystal Shackleford University of Copenhagen Psychology Rob Handerhan University of Arizona Persian and Iranian Studies Joel D. 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Relations John Michael O’Brien University of Sydney, Australia Work and Organisational Studies Zeynep Kevser Şerefoğlu Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Ünv Türkish Literatüre Harris Kornstein NYU Media, Culture & Communication Mina Baginova Charles University Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Nayera Soliman Freie Universitat Berlin Political Sciences Omar Elkharouf University of Sydney Government & International Relations Rhys Machold University of Glasgow Politics and International Relations Gabriela Saldanha University of Birmingham Translation 3 Anisa Hosseinnezhad Temple University Film and media arts Pedro Zubieta Funes Bolivian Catholic University Political Economy Emil Hammar Royal Academy of Fine Arts Visual Design Ross Frank UC San Diego Ethnic Studies Roel Frakking KITLV Leiden History Shana Almeida Ryerson University School of Professional Communication Asma Abbas Bard College at Simon’s Rock Politics and Philosophy Yasmeen Narayan Birkbeck College, University of London 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Artman Wayne State University Peace and Conflict Studies Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona International Relations Julio Huato CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice Economics Mohammed-Amine Chekkouri Paris Dauphine University Management Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi University of California, Los Angeles Asian American Studies Artemida Tesho CUNY College of Staten Island History Matiangai Sirleaf University of Maryland School of Law Law Anna G Ramberg University of Sussex Law Mona El-Ghobashy New York University Liberal Studies Lauren Kaminsky Harvard University History and Literature Arash Davari Whitman College Politics Patricia Martins University of California San Diego History Alvaro Jarrin College of the Holy Cross Sociology and Anthropology Rebecca Johnson Northwestern University English/Middle East & North African Studies Anthony Palafox University of California Berkeley Sociology Anwesha Ghosh National Law School of India University History Samantha Hinnenkamp Ball State University Counseling Paychology Hilary Malson University of California Los Angeles Urban Planning Verónica Maria Pascoal Sousa University of Lisbon Anthropology/Institute of Social Sciences Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Princeton University African American Studies Yasmina Price Yale University African American Studies and Film & Media Studies Luz Gómez Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Departamento de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos Khaoula Belghit University of Brighton Humanities Misagh Parsa Dartmouth College Sociology Ibrahim Natil Dublin City University Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction Ali Sakti Paramadina University Islamic Economics Yuliar Masna UIN Ar-Raniry English Language Education Usep Suhendar Pakuan University Pharmacy Zaynab El Bernoussi International University of Rabat International Politics Muchammad Agung Miftahuddin Univ Muhammadiyah Purwokerto Economy and Business Muhamed Riyaz Chenganakkattil Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Humanities and Social Sciences Aji Purba Universitas Brawijaya Economics Jack Cinamon SOAS, University of London Development Studies Wendy Matsumura University of California San Diego History Astrid Jamar SOAS, University of London Development Studies Aliya Amin King’s College London Women and Children’s Health Nilna Amal Lambung Mangkurat University Civil and Environmental Engineering Mustafa Gök İstanbul Medeniyet University International Relations Endi Rekarti Mercu Buana University Management Science Sean Leatherbury University College Dublin Art History Sarah Ahmad Mahmoud Okour University of Petra Media and Political Public Relations Francesca Stevens Falmouth University Music Penelope Anthias Durham University Geography Khursheed Beg London Southbank University School of Law and Social Sciences – Education Rachel Adams Human Sciences Research Council South Africa Social Science Francisco Gonzalez The New School Sociology Rini Dokumen State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta Accounting Megan Williams University of Sydney Public Health Catherine Fox The University of Hong Kong Comparative Literature Ed Emery SOAS, University of London CMDS Richard Jackson University of Otago, New Zealand Peace and Conflict Studies John Bunzl Austrian Institute for international Affairs Middle Eastern Studies Aya Elwageeh Ain Shams University Urban Planning and Design Supriya Kumar Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Centre for the Study of Social Systems, M.A. in Sociology Marina Assis Pinheiro Federal university of Pernambuco Psychology Rita Sakr Maynooth University English Saiful Akmal Universitas Islam.Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, Indonesia Language and Culture Salamah Wahyuni Universitas Sebelas Maret Management Nina Köll University College Utrecht Media Studies Erna Rochmawati UMY Nursing Ramadoni Syahputra Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Electrical Engineering Arni Surwanti UMY Master of Management Abdullah Turab University College London Education Sumithra Sankaran ETH Zurich Health Geography and Environmental Policy Ferlin Setiadi Indonesian Open University Management Gargi Bhattacharyya University of East London Institute for Connected Communities Patrick Hart Bilkent University, Ankara English Language & Literature Patrick Hart Bilkent University, Ankara English Language & Literature Julia Damphouse Humboldt Universität Berlin MA European History Sebastian Rose University of Greenwich History, PhD student S. 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Smith University of Southern Maine History Karen Kadra Law school Paris Saumya Pandey CMI, Norway and University of Ghent, Belgium Social Sciences Marcos González Bartolomé Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Anas Hijazi Soka University Environmental Engineering for Symbiosis Pooja Rangan Amherst College English, Film and Media Studies Jo Tomkinson SOAS University of London Department of Politics Maria Adriana Deiana Queen’s University Belfast Centre for Gender in Politics MJ Encarnacion Newcastle University Speech and Language Therapy Patrick Doyle University of Limerick Politics and Public Administration Alana Duggan York University Art History & Visual Culture Angus McNelly SOAS Economics Jens Lerche SOAS University of London Development Studies Julia Corwin LSE Geography and Environment Martín Alejandro Martinelli Universidad Nacional de Luján – Co-coord. 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Baldwin Trinity College (CT) American Studies Rima Afifi University of Iowa Public Health Hannah Parsons Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter Centre for Islamic Archaeology Laura Camargo Fernández Universitat de les Illes Balears Departament de Filologia Espanyola, Moderna i Clàssica Megan Lewis Digital Hammurabi Assyriology Jo Kelcey Lebanese American University Education Ramisa Maliat Ahmed Goldsmiths Psychology Haneen Shubib University of Leeds English Zoltan Gluck Northeastern University Sociology and Anthropology Kirsten Ainley Australian National University International relations Iin Solihin IPB University Fisheries Resources Utilization Maia Almeida-Amir Newcastle University PhD student. School of Arts and Cultures Jeanne Theoharis Brooklyn College Political Science Bruno Meeus KU Leuven Anthropology Nicole Anderson McDaniel College Budapest Art History Anna Storti Dartmouth College Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Asian American Studies Khatib A. 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Hundreds of faculty members and students from Princeton University signed an open letter condemning the continued attacks by Israeli armed forces against Palestinian people in Gaza and expressed opposition to “Jewish supremacy.”
The letter, which appeared in the independent student newspaper, the Daily Princetonian, was titled “Princeton University community statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
As of Thursday, the letter had received signatures from over 60 staff and faculty members, as well as hundreds from Princeton alumni, undergraduate and graduate students.
The letter began by saying, “We, members of the Princeton University community, condemn the ongoing attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli armed forces…We condemn the displacement of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.”
As the letter continued, the writers, who are only identified in the Daily Princetonian as “guest contributors,” said that they “stand by” assessments from Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, which both referred to the situation in Israel as an “apartheid.”
“The brutal system that controls Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is ideologically founded upon Jewish supremacy, rules over the lives of Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel alike, and is practically committed to territorial theft from Palestinians who continue to resist physical removal and existential erasure,” the letter said.
The authors of the letter also expressed support for a “Palestine and Praxis” open letter that was signed by hundreds of scholars from universities across the globe, calling on academic institutions to “respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.”
The publication of the letter in the Daily Princetonian comes amid escalated violence between Israeli military forces and the Gaza-based Palestinian group known as Hamas.====================================== http://www.universitytimes.ie/2021/05/tcdsu-tcd-bds-call-on-college-researchers-to-boycott-israeli-academia/ MAY 18, 2021 TCDSU, TCD BDS Call on College Researchers to Boycott Israeli AcademiaOver 200 Palestinians have died over the past week due to Israeli airstrikes.Jody DruceSENIOR STAFF WRITER
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and the TCD BDS campaign group have called on College academics to sign a pledge to boycott Israeli academia.
A Google Form where staff members can sign the pledge has been sent to all heads of Trinity’s schools.
The pledge, which is part of an open letter written by Scholars for Palestinian Freedom, calls for an “institutional academic boycott” until “Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights”.
The letter states: “In the classroom and on campus, we commit to pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.”
It also includes a pledge to support “student activism on campus, including, but not limited to sponsoring joint events and holding our universities’ accountable for violations of academic freedom” and a pledge to highlight “Palestinian scholarship on Palestine in syllabi, our writing, and through invitation of Palestinian scholars and community members to speak at departmental and university events.”
Signatories of the letter also commit to actively including Palestine as “a space and place worthy of substantive and historical integration into critical theory, not only as a case in a list of colonial examples”.
The letter also includes a commitment to “support community efforts and legislation to pressure our governments to end funding Israeli military aggression”.
TCD BDS is also holding a protest today in solidarity with Palestinians who are engaging in a general strike.
The description of the event on Facebook states: “Palestinians across Historic Palestine are observing tomorrow a General Strike to protest Israel’s massacres in Gaza and settler-colonial and apartheid repression and ethnic cleansing against Palestinian communities everywhere.”
“A call has gone out from families in Sheikh Jarrah, from Palestinians inside the Apartheid State of Israel, and from the occupied West Bank for solidarity actions across the globe!”, it added.
The groups are urging protesters to wear masks and to maintain social distancing protocols.
Conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas continues to rage, despite US President Joe Biden’s calls for a ceasefire.
Israel airstrikes continued to bombard Gaza this morning, according to the Washington Post. Hamas’s rocket attacks have slowed, as Israeli airstrikes close off the group’s underground tunnels and disable its launch sites.
Some 212 Palestinians have died in Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes, while the death toll in Israel stands at 10.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel in the context of the country’s treatment of Palestinians.
In 2018, students voted for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) to support the BDS campaign.
Correction:May 20th, 2021 A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the open letter had been circulated by the Irish Academics for Palestine. In fact, it had been circulated by Scholars for Palestinian Freedom.
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