Letter: An academic boycott of Israel
Letter to the editor
Monday, February 2, 2009; 9:56 PM
We stand in support of the indigenous Palestinian people in Gaza, who are fighting for their survival against one of the most brutal uses of state power in both this century and the last.
We condemn Israel's recent (December 2008/ January 2009) breaches of international law in the Gaza Strip, which include the bombing of densely populated neighborhoods, illegal deployment of the chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities, and places of worship. We condemn Israel's restriction of access to media and aid workers.
We reject as false Israel's characterization of its military attacks on Gaza as retaliation.
Israel's latest assault on Gaza is part of its longtime racist jurisprudence against its indigenous Palestinian population, during which the Israeli state has systematically dispossessed, starved, tortured, and economically exploited the Palestinian people.
We reject as untrue the Israeli government's claims that the Palestinians use civilians as human shields, and that Hamas is an irredeemable terrorist organization. Without endorsing its platforms or philosophy, we recognize Hamas as a democratically elected ruling party.
We do not endorse the regime of any existing Arab state and call for the upholding of internationally mandated human rights and democratic elections in all Arab states.
We call upon our fellow writers and academics in the United States to question discourses that justify and rationalize injustice, and to address Israeli assaults on civilians in Gaza as one of the most important moral issues of our time.
We call upon institutions of higher education in the U.S. to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, dissolve study abroad programs in Israel, and divest institutional funds from Israeli companies, using the 1980s boycott against apartheid South Africa as a model.
We call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state for all residents of Palestine/Israel comes into existence.
Steven SalaitaAssistant Professor,department of EnglishVirginia TechNahla Abdo
Etel AdnanMohammed AbedElmaz AbinaderDiana Abu-JaberAli AbunimahOpal Palmer AdisaDina Al-KassimDeborah Al-NajjarDoug AndersonEvelyn Azeeza AlsultanyDavid BakerAmina BarakaAmiri BarakaGeorge BisharatSherwin BitsuiBreyten BreytenbachVan BrockEllen CantarowHayan ChararaYvette ChristianseAllison Hedge CokeCindy CruzLara DeebVicente DiazBen EhrenreichNava EtshalomMarilyn HackerMechthild HartSam HamillSuheir HammadNathalie HandalRanda JarrarFady JoudahTony JudtMohja KahfRima Najjar KapitanPersis KarimJ. Kehaulani KauanuiHaunani Kay-TraskMarilyn KryslDavid LloydSunaina MairaNur MasalhaRania MasriKhaled MattawaD.H. MelhemImam MersalDaniel AbdalHayy MooreAileen Moreton-RobinsonMichel MoushabekNadine NaberMarcy NewmanViet NguyenSana OdehSimon J. OrtizVijay PrashadAdrienne RichSteven SalaitaTherese SalibaJill SchoolmanSarita SeeDeema ShehabiMatthew ShenodaNaomi Shihab NyeMagid ShihadeVandana ShivaElla Habiba ShohatEvie ShockleyNoenoe SilvaAndrea SmithAhdaf SoueifMary Austin SpeakerGayatri Chakravorty SpivakGhada Talhami
Chase Twichell
Daya Varma
Frank X. Walker
Robert Warrior
Ellen Dore Watson
Eleanor Wilner
Abe Louise Young
Rami Zurayk'
Letter to the editor
Monday, February 2, 2009; 9:56 PM
We stand in support of the indigenous Palestinian people in Gaza, who are fighting for their survival against one of the most brutal uses of state power in both this century and the last.
We condemn Israel's recent (December 2008/ January 2009) breaches of international law in the Gaza Strip, which include the bombing of densely populated neighborhoods, illegal deployment of the chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities, and places of worship. We condemn Israel's restriction of access to media and aid workers.
We reject as false Israel's characterization of its military attacks on Gaza as retaliation.
Israel's latest assault on Gaza is part of its longtime racist jurisprudence against its indigenous Palestinian population, during which the Israeli state has systematically dispossessed, starved, tortured, and economically exploited the Palestinian people.
We reject as untrue the Israeli government's claims that the Palestinians use civilians as human shields, and that Hamas is an irredeemable terrorist organization. Without endorsing its platforms or philosophy, we recognize Hamas as a democratically elected ruling party.
We do not endorse the regime of any existing Arab state and call for the upholding of internationally mandated human rights and democratic elections in all Arab states.
We call upon our fellow writers and academics in the United States to question discourses that justify and rationalize injustice, and to address Israeli assaults on civilians in Gaza as one of the most important moral issues of our time.
We call upon institutions of higher education in the U.S. to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, dissolve study abroad programs in Israel, and divest institutional funds from Israeli companies, using the 1980s boycott against apartheid South Africa as a model.
We call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state for all residents of Palestine/Israel comes into existence.
Steven SalaitaAssistant Professor,department of EnglishVirginia TechNahla Abdo
Etel AdnanMohammed AbedElmaz AbinaderDiana Abu-JaberAli AbunimahOpal Palmer AdisaDina Al-KassimDeborah Al-NajjarDoug AndersonEvelyn Azeeza AlsultanyDavid BakerAmina BarakaAmiri BarakaGeorge BisharatSherwin BitsuiBreyten BreytenbachVan BrockEllen CantarowHayan ChararaYvette ChristianseAllison Hedge CokeCindy CruzLara DeebVicente DiazBen EhrenreichNava EtshalomMarilyn HackerMechthild HartSam HamillSuheir HammadNathalie HandalRanda JarrarFady JoudahTony JudtMohja KahfRima Najjar KapitanPersis KarimJ. Kehaulani KauanuiHaunani Kay-TraskMarilyn KryslDavid LloydSunaina MairaNur MasalhaRania MasriKhaled MattawaD.H. MelhemImam MersalDaniel AbdalHayy MooreAileen Moreton-RobinsonMichel MoushabekNadine NaberMarcy NewmanViet NguyenSana OdehSimon J. OrtizVijay PrashadAdrienne RichSteven SalaitaTherese SalibaJill SchoolmanSarita SeeDeema ShehabiMatthew ShenodaNaomi Shihab NyeMagid ShihadeVandana ShivaElla Habiba ShohatEvie ShockleyNoenoe SilvaAndrea SmithAhdaf SoueifMary Austin SpeakerGayatri Chakravorty SpivakGhada Talhami
Chase Twichell
Daya Varma
Frank X. Walker
Robert Warrior
Ellen Dore Watson
Eleanor Wilner
Abe Louise Young
Rami Zurayk'
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