Israeli Academics Demand End to War on Gaza

Over 1,200 Israeli academics have issued an open letter calling on the heads of Israeli academic institutions to “speak out” and act to stop the war on Gaza. The letter, released on Tuesday, claims that almost 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel violated the ceasefire in March, with the vast majority being civilians.

The academics, who identify themselves as the Black Flag Action Group, note that in addition to the growing numbers of people killed by Israeli fire, there are warnings of acute starvation being forced upon Gaza as a “result of intentional and openly declared Israeli government policy.” “As academics, we recognize our own role in these crimes,” the letter states. “It is human societies, not governments alone, that commit crimes against humanity. Some do so by means of direct violence. Others do so by sanctioning the crimes and justifying them, before and after the fact, and by keeping quiet and silencing voices in the halls of learning.”

The letter is unique in that it places Palestinian suffering at the heart of its objections to the war, unlike other letters that have objected to the political reasons for Israel’s latest offensive or claimed that it puts Israel’s remaining captives held in Gaza at risk. “We cannot claim that we did not know,” the letter adds. “We have been silent for too long. For the sake of the lives of innocents and the safety of all the people of this land … if we do not call to halt the war immediately, history will not forgive us.”

The signatories want the Association of University Heads in Israel, the Board of Academic Public Colleges, and the protest group Academics for Israeli Democracy to “act immediately to mobilize the full weight of Israeli academia to stop the Israeli war in Gaza.” According to Raphael Greenberg, a professor at Tel Aviv University who signed onto the letter, academics have to make their voices heard. “We’re saying is how could this war be any less important [than the judicial reforms]?” he said.

Ayelet Ben-Yishai, a professor at the University of Haifa, said that for some, it was the breaking of the ceasefire in March that was a watershed moment, plus witnessing the starvation being forced on Gaza ever since then. “I understand lots of people object to the war for different reasons,” Ben-Yishai said, “but right now, I welcome anyone that’s opposed to it.” “It sounds hollow, I know, but we wanted to make Palestinian suffering central. We wanted to say that we stand alongside and in solidarity with Palestinians. This was also about taking responsibility for what we are doing in Gaza and opening people’s eyes to it,” she added.