This statement comes from students at the
University of Cambridge in response to the misguided and
myopic statement issued
by Cambridge academics on September 28 2014. We commend
the general principle of calling for peace in the
Arab-Israeli conflict, but we believe that we have a
responsibility – whether also as practitioners of our
various subjects, as students, or just as human beings –
to speak out against the discriminatory practices of our
university lecturers.
It is almost laughable to suggest that this
summer’s conflict in Gaza and the asymmetry of power
between the Israelis and the Palestinians absolves
anyone of the immorality of singling out Israel, as
these academics have done. Numerous conflicts around the
world tragically involve far more civilian deaths and
far more protracted wars. We implore these academics not
to accept blindly the figures released by Hamas about
civilian casualties. Rather, they should examine more
critically the demographic evidence of those who have
died, which suggests that the majority were combatants.
We note that these academics, who purport to be
concerned with the humanitarian condition of the
Palestinians, offer no statement on the inability of
Palestinians in Lebanon to hold citizenship, own
property, or enter many occupations. These academics,
who take such care to enumerate civilian casualties in
Gaza, offer no opinion on the 200,000 slaughtered and 5
million displaced civilians in Syria, or the innocents
killed in Syria and Iraq by US airstrikes aimed at ISIS
terrorists. These academics, who believe military
asymmetry allows permission to single out a country, say
nothing about the Chinese treatment of Uighur Muslims,
Tibetan and Taiwanese separatists or Hong Kong
pro-democracy protesters. It is in this context that we
condemn these academics for singling out Israel, the
policies of which are open to criticism like any
government’s, but which has been deemed by this group to
be the only country in the world worth criticising.
In our capacities as students of various
disciplines, we may also emphasise different aspects of
the history and current situation between Israel and the
Palestinians. The lawyers among us may point out that
every rocket fired from Gaza at an indeterminate
location in Israel is a war crime. Philosophers among us
may emphasise the moral hypocrisy in condemning Israel’s
actions without a single mention of the abhorrent acts
of terrorism committed by Hamas. Historians may insist
that that the blockade of Gaza was a result of Hamas’
eviction of any Fatah government officials and the
ensuing rocket attacks, not a cause.
We students similarly differ in our fields of
specialism and our analyses of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. However, we too are united on several points.
Calling for an immediate lifting of the Gaza blockade
without any consideration for the security of Israeli
citizens is a foolish and misguided action. Calling for
freedom and equality for all historic inhabitants
of Palestine ignores the plight of the descendants of
hundreds of thousands of Jewish inhabitants of the
Middle East who no longer have access to their own
historic homes in Arab countries. Calling for an end to
victimisation of critics of Israel without also calling
for an end to victimisation of Israeli supporters on
campus and in the media continues the theme of
discrimination by these academics.
We strongly condemn this list of
Cambridge academics for singling out one
country for criticism, for demonstrating a
severe lack of nuance surrounding the
complexity of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and
for issuing an un-academic statement that
achieves little save establishing the desire
to discriminate against a sole nationality.
Signed:
- Josh Goodman, Churchill College
- Aviv Fonea, St Edmund's College
- Joshua Gertner, Jesus College
- Stephanie Posner, Jesus College
- Nina Rauch, Clare College
- Imogen Krell, Christ's College
- Shai Helfand, Wolfson College
- Alex Matthews, Corpus Christi
College
- Jakub Szukask, Girton College
- Emily Bloch, Trinity College
- Naphtali Rabinowitz, St John's
College
- Heshau Mashhour, Trinity College
- Sam Gross, Trinity College
- Michael Leader, Queens' College
- Jonathan Shamir, Jesus College
- Millie Foster, Newnham College
- Jonathan Berger, Trinity College
- Zachary Shear, Robinson College
- Ezra Cohen, Jesus College
- Haim Abraham, St Edmund's College
- Adrian McGrath, St Edmund's
College
- Mia Hamburger, Murray Edwards
College
- Renate Fromson, Fitzwilliam
College
- Deanna Green, Queens’ College
- Alex Davis, Downing College
- Lily Lerman, Jesus College
- Harry Richer, Gonville and Caius
College
- Saul Farrell, Homerton College
- Shakked Halperin, Churchill
College
- Ari Midgen, Murray Edwards College
- Darryl Bernstein, Downing College
- Olivia Gaunt, Girton College
- Simon Fox, Selwyn College
- Jake Leighton, Girton College
- Ethan Ezra, Sidney Sussex College
- Sarah Wolman, Robinson College
- Zac Levin, Robinson College
- Lucy Levy, Robinson College
- Robin Borchert, Clare Hall College
- Anonymous, Darwin College
- Alex Peters, Selwyn College
- Leo Jacobs, Clare College
- Daniel Lesner, Christ's College
- Mimi Shaul, Robinson College
- Stephanie Taic, Lucy Cavendish
College
- Emma Webb, Trinity College
- Aryeh Dworkin, Jesus College
- Josh Marks, Emmanuel College
- Francesca D’Arcy-Orga, Robinson
College
- Zack Case, King’s College
- Rafi Dover, Jesus College
- Gabriella Haffner, Fitzwilliam
College
- Stephanie Lipman, Emmanuel College
- Zachary Freud, Fitzwilliam College
- Joel Collick, Jesus College
- Harry Kalms, Robinson College
- Johnny Harounoff, Jesus College
- Judy Kahan, St John’s College
- Charlotte Jacobs, Sidney Sussex
College
- Olivia Ufland, Fitzwilliam College
- Oliver Brecher, Selwyn College
- Ben
Lewis, Jesus College
- Thomas Clausen,
Trinity College
- Robert Hill, Wolfson
College
- Isabelle Terry,
Pembroke College