The president of the university I attend just sent out a lamentable statement to the entire school regarding the recent events in Palestine. For what it’s worth, here is my response:

Dear President Jessup,

I am sure you are receiving numerous responses to this email from a number of perspectives. Nonetheless, I feel I must contribute mine.

I understand your condemnation of the Hamas attacks. I am, however, disheartened by your failure to condemn Israel’s response to the attacks. What is happening in Gaza is more than a “humanitarian crisis,” as if it were struck by a natural disaster. Israel is carrying out war crimes, such as the forcible transfer of populations, a total siege and blockade of food, water and fuel, the use of white phosphorous, the bombings of civilian, media, and medical targets, and the killing thus far of at least 1,900 people, including 614 children.

As I am sure you are aware, Gaza has been under Israeli siege and blockade since 2007. More than two-thirds of the residents of Gaza are refugees who were ethnically cleansed from their lands in what became Israel during the Nakba and who have been denied their internationally recognized right to return to their homes.

Where, may I ask, is your condemnation – “full stop” – of 75 years of settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing? When you say, “Full stop” after condemning Hamas, you shut the door and erase history and context – which is not the same as justification. I believe saying “Full stop” is to do an active disservice in an academic setting, to bar further inquiry, to banish the quest for understanding, to, ultimately, prolong conflict. As Gayatri Spivak said in a speech following 9/11, “I am a pacifist, I cannot and do not condone violence, practiced by the state or otherwise. I therefore also believe that violence cannot be brought to an end by ruthless extermination. I believe that we must be able to imagine our opponent as a human being, and to understand the significance of his or her action. It is in this belief — not to endorse suicide bombing but to be on the way to its end, however remote — that I have tried to imagine what message it might contain” (Terror: A Speech After 9-11).

I urge you to reconsider your position and the position you believe that CGU should be taking with regards to the current violence. I urge you to also consider the Palestinian people as worthy of humanity, respect, and protection. Your letter claims now is a time for “moral clarity.” Yet, isn’t it always time for moral clarity? Shouldn’t CGU be pushing for that clarity rather than issuing tepid and politically expedient statements? I had hoped for better from the institution which I attend.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this letter and its contents.

Respectfully,
Scott Campbell
Cultural Studies PhD student