Hi everyone, This is a difficult message to write, and I know that it will probably open some difficult conversations. I realised this morning that I was shying away from having these conversations because I don’t want to create problems for the many colleagues who I respect and am fond of within AoIR. And while I do care about all of you, sometimes care means being brave (and perhaps annoying) instead of being polite. So. We need to talk about Gaza. And we need to talk about Israel. Many of us have been speaking up individually, but our voices have more power when we bring them together. I have signed on to other open letters, but I think there are also important reasons for the Association of Internet Researchers to take a stance. *What I am suggesting?* I am asking for us to have a discussion about some form of public solidarity with Palestinians who are currently under attack, and with those within Israel and around the world who are speaking up against the actions of the Israeli state. It might involve a statement of solidarity for those who are under attack in Gaza and other parts of Palestine, and for people engaged in non-violent resistance to the actions of the Israeli state. It might involve joining the international call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions complicit in the ongoing violence against Palestinians (the guidelines for which are available here <https://bdsmovement.net/academic-boycott>). It might involve a commitment to ask our own academic institutions to cut their ties with the Israeli state. It might take some other format. *Why now?* There are many acts of violence and oppression happening around the world. Why should our academic organisation speak up on this, specifically? Because the scale of the violence is immense and continuing <https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam>, exceeding that of any recent armed conflict. There is no end in sight, and the deliberate restriction of food, water, and medicine means that people within Gaza face starvation and disease as well as bombing and other forms of direct violence. Because many of us are based in countries which are prepared to condemn other atrocities, but are unwilling to issue more than lukewarm statements about the Israeli state’s violence against Palestinians. For example, Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/17/penny-wong-meets-israel-katz-isaac-herzog-israel-gaza-palestine-war-meets-hamas-hostages> “has met with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and assured them that she will continue to use Australia’s voice to call for the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all hostages” and affirmed Australian support for Israel, while only “raising concerns” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Australia has also supported the US/UK bombing of Yemen <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/12/australia-military-support-yemen-airstrikes-us-uk> in retailation for their disruption of shipping routes to Israel. Where our own governments will not speak up for human rights, we have an obligation to raise our voices. Because AoIR is <https://aoir.org/diversity-and-inclusivity/> “is committed to the most fundamental principles of academic freedom, equality of opportunity, and human dignity.” The last university in Gaza has now been destroyed <https://www.thenational.scot/news/24059315.israel-destroys-last-university-gaza-strikes-continue/> by the Israeli army, along with many schools. Students from these universities feel their loss keenly <https://wearenotnumbers.org/lament-for-the-universities/>, even while trying to stay alive through bombings and the denial of their basic human needs. Countless Palestinian academics <https://wearenotnumbers.org/tributes-to-refaat-alareer-killed-dec-9-2023/> and students <https://wearenotnumbers.org/tributes-to-mohammed-zaher-hamo-killed-nov-24-2023/> have been killed, injured, and displaced <https://wearenotnumbers.org/i-have-left-all-my-books-behind/>. Attacks on Palestinian educational institutions are not new <https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/impact_attackeducation_palestine_2022_en.pdf>. Calls for protection <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057925.2021.1987192> have gone unheeded. Because the digital technologies that many of us research are woven through this conflict. Israeli authorities are using facial recognition technology <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/israel-opt-israeli-authorities-are-using-facial-recognition-technology-to-entrench-apartheid/> to entrench apartheid. The Israeli military is using an “AI” system to “generate targets” <https://www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1218643254/israel-is-using-an-ai-system-to-find-targets-in-gaza-experts-say-its-just-the-st>. Telecommunications systems are shut down <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/israel-intensifies-gaza-bombardment-as-internet-and-phone-services-go-down>, making it difficult for people in Gaza to communicate while under attack. Large tech companies have been providing key systems to the Israeli government <https://notechforapartheid.com/>. Because Israeli citizens who protest <https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1225651180/israel-tel-aviv-protest-gaza-war> the actions of their government (including on social media) face <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/12/israel-free-speech-arrests-hamas/> jail <https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-police-crack-down-arab-citizens-expressing-solidarity-with-gaza-2023-10-20/> and threats of violence <https://www.972mag.com/israeli-protest-gaza-war-repression/>, as do those who refuse to serve in the army <https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240115-israel-s-war-resisters-risk-jail-time>. They deserve our support and solidarity. *Why **are we** silent?* I do not think that AoIR has tended to position itself as a neutral or apolitical organisation. Past conference themes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Internet_Researchers> have included “Revolutions” and “Decolonising the Internet”. My sense is that there was also a response and a discussion within the organisation to the Black Lives Matter movement, among other issues. Of course, I am aware that academic organisations will not often respond to international events. Perhaps the silence so far is entirely for this reason. Perhaps we are afraid that if we speak up on this we will also be asked to speak about Sudan, Congo, and other issues (would that be terrible?) However, I think that we must also acknowledge the chilling effect that many academics and others experience specifically on the matter of Israel. Antisemitism is a real and significant problem in the world. However, the ongoing attempt to conflate all criticism of Israel with antisemitism is intellectually dishonest and dangerous <https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/09/antisemitism-dangerous/>. It also frequently glosses over the long history of Jewish <https://www.wrmea.org/2008-december/israel-and-judaism-the-long-and-largely-untold-history-of-jewish-opposition-to-zionism.html> opposition <https://jacobin.com/2020/07/israel-palestine-anti-zionism-history-left> to the formation of Israel. Organisations like the ADL put forward claims that groups like A Jewish Voice for Peace are antisemitic *because* they are anti-Zionist. Similarly, Canary Mission lists university students, professors, and organisations that criticise the Israeli state alongside neo-nazi organisations like the “Daily Stormer”, conflating legitimate criticism of the Israeli government with violent antisemitism. I understand that many people do not want to contribute to the real antisemitism faced by our friends, colleagues, and students face. We all have a duty to oppose antisemitism in our communities and universities. Perhaps that leads to a reluctance to speak out about the Israeli state’s actions. However, I believe that we can oppose both antisemitism and Israeli state violence. The Israeli state does not speak for, or act for, all <https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/23/us/jewish-palestinian-protest-israel-gaza/index.html> Jewish <https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-jewish-group-protests-eight-cities-gaza-ceasefire-2023-12-15/> people <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/19/jewish-protest-israel-gaza-washington-dc>. We should not allow them to claim that they do. We also must be aware that organisations like Canary Mission work hard to impose <https://truthout.org/articles/advocacy-for-palestinians-has-been-outright-criminalized-warns-academic/> a high <https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/8/doxxing-students-palestine-feature/> cost <https://www.cuindependent.com/2023/11/05/ethnic-studies-pro-palestine-statement-taken-down-after-pushback/> on students and teachers within universities who do speak up. A variety of governments have also worked to ban the Boycott-Divest-Sanctions movement <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws>. There are therefore real material consequences for speaking against the actions of the Israeli state. Perhaps that is enough that we do not want to put AoIR as an organisation, or fellow academics within AoIR, in a difficult position. But if that’s the case, let’s at least acknowledge it. Let’s make it visible. Let us be aware that our organisation, and its commitments to values like diversity and inclusion <https://aoir.org/diversity-and-inclusivity/>, are constrained and limited. That our interest in hearing from those who are currently at the margins of our academic spaces (as set out in the ‘revolutions’ CfP <https://aoir.org/aoir2023/aoir2023cfp/>) does not, perhaps, extend as far as some of us might hope. With love, solidarity, and significant trepidation, sky.