New subject: [EXTERNAL *] Re: The difficult conversation we don't seem to be having

22 Jan 2024

      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.

The difficult conversation we don't seem to be having

Serhat Tutkal

Alia ElKattan

A. R

Ernesto Oyarbide M.

Serhat Tutkal

Amy Mowle

Alia ElKattan

Andreas Wittel

A. R

Aparajita Bhandari

egodard＠csun.edu

Ernesto Priego

tags

participants (62)