Editor’s Note: This is a faculty submission.

We would like to respond to the letter signed by several faculty members and published in The Denisonian on Nov.15: “Response to statement on justice in Palestine: A letter to our communities.” Reiterating and echoing a spirit of critical dialogue, we are deeply concerned by the misreading of the ceasefire letter and the false public charge that students, faculty, and staff signatories are “siding with the terrorists of Hamas” and are “calling for the elimination of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.” We categorically reject both claims. Critique of the state of Israel or support for Palestinian human rights are not synonymous with antisemitism. By implying that these ideologies are equivalents, the letter creates a hostile atmosphere on campus, despite the authors’ claims to favor “dialogue.” 

Students and faculty stand together, in solidarity, to protest ongoing ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and the potential genocide of Palestinians by the state of Israel. We firmly stand side by side with our Jewish students, friends, and colleagues in our vocal condemnation of antisemitism and attacks on Jewish communities here in the US. We also stand against the killing of civilians by Hamas and other groups on Oct. 7. In all of the various campus events organized to date on peace and justice in Palestine, faculty and students have repeatedly disseminated factual and verifiable information about indiscriminate attacks against civilians, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the need for an immediate end to the conflict. As signatories to this letter, we resist attempts, such as the faculty letter we are responding to, that seek to silence support for Palestine and undermine any public engagement or political analysis critical of Israel’s illegal occupation. We also recognize the efforts of faculty who have stood up to support our students and keep them safe, moderating valuable and open public teach-ins and townhall discussions where students of all backgrounds and perspectives have come together to ask earnest and discerning questions about the complexities of the conflict, its history, and what a free and just Israel and Palestine might look like. In other words, in these spaces the dialogue and community that President Weinberg and our colleagues call for has already been taking place, much to the credit of the students and groups maligned by the faculty letter.

While it might have been possible to have a useful debate about the complicated history of slogans (e.g., “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”) that have been assigned conflicting meanings by different groups, about how to contextualize resistance to the mass killing of a colonized people at the hand of a powerful state, or about the violent dynamics of nationalism throughout history, the irresponsible accusations leveled against vulnerable students and faculty only inflamed and escalated a situation in which many of us already feel unsafe. Such language takes on an inherently anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and most concerningly defamatory tone, conflating Palestinian rights and liberation with militancy, violence, and terrorism. This rhetoric incites palpable fear, particularly when we consider how students and faculty across the U.S. have been harassed, stalked, and violently attacked for speaking out on this issue. 

In addition, the faculty letter goes against many of the critical thinking practices that are crucial and definitive of a liberal arts education. For instance, it lays claim to the “indisputable facts” of Oct. 7 and in so doing, suggests that the narrative of the letter is the only vantage point from which to understand ongoing events. It also reiterates unverified talking points emanating from the Israeli military and picked up by mainstream media. The letter uses highly politicized language (like “jihadist”) seemingly uncritically, as if these words are mere descriptors rather than powerful forces with real world effects. In this, we find their letter an affront to students craving frank, critical dialogue on difficult topics. It also ignores the fact that many faculty who support peace and justice for Palestine actively critique and teach about the historical and present dangers of antisemitism in our classes. Lastly, as students and faculty of the liberal arts know well, one’s subject position matters. The faculty authors made no mention of themselves as tenured professors with considerable class and racial privilege and power over students in and beyond the classroom, and therefore willfully ignore critical differentials that exist around who can speak about this issue and in what ways. 

We recognize how the ongoing conflict is triggering and traumatizing for people with different religious, ethnic, or national identities. However, to suggest that the ceasefire letter authored by students in the SJP and MSA, among many other student organizations across multiple universities, constitutes a call for antisemitism or the erasure of Jewish people is a gross misinterpretation. We direct our colleagues and the reader to the end of the fourth paragraph as well as the fourth demand at the bottom of the letter, both of which resist the common false assertion that pro-Palestinian advocacy is equivalent to being “pro-Hamas” or antisemitic.

Let us be clear and unambiguous: we are not calling for the elimination of the Jewish people, and we are not calling for the dismantling of the state of Israel. We are calling for an immediate ceasefire. We are calling for the end of apartheid and occupation which are deliberate acts on the part of the state of Israel to control and oppress Palestinians. If there is any common ground that we share, it would seem to be a desire for a “lasting and just peace,” united in a shared humanity.

FACULTY SIGNATORIES: 

Ron Abram

Anna Adams

Hanada Al-Masri

Lauren Araiza

Beronica Avila

Nida Bikmen

Jason Busic

Isis Campos

Christina Cavener

Jennifer Woody Collins

Chris Crews

Julia Fernandez

Zach Joachim

Zarrina Juraqulova

Fadhel Kaboub

Tess Lanzarotta

Cheryl McFarren

Caitlin Marie Miles

Michael Alexander Morris

Kelsi Morrison-Atkins

Isis Nusair

Christine Pae

Marion Ramirez 

Sheilah Restack

Jane Saffitz 

Hosna Sheikholeslami

John Soderberg

Ahmed Soliman

Catherine Stuer

Micaela Vivero

David White

FACULTY EMERITI SIGNATORIES:

Sohrab Behdad 

Susan Diduk

Sandra Mathern

Bahram Tavakolian

Anita Waters

STUDENT ORG. SIGNATORIES:

African and Caribbean Student Association

Black Latinx Asian STEM Society

Black Student Union

Democratic Socialists of America

Denison Asian Student Union

Denison Disability Advocacy Association

Denisonians for Planned Parenthood

First Generation Network

Green Team

History Club

La Fuerza Latina

Muslim Student Association

Outlook 

Students for Justice in Palestine

University Programming Council

Vietnamese Student Association

Women’s and Gender Studies Senior Fellows