Anthropologists across Canada
We, the undersigned faculty, students, and staff at departments of Anthropology at universities across Canada, offer our unwavering support for students and faculty across the country speaking out in support of the Palestinian people, and voice our horror and outrage at the ongoing attacks in the Gaza Strip, what Holocaust scholar Raz Segal has recently described as a “textbook case of genocide.”
For two decades, Israel has held Palestinians in Gaza under siege, in an open-air prison, subjecting them to brutal massacres and weapons testing; intentionally debilitating them by depriving them of basic goods, food, clean water, medicine, and medical supplies. It is chilling to hear the Israeli Defense Minister refer to Palestinians as “human animals”, as well as the silence (or support) in the mainstream media and from campus administrators to this hateful rhetoric. Particularly in light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and what recent testimonies have revealed about the treatment of Indigenous children at Canadian residential schools, we recognize the parallels in Israel’s narratives and violent practices with those of the Canadian nation state in its historical and ongoing relationship with Indigenous peoples.
As anthropologists, we know that it is essential for scholars to situate the current war in its broad historical and social contexts, including those of settler colonialism, US imperialism in the Middle East, and global movements for Indigenous rights. As teachers, we see the impact these events are having on our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students in particular. This grief is compounded by universities and elected representatives ignoring their needs while racist and dehumanizing remarks target their communities, with devastating consequences. And as faculty, we are appalled at the attacks on fellow colleagues in national media outlets that are attempting to censor and repress, particularly targeting racialized and Indigenous faculty. The lack of institutional support being offered equally to all those in the campus community affected by these events contributes to these injustices.
At this time, we know that anti-colonial solidarity is not only an ethical stance but also a critical analytical perspective that must inform our collective analyses of what is happening around us. Such scholarship is currently being occluded by nationalist frameworks that are presenting the situation in Palestine/Israel, as in other world regions, as one of “national conflict”, equal and dehistoricized violence, or primordial enmity. We recognize the hard reality of Jewish loss and grief and stand in solidarity with members of the Jewish community who have articulated the desire for political spaces that condemn Israel’s violence and that support long standing Palestinian struggles. Scholars—and especially those whose research and/or lived experience bear on these issues—have a responsibility to bring their knowledge to the public sphere and question myopic and amnesiac discussions. Their voices cannot be silenced.
This statement has been adapted from our colleagues at the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto and at Scholars Strike Canada. We thank them for their work and integrity.
Alejandro Paz, Associate Professor, UTSC
Katie Kilroy-Marac, Associate Professor, UTSC
Waqas Butt, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough
Francis Cody, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Christopher Krupa, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
Valentina Napolitano, Professor, Anthropology Department
Girish Daswani, Associate Professor, UofT
Amira Mittermaier, University of Toronto
Jesook Song, University of Toronto St. George campus
Jack Sidnell, University of Toronto
Bianca Dahl, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Nisrin Elamin, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Firat Bozcali, Assistant Professor
Zoë Wool, Anthropology (UTM)
Lauren Schroeder, Anthropology, UTM
Anisha Chadha, University of Toronto
Omer Ozcan, University of Toronto
Sumayya Kassamali, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Toronto
Shirley Yeung, Teaching Stream, Anthropology
Vinicius de Aguiar Furuie, University of Toronto Scarborough
Madeleine Mant, UTM
Janita Van Dyk, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Sarah Hillewaert, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Toronto
Bonnie McElhinny, Professor, Anthropology
Andrew Walsh, Western University
Cassandra Hartblay, Assistant Professor
Lena Mortensen, Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough
Shiho Satsuka, Anthropology, University of Toronto
Shelby Patrick, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Basit Kareem Iqbal, Assistant Professor, McMaster University
Julie Kate Seirlis, Continuing Lecturer, United College at the University of Waterloo
Shaylih Muehlmann, University of British Columbia
Samuel Huard, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Seçil Dagtas, University of Waterloo
Louis Plottel, Jewish, PhD Student, UofT Department of Anthropology
Gaston Gordillo, Professor, University of British Columbia
Jean-Michel Landry, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University
Yasir P., PhD Student, University of Toronto
Marianna Reis, PhD candidate in Anthropology, University of Toronto
Stephanie Mayell, University of Toronto
Nahla Abdo, Professor, Department of Sociology/Anthropology/carleton University
Jacob Bessen, University of Toronto
Donna Patrick, Professor, Carleton University
Noha Fikry, University of Toronto (PhD candidate, anthropology)
Sarah O'Sullivan, University of Toronto and Capilano University
Randa Farah, Associate Professor, The University of Western Ontario
Vivian Solana, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Carleton University
Ashley Lebner, Associate Professor, Wilfred Laurier University
Walter Callaghan, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Elif Sari, Department of Anthropology, UBC
Isaac Vargas, PhD candidate, Anthropology, UofT
Bradley Dunseith, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Danielle Dinovelli-Lang, Carleton University
Lalaie Ameeriar, Associate Professor, York University
Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Jennifer Long, MacEwan University
Blair Rutherford, Professor, Carleton University
Diana El Richani, PhD Student, Socio-Cultural Anthropology, University of Toronto
Majeed, University of Toronto, Anthropology
Aakash Solanki, University of Toronto
Amidu Mutaru, PhD candidate, University of Toronto
Anne Meneley, Professor, Trent University
Matthew Hawkins, Carleton University
Non-tenured faculty member, Concordia University
Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan, Associate Professor, Carleton University
Ferda Demirci, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Cal Biruk, Associate Professor, McMaster University
Kamari Clarke, Professor, University of Toronto
Michele Hutyra, University of Toronto Mississauga
Alejandra Gonzalez Jimenez, University of Toronto
Arul Arora, University of Waterloo
Shirin Gerami, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Carolyn Ramzy, Carleton University
Veronica Ferreri, University of Waterloo
Anthropology Student, UTM
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Beatrice Jauregui, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Nada Moumtaz, University of Toronto
Sabeen Kazmi, University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies, PhD Candidate
Pamela Block, Western University
Arseli Dokumaci, Associate Professor, Concordia University
Sara, Business
Ienas Abdulaziz, Anthropology student at University of Toronto
Shozab Raza, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Este Orantes Migoya, PhD Student, Anthropology, University of Toronto
Laura Beach, PhD candidate in Anthropology, University of Toronto
Carlota McAllister, York University
Lynda Chubak, University of Toronto
Rakesh Sengupta, University of Toronto
Sherry Fukuzawa, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
Matthew Pettit, PhD, University of Toronto
Naisargi N. Dave, University of Toronto
Nicholas Bukowski, University of Toronto
Priya Saibel, PhD student, University of Toronto
Riham Darwish, UTM student
Daniel Salas, PhD candidate Anthropology, Dalhousie University
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alaa mitwalt, phd anthropology candidate, university of Toronto
M. Simsek, Student, UTSC
Thomas Greiner, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Elliot Montpellier, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Alperen Demirci, University of Toronto
Dawn Martin Hill
Emily Gillard, PhD Student (Anthropology), McMaster University
Miriam Hird-Younger, Carleton University
Anthropology, McMaster University
PhD Student Anthropology McMaster University
Ruth Marshall, Associate Professor, Political Science/Study of Religion, U of T
2nd year PhD Student, McMaster Anthropology
PhD Student Anthropology McMaster University
Ridhima Sharma, University of Toronto
Amna Majeed, Phd Student Anthropology
PL, University of Toronto
Peige Desjarlais, PhD candidate, York University
Manahil Khan, York University
Darren Gens, PhD student, York University
Celia Ringstrom, PhD Student, York University
Natasha Pravaz, Wilfrid Laurier University
PhD Candidate, York University
Shubhra Gururani, York University
Salman Hussain, York University
Contract Faculty Member (Anthropology, UTSC & York Univ)
Faculty member Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough
Damla, University of Concordia
Miranda Vlietstra, University of Toronto
Muntasir Chowdhury, PhD Student, University of Toronto
Staff (TMU)