Call for Academic Solidarity: Recognizing Complexity and the Need for In-Depth Academic Discourse
From Oct-7-Academic
Oct-7-Academic is a grassroots effort by Israeli academics in the sciences and humanities. Our goal is to fine-tune and advocate for fact-based understanding of the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7 and the ongoing war in Gaza, with a focus on our community: academic associations and publications, colleges and universities, and other relevant initiatives that arise from the arena of higher education.
Oct 7th Perspectives after 140 Days of War
Dear colleagues,
The unimaginable crisis of the last few months, which has shattered countless lives, requires an in-depth analysis of the firm stands that have taken hold among Israelis and Palestinians, as well as among academics around the globe.
While we are still in the midst of escalating violence, with hostages still being tortured by Hamas and denied Red Cross access and medications, we realize, as hard as it is, that it is time to start thinking about the “Day After” when the hostages will be back and Gaza will be rebuilt after the war. With many disagreements regarding the possible paths forward, the current situation is extremely complex, so building alternative paths toward the future is a daunting task that requires integrity, knowledge, imagination, creativity, and resolve. Consideration is also required of the multiple players and their positive/negative involvement in the current war, along with a realization of who can or cannot be a contributing partner in building a better future.
Academia, at such times, can and must be a driving force toward developing creative ideas and advancing a peaceful, humanistic resolution of the conflict. Unfortunately, it can also be a base for radicalization and increasing hostility. This is where academic scholars and management should show leadership, integrity, compassion, and a clear moral compass combined with the academic effort required for a deep evaluation of a highly complex conflict.
We call on our colleagues in the international academic community to stand in solidarity with Israel, as well as with peace-seeking Arab scholars, in the critical quest to chart potential paths forward while Israel and Hamas are still waging the war in Gaza that began with Hamas’s genocidal attack on October 7, 2023. Such paths must recognize and affirm the rights of both the Jewish and the Palestinian people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland (UN resolution 181; 242). We propose below several key milestones, each of which can benefit from in-depth examination that is the forte of academia.
Immediate Goals
All the hostages held by Hamas and its affiliates in Gaza must be released immediately, as a precondition for any discussion toward a peaceful resolution of the armed conflict. The very capture of the hostages, kidnapped from their homes or from the music festival, violated international humanitarian law, and their detention in Gaza constitutes a grave breach of that law. The need for their release is rendered all the more urgent by the piling evidence of hostages being tortured, sexually assaulted, raped, held in subhuman conditions and denied medical care.
Hamas is a genocidal and antisemitic terrorist organization that cannot remain a ruling force in Gaza, and it cannot remain in power and take part in resolving the conflict. By failing to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, Hamas constitutes a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. In fact, as The Economist wrote in a recent commentary on the Israel-Hamas war, “by the UN definition, Hamas is a genocidal organization. Its founding charter, published in 1988, explicitly commits it to obliterating Israel. Article 7 states that “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” Article 13 rejects any compromise, or peace, until Israel is destroyed.” The Hamas ideology threatens all Jews wherever they may be.
UNRWA, which has discredited itself by aiding Hamas and actively participating in its terrorist acts, needs to be dismantled. This organization, created in 1949 in order to aid Palestinian refugees, has in fact served to perpetuate this problem by granting a unique hereditary refugee status to all descendants of people displaced by war within their own homeland. UNRWA’s definition of refugee, if applied universally, would encompass the entire human race. Over the years, appeals were made to reform or disband it. A senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, for example, wrote back in 2008 that UNRWA fuels the conflict with Israel: “UNRWA is a more fundamental obstacle to peace because its very existence promotes the belief among Palestinians across the Middle East that a two-state solution is essentially unjust. By encouraging Palestinians to believe that the international community owes them repatriation to the land their parents and grandparents fled when five Arab armies invaded Israel in 1948, the UNRWA faithfully carries out a U.N.-authorized policy toward Palestinians that runs contrary to U.N. policy in regard to the vast majority of the world’s refugees.”
The current war has uncovered an even darker side of UNRWA. About a dozen UNRWA staff members participated in the October 7 attack on Israel. Moreover, one of the Israeli hostages was held captive in Gaza in the home of an UNRWA teacher. He was no exception: a Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers celebrated the October 7 massacre. Finally, the Israel Defense Forces discovered ample evidence of the misuse of UNRWA’s facilities by Hamas, including the smuggling of arms in its bags and ambulances. The IDF also uncovered tunnels underneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, showing that they were used by Hamas as an electrical supply room.
UNRWA schools, attended by Gazan children, have propagated antisemitic literature, including literature imbued with Nazi ideology, and led education programs promoting anti-Israeli Jihadist martyrdom.
Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is an urgent task that should go hand in hand with the dismantlement of Hamas and UNRWA. Hamas bears the responsibility for this crisis, and this responsibility did not begin with its October 7 attack on Israel. For years before this attack, Hamas had prevented the development of solid civilian infrastructures in Gaza by appropriating a lion’s share of international aid. Instead of letting this aid to be spent on the prosperity of Gaza, Hamas diverted it to building up its own military might. It converted water pipes into rockets to be launched at Israel and dug up a clandestine network of tunnels, extending over thousands of miles underground, in support of its military aggression. As a result of this policy, the infrastructures in Gaza were already lacking before the October 7 attack.
They were further damaged in the war, brought about by Hamas’s genocidal attack on Israel. In fact, the entire civilian population became an inevitable casualty of this war because Hamas has been cynically and systematically using it as a human shield. As shown by ample evidence supplied by the Israel Defense Forces, schools and hospitals have been used as Hamas military headquarters; private homes have served as weapons depots; even the detention of Israeli hostages has been “outsourced” to civilian Gazan families.
The humanitarian crisis is further compounded by the fact that Hamas is in charge of distributing the aid coming into Gaza. As always, it is hijacking a disproportionate amount of the aid to its own use, leaving much of the population hungry and lacking basic supplies.
Visions and Challenges for the Future
Any peaceful resolution of the Israel-Hamas war must ensure a safe return of displaced Israelis to their communities, in which they should be able to live without being threatened by rockets or a terrorist invasion. The international community had in the past pledged to keep southern Lebanon demilitarized, yet it has de facto allowed the Hezbollah to increase its military presence there. Measures must be taken to prevent the same from happening in Gaza, so that it cannot revert to threatening Israel once the Israel Defense Forces withdraw.
Fully demilitarizing Gaza is a prerequisite to this goal. It must be accompanied by liberal humanistic education, to undo the antisemitic indoctrination that glorifies martyrdom, instilled in Gaza’s youth enrolled in UNRWA schools during the nearly two decades of Hamas rule. An appropriate international entity must be appointed to oversee both the demilitarization and the education efforts.
Iran and Qatar, complicit partners in Hamas’s October 7 attack, and in the ensuing antisemitic campaigns in the social media, must be deterred from stirring up unrest in the region. Many experts believe that the radical regime of Iran sprang into action after Israel had signed the Abraham Peace Accords with four Muslim countries and was about to extend these accords to Saudi Arabia. To prevent the signing of US-backed accords that would increase the regional influence of its enemies, Iran collaborated with Hamas to instigate an attack on Israel.
In addition to fueling Hamas’s aggression, Iran and Qatar are currently acting to escalate tensions on multiple other arenas: by supporting the Hezbollah in Lebanon; by acting to embolden hostile elements in Judea and Samaria; by operating proxies in Syria and Iraq; by encouraging the Houthis in their missile attacks on Israel and in their threats to international maritime freedom of navigation; and by stirring antisemitic protests among the progressive left in Western world universities.
“Day After” scenarios for Gaza and the region should be elaborated upon while the fighting in Gaza still goes on.
a. U.S. President Joe Biden is formulating an initiative toward a two-state solution, that is, the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Public and expert opinion within Israel is divided over this solution.
Its supporters argue that it will lead to geopolitical normalization, which will encompass peaceful accords with Saudi Arabia and an establishment of an international coalition against Iran, and that it will resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by peaceful means.
Its detractors, including major figures in Israel’s security establishment, believe that Israel’s agreeing to a two-state solution would be suicidal.
b. Netanyahu's “Day After” plans call for a transition stage, in which Israel will temporarily administer all aspects of civilian life in Gaza, including distribution of humanitarian aid. It will then transfer the administration of Gaza to an international coalition of Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Support for Hamas ideology among Palestinians is a major hurdle to any peaceful initiative. A December opinion poll showed a rise in support for Hamas on the West Bank, with nearly 90 percent calling for the Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas to resign.
Yet another hurdle: social media that are spreading anti-Israel disinformation. The Chinese-owned TikTok, for example, is reported to have manipulated its exposure algorithm to turn young people in the US and Europe, especially the progressive left, against Israel and against what they perceive as a Western mindset. Moreover, given the global Muslim population of 1.9 billion – that is, with a ratio of 118 Muslims for each Jew – finding social media influencers and local activists to fuel anti-Israel protests is much easier than generating opinions to explain Israel’s stand in the conflict. The paradoxical result is that a fanatic organization like Hamas, which executes homosexuals, subjugates women and endorses child marriage, ends up enjoying the support of many young Westerners who consider themselves to be progressive left-wing liberals.
The Israel-Hamas war has triggered an alarming and coordinated rise in antisemitism on university campuses in Europe and the US. All too often, attacks on Jews are disguised as criticism of Israel or as calls for boycotting Israel-linked programs. Such attacks are occasionally defended under the banner of freedom of speech, whereas in reality, they promote nothing but freedom of hate. It is critical to reveal the involvement of various countries in using social media to undermine liberal democracies and academic merit.
Calls for a new liberal leadership to take power in Israel. Israel is a democratic country, open to criticism of its policies and its political leadership. However, one should not confuse such critique with denying Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, and its right to defend itself from military and terror attacks, such as the one perpetrated by Hamas on October 7.
Signed by
Additional Material
Hostages testimonies
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h7tm9h
Sexual violence and rape
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68162920
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html
Evidence from Gaza tunnels and hostage murder
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/world/middleeast/gaza-hamas-israel-tunnels-hostages.html
Red Cross and UNRWA negligence to direct involvement
"The family of Elma Abraham cries: She almost died", O. Sela and Y.Yagne Walla News, November 27, 2023 https://news.walla.co.il/item/3625109, https://www.timesofisrael.com/freed-hostage-elma-avraham-84-no-longer-in-critical-condition-hospital-says/ November 28, 2023, " Elma Avraham is improving: I am made of Iron, I am back with you", O. Sela, https://news.walla.co.il/item/3627127 December 6 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
RELEASED: "Margalit Moses, 78: Cancer survivor freed from Gaza" https://www.timesofisrael.com/released-margalit-moses-78-cancer-survivor-freed-from-gaza/ November 24, 2023, "Margalit Mozes released from captivity: my oxygen device was taken" https://www.ice.co.il/local-news/news/article/991740 December 9, 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
"Released hostage Hanna Katzir, 78, in dire medical condition, family says" https://www.timesofisrael.com/released-hostage-hanna-katzir-78-in-dire-medical-condition-family-says/ December 6, 2023, "Deterioration of Hana Kazir who returned from Hamas captivity: she developed heart problems" https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/rkmkdj6ra December 6, 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
Hen Mazzig, X https://twitter.com/HenMazzig/status/1732873255776616610 December 7, 2023 "Hospital says freed hostage Maya Regev who was shot in leg will need further operations" https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hospital-says-freed-hostage-who-was-shot-in-leg-will-need-further-operations/ November 30, 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
"Israel: Red Cross has ‘no right to exist’ if it can’t help hostages in Gaza" https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-red-cross-has-no-right-to-exist-if-it-cant-help-hostages-in-gaza/, November 1, 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
"Hamas continues to Deny Red Cross Access to Hostages, proof of Life" https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/23/hamas-continues-to-deny-red-cross-access-to-hostages-proof-of-life/ Last visited January 18th 2024
"The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief" https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/code-of-conduct-movement-ngos-english.pdf , "The ICRC's mandate and mission" https://www.icrc.org/en/mandate-and-mission Last visited January 18th 2024
Gheorghe, Stefan. "Application of the Principles of International Humanitarian Law, State of Law, State of Facts Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement." EIRP Proceedings 18.1 (2023): 44-49.
Slim H. Humanitarian Diplomacy: The ICRC's Neutral and Impartial Advocacy in Armed Conflicts. Ethics & International Affairs. 2019;33(1):67-77. doi:10.1017/S0892679418000904
"At least 10 freed hostages were sexually abused in Hamas captivity, doctor says" https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-least-10-freed-hostages-were-sexually-abused-by-hamas-in-captivity-doctor-says/ December 6, 2023 Last visited January 18th 2024
"Qatari plane delivering medicine to Israeli hostages lands in Egypt, report says" https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skag5mby6 January 17, 2024 Last visited January 18th 2024
UNRWA facilities schools and hospitals
https://unwatch.org/unrwa-terrorgram/
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:63511019-3941-4cdb-a11c-299a2cd84518
Humanitarian aid, UNRWA and HAMAS
https://www.unrwa.org/what-mandate-unrwa-0 this shows what their mission aught to be, as opposed to what happens in reality.
https://www.youtube.com/live/zkBp1zgggtc?si=Yq6G2eFnBvtOzPuY
The Republican Committee on Congress regarding funding of UNRWA that was posted on the whatsapp group included important testimonies regarding Hamas dominating UNRWA in Gaza, the perpetuation of the palestinian refugees status as opposed to other refugees and the need for reform so that UNHRC will be responsible for the Palestinian refugees as well instead of UNRWA this way UN would have more control over its actions, as it does in other settings.
Expansion of the conflict , Yemen, Lebanon, Iran
https://docsend.com/view/7fn29qbgr8tm3yyh
On line battle on social media; Bots and Avatars, coordinated action: Iran, China, Russia
https://www.engadget.com/the-eu-is-probing-xs-response-to-israel-hamas-misinformation-204101029.html
The perfect storm on US campuses: Critical theories/ DEI + social media & foreign funding
https://youtu.be/u5XGGDD0K9g?si=5W7viY2hWqc9VFDU
New wave of Anti Semitism with blood libels, false accusations of organ thefts and blame in genocide
How the Activist Left Turned on Israel
https://time.com/6323730/hamas-attack-left-response/
International Humanitarian Law(IHL) and its role in the Israel Hamas war
Summary of IHL principles that are highly relevant to the Oct 7th war
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sf9-04moTHhEyL-uhH1aj_4PDOB_v7nj92aZEwRBxeI/edit?usp=sharing
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949
4th Geneva convention 1949 in particular the following articles:
Article 16 Wounded and sick: I. General protection.................................. 175
Article 17 II. Evacuation ............................................................................. 175
Article 18 III. Protection of hospitals ......................................................... 175
Article 19 IV. Discontinuance of protection of hospitals........................... 176
Article 20 V. Hospital staff ..........................................................................
Genocide accusations of Israel / Haag
Genocide in the charter of Hamas
Visions for the future
Oct 7 as an attack on Middle East peace:
https://youtu.be/WMFEByrmYMw?si=r_cooSo7u1SUbDbl
One state / Two states
Biden plan
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/31/opinion/biden-iran-israel.html?bgrp=g&smid=url-share
תכנית נתניהו ליום שאחרי מלחמת "חרבות ברזל" | בן כספית http://www.maariv.co.il/news/military/Article-1072405
Bottlenecks
Wide support for HAMAS ideology among palestinians:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67695861
Disagreements within Israel:
https://mobile.mako.co.il/news-politics/2023_q4/Article-9f47fed9563eb81027.htm