Philosophers for Peace

Philosophers for Peace

An Open Letter to the Global Intellectual Community

Humanity stands at a critical juncture, facing an unprecedented moral and legal rupture that threatens the very foundations of the international order. The ongoing mass killings of thousands of civilians in Gaza —  including children, women, and the elderly — alongside the destruction of essential infrastructure, the blockade of basic resources, forced displacement, systematic starvation, and the deliberate creation of famine by Israel constitute, as documented by numerous international bodies, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing. These violations are compounded by Israel’s military operations in Lebanon and Yemen, and its ongoing breaches of the Lebanon ceasefire.

The crisis is further intensified by Israel’s so called “preemptive attack” on Iran (June 13) and the United States’ strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, actions undertaken without United Nations authorization. These measures violate the Charter of the United Nations, disregard the sovereignty of states, and risk normalizing a doctrine of unilateral force detached from international law. Such developments hasten the collapse of a rules based global order, substituting law and diplomacy with sheer coercive power.

This descent into lawlessness illustrates a broader and deeply concerning trajectory:

• The systematic dehumanization of entire populations, most notably the Palestinians, through sustained military aggression and hegemonic narratives that negate their humanity and right to justice.

• The erosion of confidence in international institutions, whose silence or complicity perpetuates cycles of violence, undermining the very ideals of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

• The suppression of academic freedom and civic dissent, as students, scholars, and intellectuals who oppose war crimes or call attention to mass atrocities face censorship, retaliation, and institutional pressures.

The continued erosion of international law and humanitarian norms risks propelling the world toward what Thomas Hobbes described as a “state of nature” — a condition in which the rule of might overrides the rule of justice and legality. To avert this regression, we must work collectively toward a more reasonable and cooperative global order — one grounded in intercultural dialogue, moral engagement, and resilient institutions, as envisioned by leading thinkers and traditions from across the world.

We therefore call upon philosophers, intellectuals, writers, and humanists worldwide to:

1. Unequivocally denounce Israel’s conduct in Gaza — widely recognized as genocidal — as well as its military operations in Lebanon and Yemen, its unlawful strikes on Iran, and all forms of military aggression executed in violation of international law.

2. Defend and fortify academic and civic spaces as sanctuaries for truth, justice, and principled opposition to violence and oppression.

3. Collaborate across borders to reimagine and strengthen global institutions capable of advancing the rule of law, promoting peaceful conflict resolution, and safeguarding human dignity over coercive power and political expediency.

Philosophy and the humanities must not retreat into silence in the face of such systemic violations. We share a distinct intellectual and historical responsibility: not only to critique injustice but to actively contribute to the construction of a just, inclusive, and sustainable global order.

We invite you to endorse this letter and join a global consortium of scholars committed to renewing humanity’s moral imagination — an imagination rooted in peace, justice, dialogue, and a collective dedication to universal human rights.

[The final version, revised based on received suggestions]

Signed:

Thomas Pogge, Yale University

Norman Finkelstein, Independent Scholar

Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University

Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University 

Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Coimbra  University

Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University in the City of New York 

Nader Hashemi, Georgetown University

Hossein Houshmand, Simon Fraser University

Seyed N. Mousavian, Loyola University Chicago

Muhammad Ali Khalidi, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Hossein Dabbagh, Northeastern University London

Amia Srinivasan, All Souls College, University of Oxford

Karim Dharamsi, Mount Royal University

Farrouk Mitha, University of Victoria

Hossein Sheykh Rezaee, Iranian Institute of Philosophy

Ebrahim Azadegan, Sharif University of Technology

Mohammad Mahdi Hatef, Independent Scholar

Malek Hosseini, Former Professor of Philosophy, Iranian Institute of Philosophy

Amin Bozorgiyan, Anthropology Department, University of Nice

Daryoush Mohammad Poor, Institute of Ismaili Studies

Mohammad Mehdi Ardebili, Independent Scholar

Maryam Nasr Esfahani, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies

Amirehsan Karbasizadeh, University of Isfahan

Reza Mosmer, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies

Mohammad Javad Safian Isfahani, Isfahan University

Ali Paya, The Islamic College, London

Kaveh Niazi, Independent Scholar

Babak Abbasi, Islamic Azad university (Science and Research Branch)

Hossein Kaji, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)

Bins Sebastian, Madras Christian College, Chennai, India

Najat Rahman, University of Montreal

Bob Brecher, University of Brighton (Emeritus)

Valeria Pinto, University of Naples Federico II

Philip Kain, Emeritus Santa Clara University

Anton Ford, University of Chicago

Tom Hickey, University of Brighton, UK

Francesco Sticchi, Oxford Brookes University

Hossein Kamaly, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace

Robert Boyce, London School of Economics and Political Science

Saeid Edalatnejad, Encyclopedia Islamica Foundation

David Mond, University of Warwick

Yaser Mirdamadi, Institute of Ismaili Studies

Giovanni Mascaretti, University of Bergamo

Amirhossein Khodaparast, Iranian Institute of Philosophy

Ghazaleh Hojjati, International University of Islamic Denominations

Farid al-Din Sebt, Independent Scholar

Mohsen Kadivar, Duke University

Soroush Dabbagh, Former Associate Professor of Philosophy, Iranian Institute of Philosophy

Hossein Mesbahian, Dismissed Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Tehran

Gregory Vandamme, University of Chester

Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London

Raphaël Gély, Université catholique de Louvain

Mahmoud Morvarid, Institute for Research on Fundamental Sciences

Ahmad Bostani, Kharazmi University

Ali Mirsepassi, New York University

Imge Oranli, Arizona State University

Saeedeh Babaii, GC REAIM Experrt, Former Postdoc at IZEW & HLRS

Lou Brandner, University of Tübingen

Dana Miranda, University of Massachusetts Boston 

Aubrial Harrington, Arizona State University

Gyan Prakash, Princeton University

Ólafur Páll Jónsson , University of Iceland

Alexandros Kypriotis, Writer, Translator and Publisher (Greece)

Javaad Heydari, Shahed University

Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Patrick Hassan, Cardiff University

Hadi Samadi, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch

Lior Sternfeld, Penn State

Ali-Reza Bhojani, University of Birmingham

Raja Halwani, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Karim Sadek, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Ali Moazzami, Invited Lecturer, University of Tehran

Shirin Saeidi, University of Arkansas

Maziar Behrooz, San Francisco State University

Sumedha Weerawardhana, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Bijan Khajehpour, Independent Scholar

Mufizal Aboobucker, University of Peradeniya

Miguel Giusti, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

Gerhard Seel, prof.em. University of Bern

Stella Villarmea, Complutense University of Madrid

Alejandro Cortés-Arbeláez, Pompeu Fabra University