November 2023 Community Statement

"We say 'ceasefire, ceasefire'. Brothers and sisters, stop! War is always a defeat, always."

-Pope Francis, Oct 26, 2023

We are members of the University of San Francisco (USF) community (faculty, students, staff, and alumni), and we write this statement, as individuals, to speak out against the genocide in Gaza. In this, we stand with a growing global community of people from diverse religious, cultural, and historical backgrounds and with Muslim and Jewish congressional staffers on Capitol Hill urging the US government for a ceasefire. We cannot be silent about what a Jewish Israeli genocide scholar in Jewish Currents has called “a textbook case of genocide” and what a group of Palestinian Christians has called an example of “an entrenched colonial discourse that has weaponized the Bible to justify the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples.” We state, unequivocally, that we stand opposed to the genocide in Gaza, and believe it is our moral obligation to ask our USF community to do so as well. Our mission asks us to hold each other accountable and remain in solidarity with a “vision of justice that demands a preferential option for those who are oppressed or marginalized.” 

None of us are disembodied from or unconnected to deep histories, communities, and families impacted by current events. As community members of a Jesuit institution of higher learning, committed to cura personalis, care for the whole person, we call upon all to consider what it means to bear witness to the plight of Palestinian people in Gaza facing genocidal Israeli state violence. What does it mean to educate and learn in an institution whose mission claims that we are “Inspired by a faith that does justice?” Waging justice towards peace is an active struggle. In the words of our institutional mission, we invite our community members to take a stand that fulfills our aspiration “to be persons for and with others.” 

According to an emergency legal briefing paper written by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), “There is clear evidence, that Israel is attempting to commit, if not actively committing, genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Additionally, since October 7, 2023, “Israel has escalated its 16-year closure over 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza where approximately half the population is under 18.” Israel has “indiscriminately and repeatedly” bombed civilian homes and hospitals, denied the population of Gaza basic necessities (including food, water, electricity, and medical supplies). Oxfam, relying on United Nations data, has written that “starvation is being used as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians.” The horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 does not justify the massive killing of civilians in Gaza and the escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

On October 13, Israel ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million Palestinians from northern Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed that over 9,000 people have been killed in Israel’s bombings. As we write this, Israel has cut off electricity and internet in Gaza, and social media is filled with last messages that people in Gaza have written to their loved ones. A ground offensive is underway. Palestinians with family in Gaza and the West Bank are unable to sleep, reeling from the rising casualties, and grieving. While academics located in the US debate semantics, they are facing the annihilation of their families and communities. Jewish allies and activists, including Holocaust survivors, are demanding a ceasefire, on the grounds that “never again,” means never again for anyone, any community. We are proud to stand with them. 

We, the undersigned, call on President Biden to demand and facilitate an immediate ceasefire. The Biden administration must also refrain from sending any more weapons to the Israeli government. 

We mourn for the Palestinian and Israeli civilians killed, we condemn the rising tide of Islamophobia and antisemitism in the wake of these events, and we continue to fight with everything we have for the living.

On December 5, every SF Board of Supervisors was sent this statement along with this note as they were considering their cease fire resolution. 

"San Francisco has a strong legacy in taking brave stands for social justice and leading the country towards fully embodying its ideals for human rights. It is time for San Francisco to take the national stage and put our country on the right path again.  Over the past two months, we have witnessed unprecedented carnage and suffering in Gaza and Israel. Too many innocents have died and we need to say it is time for a cease fire that brings lasting peace for all. 

We are asking the board to adopt the ceasefire resolution being introduced at today's BOS meeting. The following statement urging a ceasefire has been signed to date by 951 individual members of our community at University of San Francisco, the city's premier Jesuit institution of higher learning. These nearly one thousand signatories are faculty, staff, students and alumni who also represent a broad cross section of San Francisco itself.

We believe that the Board of Supervisors should endorse views that are widely held by our community at large."