We write as Jewish faculty and librarians at the University of Toronto, and members of the Jewish Faculty Network (JFN), to indicate our firm support for the demands of the People’s Circle for Palestine – the student encampment established since May 2, 2024 on the St. George campus of the University of Toronto – for disclosure, divestment, and ending partnerships complicit with Israel’s occupation and ongoing, brutal violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Gaza. On March 28, 2024, Judge Yusuf of the International Court of Justice declared that: “The alarm has now been sounded by the Court. All the indicators of genocidal activities are flashing red in Gaza.” We also write to express our firm support for, and commitment to, the rights of freedom of assembly and expression exercised by these students.
As Jewish teachers, researchers, and scholars, we share a strong commitment to social justice, to the energetic defense of academic freedom, and to unwavering opposition to antisemitism and all forms of racism. Many of us have deep, painful familiarity with genocide in our families. Many of us also have strong relations with friends, colleagues and family in Israel and Palestine.
We do not claim to speak for all Jewish faculty or for the entire Jewish community. We recognize the longstanding diversity of Jewish opinion, and its intensity regarding recent events in Israel and Palestine. However, neither do we accept efforts to minimize or marginalize our views and the depth of representation we hold. As a chapter of JFN – a network of scholars across Canadian universities and colleges – we are rooted in a growing, dynamic current of Jewish opinion that is both longstanding in Jewish history and teachings (see for example, Boyarin) and also part of a rising movement of Jewish youth in Canada and internationally (more...)
Jewish Faculty Network U of T Supports the People’s Circle for Palestine
No comments:
Post a Comment