ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ

Mission:

To be a coordinated presence on campus, offering support and advocacy for Jewish employees and students.

Statement from JEA:

Dear ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Community,

We are a group of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ faculty and staff who are deeply concerned about the ongoing events in Israel and across the Middle East and their implications for the safety of students, staff, and faculty on our campus. As we all know, on October 7th, Hamas terrorists launched a long-planned attack on southern Israel in which they murdered over 1300 civilians, many of whom were asleep in their homes, and abducted approximately 200 hostages. The carnage was not limited to Jewish Israelis. Bedouin living in settlements with no protection or sirens were targeted and particularly vulnerable. Arabs, Druze, as well as citizens of multiple Latin American countries, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, China, the United States, France, and Germany were also murdered and kidnapped. There are likely others but, to date, these are the groups for which we have confirmation.

In the wake of this atrocity—the likes of which Jews have not experienced since the Holocaust, and reminiscent of the pogroms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—Jews have been hearing how Hamas represents resistance to Jewish occupation of Palestinian land and an anti-colonial struggle akin to those in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, to name but a few. It is important that the campus community understand that we support anti-imperialism but what happened on October 7th was not national liberation but the targeted slaughter of civilians. Please know we are desperately afraid for the Palestinians of Gaza who are experiencing great civilian losses in Israeli military actions. This brings us immense grief and we are horrified by the loss of life. To us, Hamas does not represent Palestinian resistance nor a unified Palestinian voice. Indeed, Hamas is a terrorist organization—not a peace movement— that has made the civilians of their own cause cannon fodder. We are deeply worried about how Hamas’ actions will prompt larger unrest in the Middle East and civilian casualties in other countries.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideologies have historically been focused on the inclusion of all voices regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and religion. In addition, DEI is meant to safeguard and embrace marginalized groups. What we are seeing since October 7th, in both language and practice, is just the opposite. Jews are being marginalized and ostracized in a way that runs counter to all DEI ideologies and inclusive excellence practices that we, as a campus, hold dear.

Inflammatory anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist, or anti-Jewish speech, posters, demonstrations, and events fuel antisemitism, which is well-documented as being on the rise throughout the world. Even if the intentions are to challenge the conservative Netanyahu government or to lend aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza, the effect is to inflame antisemitic sentiment, which puts our Jewish students, staff members, colleagues, and friends at risk for their lives. Conversely, inflammatory pro-Israel rhetoric does not help either as it fosters Islamophobia and threatens Arab and Muslim students, staff, and faculty. It all needs to stop.

The ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Jewish community, especially our students, are traumatized by the events of October 7th. Most of us have family in the Middle East, suffered devastating losses at the hands of Hamas, and are deeply fearful of what is to come. We ask for your humanity and empathy in remembering the people murdered, injured, or kidnapped, and their mourning families.

We call on our campus community to temper inflammatory language that fans the flames of an antisemitic backlash, puts us in danger and also threatening our Arab and Muslim brethren. Fascism is alive and well in the United States and those who propagate it will not be making distinctions.

In Peace, ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Jewish Faculty & Staff Association