[Air-L] The difficult conversation we don't seem to be having

[Dr. Rasha Abdulla]

Thank you Sky for this courageous message. You've restored my faith in
humanity a little bit at the end of a very long and hard day. I do support
a statement against the genocide in Gaza.

All the best.
Rasha

Rasha A. Abdulla
Professor
Journalism and Mass Communication
The American University in Cairo
Twitter: @RashaAbdulla
http://twitter.com/rashaabdulla

On Mon, Jan 22, 2024, 5:27 AM Sky Croeser via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
>
> This is a difficult message to write, and I know that it will probably open
> some difficult conversations. I realised this morning that I was shying
> away from having these conversations because I don’t want to create
> problems for the many colleagues who I respect and am fond of within AoIR.
> And while I do care about all of you, sometimes care means being brave (and
> perhaps annoying) instead of being polite.
>
>
> So. We need to talk about Gaza. And we need to talk about Israel. Many of
> us have been speaking up individually, but our voices have more power when
> we bring them together. I have signed on to other open letters, but I think
> there are also important reasons for the Association of Internet
> Researchers to take a stance.
>
>
> *What I am suggesting?*
>
> I am asking for us to have a discussion about some form of public
> solidarity with Palestinians who are currently under attack, and with those
> within Israel and around the world who are speaking up against the actions
> of the Israeli state.
>
>
> It might involve a statement of solidarity for those who are under attack
> in Gaza and other parts of Palestine, and for people engaged in non-violent
> resistance to the actions of the Israeli state. It might involve joining
> the international call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions
> complicit in the ongoing violence against Palestinians (the guidelines for
> which are available here <https://bdsmovement.net/academic-boycott>). It
> might involve a commitment to ask our own academic institutions to cut
> their ties with the Israeli state. It might take some other format.
>
>
> *Why now?*
>
> There are many acts of violence and oppression happening around the world.
> Why should our academic organisation speak up on this, specifically?
>
>
> Because the scale of the violence is immense and continuing
> <
> https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam
> >,
> exceeding that of any recent armed conflict. There is no end in sight, and
> the deliberate restriction of food, water, and medicine means that people
> within Gaza face starvation and disease as well as bombing and other forms
> of direct violence.
>
>
> Because many of us are based in countries which are prepared to condemn
> other atrocities, but are unwilling to issue more than lukewarm statements
> about the Israeli state’s violence against Palestinians. For example,
> Australia’s
> foreign minister Penny Wong
> <
> https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/17/penny-wong-meets-israel-katz-isaac-herzog-israel-gaza-palestine-war-meets-hamas-hostages
> >
> “has met with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and assured them
> that she will continue to use Australia’s voice to call for the immediate,
> unconditional and safe return of all hostages” and affirmed Australian
> support for Israel, while only “raising concerns” about the humanitarian
> situation in Gaza. Australia has also supported the US/UK bombing of Yemen
> <
> https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/12/australia-military-support-yemen-airstrikes-us-uk
> >
> in retailation for their disruption of shipping routes to Israel. Where our
> own governments will not speak up for human rights, we have an obligation
> to raise our voices.
>
>
> Because AoIR is <https://aoir.org/diversity-and-inclusivity/> “is
> committed
> to the most fundamental principles of academic freedom, equality of
> opportunity, and human dignity.” The last university in Gaza has now been
> destroyed
> <
> https://www.thenational.scot/news/24059315.israel-destroys-last-university-gaza-strikes-continue/
> >
> by the Israeli army, along with many schools. Students from these
> universities feel their loss keenly
> <https://wearenotnumbers.org/lament-for-the-universities/>, even while
> trying to stay alive through bombings and the denial of their basic human
> needs. Countless Palestinian academics
> <https://wearenotnumbers.org/tributes-to-refaat-alareer-killed-dec-9-2023/
> >
> and students
> <
> https://wearenotnumbers.org/tributes-to-mohammed-zaher-hamo-killed-nov-24-2023/
> >
> have been killed, injured, and displaced
> <https://wearenotnumbers.org/i-have-left-all-my-books-behind/>. Attacks on
> Palestinian educational institutions are not new
> <
> https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/impact_attackeducation_palestine_2022_en.pdf
> >.
> Calls for protection
> <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057925.2021.1987192> have
> gone unheeded.
>
>
> Because the digital technologies that many of us research are woven through
> this conflict. Israeli authorities are using facial recognition technology
> <
> https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/israel-opt-israeli-authorities-are-using-facial-recognition-technology-to-entrench-apartheid/
> >
> to entrench apartheid. The Israeli military is using an “AI” system to
> “generate targets”
> <
> https://www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1218643254/israel-is-using-an-ai-system-to-find-targets-in-gaza-experts-say-its-just-the-st
> >.
> Telecommunications systems are shut down
> <
> https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/israel-intensifies-gaza-bombardment-as-internet-and-phone-services-go-down
> >,
> making it difficult for people in Gaza to communicate while under attack.
> Large tech companies have been providing key systems to the Israeli
> government <https://notechforapartheid.com/>.
>
>
> Because Israeli citizens who protest
> <
> https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1225651180/israel-tel-aviv-protest-gaza-war
> >
> the actions of their government (including on social media) face
> <
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/12/israel-free-speech-arrests-hamas/
> >
> jail
> <
> https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-police-crack-down-arab-citizens-expressing-solidarity-with-gaza-2023-10-20/
> >
> and threats of violence
> <https://www.972mag.com/israeli-protest-gaza-war-repression/>, as do those
> who refuse to serve in the army
> <
> https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240115-israel-s-war-resisters-risk-jail-time
> >.
> They deserve our support and solidarity.
>
>
>
> *Why **are we** silent?*
>
> I do not think that AoIR has tended to position itself as a neutral or
> apolitical organisation. Past conference themes
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Internet_Researchers> have
> included “Revolutions” and “Decolonising the Internet”. My sense is that
> there was also a response and a discussion within the organisation to the
> Black Lives Matter movement, among other issues.
>
>
> Of course, I am aware that academic organisations will not often respond to
> international events. Perhaps the silence so far is entirely for this
> reason. Perhaps we are afraid that if we speak up on this we will also be
> asked to speak about Sudan, Congo, and other issues (would that be
> terrible?)
>
>
> However, I think that we must also acknowledge the chilling effect that
> many academics and others experience specifically on the matter of Israel.
>
>
> Antisemitism is a real and significant problem in the world. However, the
> ongoing attempt to conflate all criticism of Israel with antisemitism is
> intellectually dishonest and dangerous
> <https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/09/antisemitism-dangerous/>.
> It also frequently glosses over the long history of Jewish
> <
> https://www.wrmea.org/2008-december/israel-and-judaism-the-long-and-largely-untold-history-of-jewish-opposition-to-zionism.html
> >
> opposition
> <https://jacobin.com/2020/07/israel-palestine-anti-zionism-history-left>
> to
> the formation of Israel. Organisations like the ADL put forward claims that
> groups like A Jewish Voice for Peace are antisemitic *because* they are
> anti-Zionist. Similarly, Canary Mission lists university students,
> professors, and organisations that criticise the Israeli state alongside
> neo-nazi organisations like the “Daily Stormer”, conflating legitimate
> criticism of the Israeli government with violent antisemitism.
>
>
> I understand that many people do not want to contribute to the real
> antisemitism faced by our friends, colleagues, and students face. We all
> have a duty to oppose antisemitism in our communities and universities.
> Perhaps that leads to a reluctance to speak out about the Israeli state’s
> actions. However, I believe that we can oppose both antisemitism and
> Israeli state violence. The Israeli state does not speak for, or act for,
> all
> <
> https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/23/us/jewish-palestinian-protest-israel-gaza/index.html
> >
> Jewish
> <
> https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-jewish-group-protests-eight-cities-gaza-ceasefire-2023-12-15/
> >
> people
> <
> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/19/jewish-protest-israel-gaza-washington-dc
> >.
> We should not allow them to claim that they do.
>
>
> We also must be aware that organisations like Canary Mission work hard to
> impose
> <
> https://truthout.org/articles/advocacy-for-palestinians-has-been-outright-criminalized-warns-academic/
> >
> a high
> <
> https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/8/doxxing-students-palestine-feature/
> >
> cost
> <
> https://www.cuindependent.com/2023/11/05/ethnic-studies-pro-palestine-statement-taken-down-after-pushback/
> >
> on students and teachers within universities who do speak up. A variety of
> governments have also worked to ban the Boycott-Divest-Sanctions movement
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws>. There are therefore real
> material consequences for speaking against the actions of the Israeli
> state. Perhaps that is enough that we do not want to put AoIR as an
> organisation, or fellow academics within AoIR, in a difficult position.
>
>
> But if that’s the case, let’s at least acknowledge it. Let’s make it
> visible. Let us be aware that our organisation, and its commitments to
> values like diversity and inclusion
> <https://aoir.org/diversity-and-inclusivity/>, are constrained and
> limited.
> That our interest in hearing from those who are currently at the margins of
> our academic spaces (as set out in the ‘revolutions’ CfP
> <https://aoir.org/aoir2023/aoir2023cfp/>) does not, perhaps, extend as far
> as some of us might hope.
>
>
> With love, solidarity, and significant trepidation,
>
> sky.
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