[Air-L] Message from the Executive Committee and four Past Presidents of AoIR

[Nicholas John]

Dear all,

For many of you reading this, the past few days on the AoIR listserv have
been intense and trying. After many hours of discussion, the Executive
Committee of AoIR with the extended support of the four Past Presidents,
have the following to say.

To start, a technical note: we have just released another batch of messages
from the moderation queue. These will be the last messages on this subject
in the listserv for now, as we aim to restore the conversation to a place
of community rather than the disunity we have seen. Also, we have had
reports of readers who identify with different sides of the conflict who
have felt threatened by the discourse, and afraid to speak their minds. No
scholar of the internet, and no one who has been in similar discussions in
the past, will have been especially surprised at the dynamic of the
discussion. The list will therefore remain pre-moderated for now, but we
shall let through new messages (about the usual AoIR things) as quickly as
we can. Questions about this can be addressed to prez at aoir.org.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the loss of civilian life as the
result of Hamas’s attack, as well as Israel’s military operations, and we
also condemn expressions of antisemitism and Islamophobia since the
violence unfolded. As academics, the destruction and displacement of
students, scholars and their institutions is of special concern to us.
Witnessing our community members, both Israelis and Palestinians, being
deprived of their academic homes is a source of profound sorrow. We
acknowledge that it may take years for communities to rebuild their
infrastructure and recover from the devastation. We urge you to offer
assistance to your colleagues within our community and beyond. We yearn for
a safe return to the lecture hall, the seminar room and the lab for
everyone. We call for the guarantee of free and critical speech, and we
mourn the loss of life, including those of students and colleagues working
in higher education, throughout this terrible conflict. We send our
solidarity to all those affected by these events, especially education
staff and students.

It was clear from very early on in the discussions on the listserv that
there is no consensus on how to move forward. Among those who have signed
this message (the exec), there are also differences of opinion, including
what a potential statement should include and the procedure for reaching
community agreement.

This discussion has highlighted that we do not have processes in place for
if and how AoIR might make statements on geopolitical issues. This is
something that we have extremely rarely done, but it is something we commit
to addressing at the next meeting of the Executive Committee in a few
weeks. Moreover, in the coming days, we will set up a way to invite your
input on shaping any future procedure.

Nicholas John (President), Sarah T. Roberts (Vice President), the Executive
Committee (Sam Sruay, Gabriel Pierra, Sophie Bishop, Ariadna
Matamoros-Fernández, Job Mwaura, Tom Divon)

Past Presidents Tama Leaver (2021-2023), Lynn Schofield Clark (2019-2021),
Axel Bruns (2017-2021), Jenny Stromer-Galley (2015-2017)