As student activists dedicated to fighting atrocities, we are inspired by the students who have committed to protesting the genocide in Gaza and calling for a more free, just, and peaceful world.  We are also concerned by the escalation that has come with this.  We strongly condemn any and all instances of antisemitism, which are deeply harmful to our Jewish family and friends and fundamentally counter to our vision of just peace, but reject the blanket characterization of all student protests as antisemitic.  Such a characterization is willfully ignorant and undermines the intercultural and interfaith solidarity that has been built in a joint commitment to humanity.

Unfortunately, we have also witnessed university and city officials mobilize the carceral state to undermine this movement over the past two weeks.  In these responses, we are reminded of the students in STAND’s early days who were arrested for protesting the genocide in Darfur and strongly reject the use of law enforcement to intimidate and punish people calling for peace.  Then, as now, criticism of government policy was an important use of free speech to engage in our collective self-governance; government suppression of such speech is an anti-democratic crackdown on dissent.  Moreover, the UN reported in 2020 that police violence against Black Americans constituted a crime against humanity, and much of the criminal justice system in the US has roots in systems created to support the atrocity of chattel slavery.  To use these tactics against student protestors, then, is an intersection of atrocities and a reminder that a fight against atrocities in one place must be deeply intertwined with the fights against atrocities all over the world.
If you are are witnessing these protests, we strongly encourage you to consider how you fit into the broader movement for peace and to take a step towards it today — whether that be by learning and educating people about the genocide in Gaza, by joining communities in peaceful protest, or by calling on your officials to support peace and end military aid. Check here for ways to contact different federal officials to ask them to take action. 

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Like many other members of the international community, we are writing today to stand in solidarity with all civilians under attack in the unfolding Israel-Gaza conflict. The escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas has in recent weeks resulted in widespread civilian deaths and injuries through indiscriminate attacks.  We stand with organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in condemning either indiscriminate or willful targeting of civilian areas by both the Israeli military and the military wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

We join other members of the international community in supporting a United Nations Human Rights Council commission of inquiry into any and all potential violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by all parties to this conflict. In doing so, we support UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s assertion that “[it] is imperative that Israel, Hamas and all Palestinian armed groups strictly abide by applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This entails applying the principles of distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives; proportionality; and precautions in attack . . . Not abiding by these principles may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

We at STAND want to emphasize our commitment to civilian protection in the face of armed conflict and solidarity with the civilian victims of these violent attacks. We encourage the STAND community to engage in the larger discussion of this complex and developing conflict. How does the Israel-Gaza conflict relate to the future of mass atrocity prevention and our movement as a whole? During August, STAND will be hosting an open blog series on the conflict. Please consider offering your informed opinion for submission by sending a short proposal to sreichman@standnow.org.