November 2, 2023*
We, the undersigned faculty at Brown University, are deeply aggrieved by the catastrophic events unfolding in Israel and Palestine, especially but not limited to Gaza. We unequivocally condemn any attacks on civilians, including the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7 which killed up to
1,400 Israelis, including children, and we call for the immediate release of all hostages. So, too, do we condemn the Israeli military’s appalling siege and bombardment of Gaza that, largely with US-made weapons, has now killed over
8,500 Palestinians, 67% of whom are women and children, and displaced over 1 million Palestinians since October 7.**
At a time of such staggering civilian casualties and destruction in Gaza, which is coinciding with unprecedented national and media-driven campaigns to silence or stigmatize voices in support of Palestinian human rights, we call on our colleagues and the administration to draw strength from the core values of Brown and use their power to:
1. Join the international calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza so that life-saving food, water, and medicine can reach Palestinian civilians.
2. Affirm and advocate for the protection and ability of our students, staff, and faculty to speak up for Palestinian human rights without censorship or intimidation.
In this charged national environment, we understand that universities are under pressure to silence criticism of Israeli government actions and activism for Palestinian human rights by equating such speech and activism with antisemitism. Yet, it is precisely at such times of crisis, fear, and misinformation that we as
scholars, faculty, and university leaders must demand moral consistency, including the protection of all civilian lives.
It is precisely now that we must affirm the principles of academic freedom and free speech for all on our campus, alongside the rejection of hate speech including antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab racism. And it is precisely now that we must allow for open, informed, and evidence-based discussions so that the most rigorous, scrupulous, and compelling arguments on contested issues can come forward.At this pivotal historical juncture, we respectfully call on our University President to: (1) Urge Rhode Island’s Senators to support legislation demanding a ceasefire, an end to Israel’s siege, and a political resolution to this conflict based on justice and equality; (2) Issue a public-facing letter decrying the recent threats to freedom of expression and inquiry on American
campuses, which have sought to
intimidate those addressing the context and root causes of ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine; and (3) Issue a letter to our university community affirming that—as with any other subject—the University administration will not tolerate efforts to intimidate, censor, or punish Brown students, staff, and faculty for exercising their
constitutional right to free speech, activism, and scholarship when it comes to Israel-Palestine. There must be no "
Palestine Exception" to free speech at Brown.
As for a ceasefire, some may say it is not the place of university leaders to interfere in thorny questions of foreign policy. What is happening in Gaza is far beyond that. On October 29, Save the Children reported
3,195 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s air strikes and auxiliary operations over three weeks—surpassing the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones (over 20 countries) since 2019. Given the critical role of US munitions and political support for Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza, we firmly believe this is a moral concern that implicates all Americans regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political opinion. It is the same moral concern that—long before October 7, 2023—inspired the acclaimed legal scholar and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander (author of
The New Jim Crow,
Brown First Reading for 2015), to declare that America’s civic leaders must no longer remain silent on “one of the great
moral challenges of our time: the crisis in Israel-Palestine.”
We encourage the ongoing efforts of our University administration to cultivate a campus community in which all students, staff, and faculty—especially those with loved ones directly affected by the conflict—are supported and heard. However, we cannot and should not support fanning the flames of war by inflicting collective punishment on innocent Palestinian civilians with American weapons and technology. And no one should be allowed to restrict the right of our students, staff, or faculty for raising these points loudly and clearly.
Sincerely,
200 Signing Members of the Brown University Faculty in Alphabetical Order***aliyyah i. abdur-rahman, Departments of American Studies and English
Faiz Ahmed, Department of History
Umer Akbar, Department of Neurology, Division of Biology and Medicine,
Warren Alpert Medical School Nadje Al-Ali, Department of Anthropology, Center for Middle East Studies, and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Leticia Alvarado, Department of American Studies
Elsa Amanatidou, Department of Classics
Amanda Anderson, Cogut Institute for the Humanities and Department of English
Peter Andreas, Department of Political Science and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Departments of Modern Culture and Media and Comparative Literature
Saleem Ashkar, Department of Music
Neishay Ayub, Department of Neurology, Division of Biology and Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School
Joshua Babcock, Department of Anthropology
Muhammad Baig, Warren Alpert Medical School
Tiraana Bains, Department of History
Richard Baldoz, Department of American Studies
Omer Bartov, Department of History
Laura Bass, Department of Hispanic Studies
Reda Bensmaia, Emeritus, Departments of French and Francophone Studies and Comparative Literature
Susan Bernstein, Department of Comparative Literature
Timothy Bewes, Department of English
John Bodel, Departments of Classics and History
Anthony Bogues, Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and Department of Africana Studies
Sheila Bonde, Department of the History of Art and Architecture
Leslie Bostrom, Department of Visual Art
Lundy Braun, Emeritx, Department of Africana Studies and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Division of Biology and Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School
Cynthia Brokaw, Departments of History and East Asian Studies
Mari Jo Buhle, Emerita, Departments of American Studies and History
Stuart Burrows, Department of English
Stephen Bush, Department of Religious Studies
Vangelis Calotychos, Department of Classics
David E. Cane, Emeritus, Departments of Chemistry and
Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry
Prudence L. Carter, Department of Sociology
Rebecca Louise Carter, Department of Anthropology
Holly Case, Department of History
John Cayley, Department of Literary Arts
Melody Chan, Department of Mathematics
Saima Chaudhry, Department of Neurology, Division of Biology and Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School
Tamara Chin, Department of Comparative Literature
Mahasan Chaney, Department of Education
Kenneth Chay, Department of Economics
Silvia S. Chiang, Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School
Mirena Christoff, Center for Language Studies
Mark Cladis, Department of Religious Studies
Michelle Clayton, Departments of Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature
Laura Colella, Department of Literary Arts
Joe Colleyshaw, Department of Slavic Studies
Alexandra Collins, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Ruth Colwill, Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences
Hal Cook, Department of History
Joan Copjec, Department of Modern Culture and Media
Denise Davis, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
Bathsheba Demuth, Department of History and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Lisa Di Carlo, Department of Sociology
Becci Davis, Department of Visual Art
Fulvio Domini, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences
Beshara Doumani, Department of History
Carolina Ebeid, Department of Literary Arts
Miled Faiza, Center for Language Studies
Andrea Flores, Department of Education
Paja Faudree, Department of Anthropology and Program in Linguistics
Linford Fisher, Department of History
James L. Fitzgerald, Emeritus, Department of Classics
Lina M. Fruzzetti, Department of Anthropology
Leela Gandhi, Cogut Institute for Humanities and Department of English
Theresa Ganz, Department of Visual Art
Eva Gómez García, Department of Hispanic Studies
Basilis Gidas, Division of Applied Mathematics
Macarena Gómez-Barris, Department of Modern Culture and Media and Brown Arts Institute
Matthew Guterl, Departments of Africana Studies and American Studies
Matthew Gutmann, Emeritus, Department of Anthropology
Yannis Hamilakis, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World and Department of Classics
Françoise Hamlin, Departments of Africana Studies and History
Jae Han, Department of Religious Studies
Susan Harvey, Department of Religious Studies
Alla Hassan, Center for Language Studies
Patrick Heller, Department of Sociology and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Alani Hicks-Bartlett, Departments of Comparative Literature, French and Francophone Studies, and Hispanic Studies
Bonnie Honig, Departments of Modern Culture and Media and Political Science
Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Departments of History and American Studies/Ethnic Studies
Laird Hunt, Department of Literary Arts
Jose Itzigsohn, Department of Sociology
Nancy J. Jacobs, Department of History
Julia Jarcho, Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies
Lynne Joyrich, Department of Modern Culture and Media
Ieva Jusionyte, Department of Anthropology and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Coppélia Kahn, Emerita, Department of English
William Keach, Department of English
Adrienne Keene, Department of American Studies
Tricia Kelly, Department of Education
Nancy Khalek, Department of Religious Studies
Michael D. Kennedy, Department of Sociology and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Daniel Kim, Departments of English and American Studies
Stephen Kinzer, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Brian Lander, Department of History and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Robert Lee, Emeritus, Department of American Studies
Shelley Lee, Department of American Studies
Wendy Allison Lee, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
Jeremy Lehnen, Center for Language Studies and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Leila Lehnen, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Myles Lennon, Department of Anthropology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Ainsley LeSure, Departments of Africana Studies and Political Science
Patsy Lewis, Department of Africana Studies
Glenn C. Loury, Department of Economics
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, Department of Music and Brown Arts Institute
Catherine Lutz, Emerita, Department of Anthropology
Karan Mahajan, Department of Literary Arts
Brandon Marshall, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Felipe Martinez-Pinzon, Department of Hispanic Studies
Kevin McLaughlin, Departments of English, Comparative Literature, and German Studies, and John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study
Brian Meeks, Department of Africana Studies
Kristina Mendicino, Department of German Studies
Helina Metaferia, Department of Visual Art
Kiri Miller, Department of American Studies
Jeffrey Moser, Department of History of Art and Architecture
Ourida Mostefai, Departments of Comparative Literature and French & Francophone Studies
Elias Muhanna, Departments of Comparative Literature and History
Sawako Nakayasu, Department of Literary Arts
Rebecca Nedostup, Departments of History and East Asian Studies
Tara Nummedal, Department of History
Mark Ocegueda, Department of History
Mohamed Omer, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Division of Biology and Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School
Adi M. Ophir, Cogut Institute for the Humanities and Center for Middle East Studies
Ed Osborn, Departments of Visual Art and Music
Emily Owens, Department of History
Esra Ozdemir, Center for Language Studies
Robert Preucel, Department of Anthropology
Jason Protass, Department of Religious Studies
Emily Qazilbash, Department of Education
Michelle Quay, Center for Language Studies
Abrar Qureshi, Departments of Dermatology and Epidemiology, Warren Alpert Medical School and School of Public Health
Momotazur Rahman, Department of Health Services Policy and Practice, School of Public Health
Dixa Ramirez-D'Oleo, Department of English
David Rangel, Department of Education
Stéphanie Ravillon, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Thangam Ravindranathan, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Sherief Reda, School of Engineering
Marc Redfield, Departments of Comparative Literature and English
Ravit Reichman, Department of English
Gerhard Richter, Departments of Comparative Literature and German Studies
Lukas Rieppel, Department of History and Science, Technology, and Society Program
Katie Rieser, Department of Education
Massimo Riva, Department of Italian Studies
Timmons Roberts, Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and Department of Sociology
Gabriel Rocha, Departments of History and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Seth Rockman, Department of History
Daniel A. Rodríguez, Department of History
Noliwe Rooks, Department of Africana Studies
Ellen Rooney, Departments of English and Modern Culture and Media
Tricia Rose, Department of Africana Studies
Poulami Roychowdhury, Department of Sociology and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Stephanie Savell, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Janine Anderson Sawada, Departments of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies
Rebecca Schneider, Department of Modern Culture and Media
Nidia A. Schuhmacher, Department of Hispanic Studies
Lewis Seifert, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Robert Self, Department of History
Roberto Serrano, Department of Economics
Thomas Serre, Department of Cognitive Linguistics and Psychological Sciences
Ahmed Shahab, Warren Alpert Medical School
Matthew Shenoda, Department of Literary Arts and Brown Arts Institute
Naoko Shibusawa, Departments of History and American Studies
Elena Shih, Department of American Studies
Eleni Sikelianos, Department of Literary Arts
Prerna Singh, Department of Political Science and Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Ada Smailbegović, Department of English
Kerry Smith, Department of History
Susan Smulyan, Department of American Studies
Patricia Sobral, Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Tracy Steffes, Departments of Education and History
Michael Steinberg, Departments of History and Music
Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, Departments of Comparative Literature and Italian Studies
Kera Street, Department of Religious Studies
Cole Swensen, Department of Literary Arts
Peter Szendy, Cogut Institute for the Humanities and Department of Comparative Literature
Nina Tannenwald, Department of Political Science
Sarah Thomas, Department of Hispanic Studies
Alison Tovar, Deptartment of Behavioral and Social Sciences, School of Public Health
Daniel Vaca, Department of Religious Studies
Peter van Dommelen, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World and Department of Anthropology
Rajiv Vohra, Department of Economics
Nathan Wagner, Department of Mathematics
Lingzhen Wang, Department of East Asian Studies
William Warren, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences
Elizabeth Weed, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
Alexander Weheliye, Department of Modern Culture and Media
Annie Wiart, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Andre C. Willis, Department of Religious Studies
David Wills, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Patricia Ybarra, Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies
Vazira Zamindar, Department of History
Samuel Zipp, Department of American Studies and Urban Studies Program
Affiliations are noted for identification purposes only.
ADDENDA:
*A copy of this faculty open letter was presented to President Paxson on Tuesday morning, November 7, with a public version subsequently printed in the Brown Daily Herald, available
here.
- Approximately 1,200 (recently lowered from 1400) Israelis and foreign nationals in Israel, including 31 children.
- 11,078 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including 4,506 children.
- Additionally, approximately 6,000 Palestinians including 4,000 children are reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble in Gaza, awaiting rescue or recovery.
***This form stopped collecting signatures upon reaching 200 Brown faculty signatories on November 17. The 200 signatories includes 9 Brown faculty who opted to not make their names public.
