The Academic Commitment: a response to a medieval siege and ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza

In 2014, Israel’s bombardment on Gaza killed many thousands of Palestinians. In 2021, there were further bombardments and thousands of dead and wounded. Since 2007, Gaza’s people have been imprisoned in a territory smaller than the Isle of Wight.

Now, in 2023, we have seen these 2.3 million people described by an Israeli Minister as “human animals” to justify a medieval siege imposed to reduce the resistance of the population through starvation and disease in collective punishment. Over 1 million of them were driven from their homes in Northern Gaza in another round of ‘ethnic cleansing’, prior to the invasion.

Our academic colleagues in Palestine have appealed again for our assistance. They ask us to press our Government and the international community to end the siege, and to hold Israeli academic institutions to account for their complicity in this genocidal endeavour.

The Academic Commitment for Palestine

The Commitment is the response of concerned UK academics to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the intolerable human rights violations inflicted on all sections of the Palestinian people, now compounded by the medieval siege, ethnic cleansing, destruction and invasion of Gaza. We will maintain this position until the State of Israel complies with international law, and respects universal principles of human rights.

Join the Commitment here: https://academiccommitmentforpalestine.wordpress.com/

Hundreds of UK academic scholars have already signed the Commitment. We urge you to sign as well. The Commitment does not commit any of us to severing contacts with individual Israeli scholars. In accordance with the appeal from Palestinian civil society, it exclusively targets Israeli institutions.

The Commitment for Human Rights in Palestine

As scholars associated with UK universities, and responding to the call from Palestinian civil society, we declare that we will not:

  • accept invitations to visit Israeli academic institutions;
  • act as referees in any of their processes;
  • participate in conferences funded, organised or sponsored by them, or otherwise cooperate with them.

We will, however, continue to work with our Israeli colleagues in their individual capacities.

This commitment is our response to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the intolerable human rights violations inflicted on all sections of the Palestinian people. We will maintain this position until the State of Israel complies with international law, and respects universal principles of human rights.