Editors’ note: The letter below was first internally circulated to faculty Nov. 2, 2023. This letter has been sent to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 with additional signatories who opted not to make their names public.
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 Oct. 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 U.S.-made weapons, has now killed over 8,500 Palestinians, 67% of whom are women and children, and displaced over 1 million Palestinians since Oct. 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 Oct. 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 U.S. 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 Oct. 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,
Signing Members of the Brown University faculty in Alphabetical Order as of Nov. 7, 2023:
aliyyah i. abdur-rahman, Departments of American Studies and English
Faiz Ahmed, Department of History
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
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, Departments of Comparative Literature and German Studies
Timothy Bewes, Department of English
John Bodel, Departments of Classics and History
Anthony Bogues, Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Departments of Africana Studies and the History of Art and Architecture
Sheila Bonde, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Leslie Bostrom, Department of Visual Art
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
Prudence Carter, Department of Sociology
Holly Case, Department of History
John Cayley, Department of Literary Arts
Melody Chan, Department of Mathematics
Silvia Chiang, Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School
Tamara Chin, Department of Comparative Literature
Mahasan Chaney, Department of Education
Kenneth Chay, Department of Economics
Mark Cladis, Department of Religious Studies
Michelle Clayton, Departments of Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature
Alexandra Collins, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Ruth Colwill, Department of 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
Bathsheba Demuth, Department of History and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Lisa Di Carlo, Department of Sociology
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
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
Eva Gómez García, Department of Hispanic Studies
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, Emeritus, Department of English
Adrienne Keene, Department of American Studies
Nancy Khalek, Departments of Religious Studies and History
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, Pembroke Center and Gender and Sexuality Studies Program
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, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, Department of Music and Brown Arts Institute
Catherine Lutz, Emerita, Department of Anthropology
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
Kiri Miller, Department of American Studies
Ourida Mostefai, Departments of Comparative Literature and French and Francophone Studies
Elias Muhanna, Departments of Comparative Literature and History
Rebecca Nedostup, Departments of History and East Asian Studies
Tara Nummedal, Departments of History and Italian Studies
Mark Ocegueda, Department of History
Mohamed Omer, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School
Adi M. Ophir, Cogut Institute for the Humanities and Center for Middle East Studies
Emily Owens, Department of History
Esra Ozdemir, Center for Language Studies
Robert Preucel, Department of Anthropology
Jason Protass, Department of Religious Studies
Michelle Quay, Center for Language Studies and Center for Middle East 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
Stéphanie Ravillon, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Thangam Ravindranathan, Department of French and Francophone Studies
Sherief Reda, School of Engineering and Department of Computer Science
Marc Redfield, Departments of Comparative Literature, English and German Studies
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, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America
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, Department 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
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
Affiliations are stated for identification purposes only. An updated list of Brown Faculty signatories can be found here.
