‘One massacre does not justify another’: 1000+ Jewish academics, artists and clergy demand immediate ceasefire
Protesters stage a demonstration in support of a cease fire against the Palestinians in Gaza in the Cannon House Office Building on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
By Camillo Barone October 23, 2023
More than a thousand Jewish academics, artists, clergy and others have signed an open letter this week demanding an “immediate ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The signatories, who include the filmmaker Ethan Coen and Jewish historian Hasia Diner, condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks as “crimes against humanity,” affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself and implored it to do “everything in its power” to free hostages abducted by Hamas.
But it also warned Israel not to collectively punish the people of Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
“One massacre does not justify another,” the letter reads. “This will only lead to more devastation, fueling the cycle of violence.” Some supporters of Israel have argued that the demand for a ceasefire prevents Israel from defending itself, and holds the country to a double standard.
The letter also accuses Israel of practicing apartheid, denounces its occupation of the West Bank and the “siege” of Gaza. Though Israel left Gaza in 2005 it still controls its borders. “They must be urgently brought to an end,” the letter reads. “There is no other way out.”
The letter was written by Shira Klein, a history professor at Chapman University and Omer Bartov, a professor of the Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. They began circulating it on Oct. 14 and it went viral, garnering a thousand signatures, the majority of them academics, but also about 50 rabbis, doctors and artists.
“Our statement is a sort of call for restraint that acknowledges the pain and grief but also goals for thinking rationally rather than just blindly lashing out with revenge,” Klein said.
Part of the “Elephant Initiative,” a movement of Jews that also created an Aug. 4 petition protesting the Israeli right-wing government’s judicial reform plan, which had roiled the country, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets to protest what they deemed an erosion of democracy.
Most of the signatories on the latest letter are Jewish and American, but many live abroad — Israel, Germany, Norway, Argentina, Mexico, Gaza and elsewhere. Holocaust survivors signed, as did academics whose family members were kidnapped or murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“Palestinian civilians should not be paying the price for what Hamas did. I think our call is really reasonable and measured and rational and does not come out with some of the frankly unhinged comments,” Klein said in a phone interview, referring to academics who have appeared to express support for Hamas in the aftermath of its attacks, in which it killed about 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped more than 220.
“I’ve been hearing a professor who said he was exhilarated by the mass attacks,” she said, calling the statement “irresponsible.”
More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7.
Above the letter an image by Israeli artist Zev Engelmayer, known as Shoshke, depicts frightened youth and symbolizes the more than 260 people killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 at the Nova Music Festival in the Negev. “I wanted to express feelings and horror,” he said. “It is a protest against violence and brutality of war, wherever it takes place.”
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