We are a group of philosophy professors in North America, Latin America, and Europe writing to publicly and unequivocally express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and to denounce the….
We are a group of philosophy professors in North America, Latin America, and Europe writing to publicly and unequivocally express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and to denounce the ongoing and rapidly escalating massacre being committed in Gaza by Israel and with the full financial, material, and ideological support of our own governments.
We do not claim any unique authority—moral, intellectual, or otherwise—on the basis of our being philosophers. However, our discipline has made admirable strides recently in confronting philosophy’s historically exclusionary practices and in engaging directly with pressing and urgent injustices. To this end, we call on our colleagues in philosophy to join us in overcoming complicity and silence.
As we write, bombs have killed over 8,500 people in Gaza. By the time you read this, that number will have risen. Thousands more are trapped under rubble. For over three weeks, a siege of the territory has cut off food, water, medicine, fuel, and electricity. A million inhabitants of northern Gaza have been ordered to flee their homes amid airstrikes and in advance of an ongoing ground invasion with nowhere safe to go. Talk of a second nakba is chilling, yet apt. People of conscience have an obligation to speak out against these atrocities. This is not a difficult step to take; what is far more difficult for us is to turn away in silence and complicity from an unfolding genocide.
To focus, as we do here, on the actions of the Israeli state and the unflagging support it receives from the US and its allies, is neither to celebrate violence, nor to equivocate on the value of innocent lives. Civilian deaths, regardless of nationality, are tragic and unacceptable. Yet to act as though the history of violence began with Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023 is to display a reckless indifference to history as well as to both Palestinian and Israeli lives. In order for violence to stop, the conditions that produce violence must stop.
The blockade of Gaza has lasted 16 years; the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has lasted 56 years; the dispossession of Palestinians of their lands and homes across historic Palestine has lasted three-quarters of a century, since the 1948 establishment of Israel as an ethno-supremacist state. It is not without reason that observers—including both international and Israeli human rights groups—now characterize Israel’s control over the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea as a system of apartheid.
Most importantly, we are all too aware that the countries in which we live and work and to which we pay taxes is funding and abetting one party and one party only in this deeply asymmetric conflict. That party is not the oppressed, but the oppressor.
Right now, the people of Gaza have urged allies worldwide to exert pressure on their governments to demand an immediate ceasefire. But this should—this must—be the beginning and not the end of collective action for liberation. If there is to be justice and peace, the siege of Gaza must end, the blockade must end and the occupation must end. Above all, the rights all people currently living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, as well as those of Palestinian refugees in exile must be respected.
We invite our fellow philosophers to join us in solidarity with Palestine and the struggle against apartheid and occupation.In particular, join us in supporting the academic and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions—distinct from individuals—as outlined by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). We urge all individuals to speak out openly and fearlessly, and work to advance the cause of Palestinian liberation and justice for all.
Signed, (the updated list is availble here)
- Diana María Acevedo-Zapata (Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Colombia)
- María del Rosario Acosta López (University of California, Riverside)
- Sabeen Ahmed (Swarthmore College)
- Rachida Akil (Faculty of Humanities, University of Tunis)
- Alia Al-Saji (McGill University)
- Linda Martín Alcoff (City University of New York)
- Eric Aldieri (Bridgewater State University)
- Daniel Allen (Villanova University)
- Tasneem Alsayyed (University of Waterloo)
- Ilana Amaral (Universidade Estadual do Ceará)
- Luvell Anderson (Syracuse University)
- Solmu Anttila (VU Amsterdam)
- Louise Antony (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
- Emiliano Aquino (Universidade Estadual do Ceará)
- Alfred Archer (Tilburg University)
- Sara Aronowitz (University of Toronto)
- Cinzia Arruzza (New School for Social Research)
- Richard T.W. Arthur (McMaster University)
- Aref Ashrafian (Mofid University, Iran)
- Estenio Azevedo (Universidade Estadual do Ceará)
- Farshid Baghai (Villanova University)
- Étienne Balibar (Kingston University)
- Anthony Ballas (Northern New Mexico College)
- Bana Bashour (American University of Beirut)
- Nora Berenstain (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
- Ashley Bohrer (University of Notre Dame)
- Kelsey Borrowman (Villanova University)
- Dan Boscov-Ellen (Pratt Institute)
- Eric Bottorff (Oakton Community College)
- Raymond Brassier (American University of Beirut)
- Bob Brecher (University of Brighton)
- Carmelita Brito de Freitas Felício (Universidade Federal de Goiás)
- Larry Alan Busk (Florida Gulf Coast University)
- Judith Butler (University of California, Berkeley)
- Kevin Cabardo (New School for Social Research)
- Fortunato Maria Cacciatore (Università della Calabria)
- Alex Callinicos (King’s College London)
- Taylor Carman (Barnard College, Columbia University)
- Amandine Catala (Université du Québec à Montréal)
- Marie Chabbert (Utrecht University)
- Robert Chapman (Durham University)
- Tim Christiaens (Tilburg University)
- Lillian Cicerchia (University of Amsterdam)
- Rebecca Comay (University of Toronto)
- Gustavo Costa (Universidade Estadual do Ceará)
- Elena Comay del Junco (University of Connecticut)
- Carla Damião (Universidade Federal de Goiás)
- Angela Y. Davis (University of California, Santa Cruz)
- Byron Davies (Tecnólogico de Monterrey)
- Camila de Gamboa (Universidad del Rosario)
- Dayana de la Rosa (Universidad del Atlántico)
- Stephanie Deig (University of Lucerne)
- Donatella Delle Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore)
- Esa Díaz-León (University of Barcelona)
- Rosalyn Diprose (University of NSW
- Tarek R. Dika (University of Toronto)
- Marie Draz (San Diego State University)
- Emily Dupree (Loyola University Chicago)
- Safae el Khannoussi el Bouidrin (University of Amsterdam)
- Zeyad El Nabolsy (York University)
- Jessica Elkayam (Sam Houston State University)
- Diane Enns (Toronto Metropolitan University)
- Augie Faller (Bryn Mawr College)
- Saba Fatima (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)
- Brandon D.C. Fenton (York University/Conestoga College)
- Ann Ferguson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
- Owen Flanagan (Duke University)
- Anton Ford (University of Chicago)
- Carina Fourie (University of Washington)
- Nancy Fraser (New School for Social Research)
- Layal Ftouni (Utrecht University)
- Alessandra Fussi (University of Pisa)
- Mercer Gary (Drexel University)
- Jonathan Gingerich (Rutgers University)
- Gabriela González Ortuño (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
- Dana Grabelsky (CUNY)
- Miguel Gualdron Ramirez (University of Oregon)
- Lisa Guenther (Queen’s University)
- Lauren Guilmette (Elon University)
- Reza Hadisi (University of Toronto)
- Joshua M. Hall (University of Alabama, Birmingham)
- Raja Halwani (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
- Naïma Hamrouni (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)
- Siba Harb (Tilburg University)
- John Harfouch (University of Alabama, Huntsville)
- Rafeeq Hasan (Amherst College)
- Sally Haslanger (MIT)
- Andrés Fabián Henao Castro (University of Massachusetts, Boston)
- Charles Hermes (University of Texas at Arlington)
- Tom Hickey (University of Brighton)
- Kathleen Higgins (University of Texas at Austin)
- Allan Hillani (New School for Social Research)
- Sukaina Hirji (University of Pennsylvania)
- Nancy Holmstrom (Rutgers University, Newark)
- Lynne Huffer (Emory University)
- Aaron Jaffe (The Juilliard School)
- Alison Jaggar (University of Colorado, Boulder)
- Joy James (Williams College)
- Yolande Jansen (University of Amsterdam/ VU Amsterdam)
- Marta Jiménez (Emory University/Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
- Christopher Johns (American University of Beirut)
- Andrew Johnson (Loyola Marymount University
- Robert N. Johnson (University of Missouri)
- Philip Kain (Santa Clara University)
- Sophia Kanaan (New School for Social Research)
- Najwa Karassi
- Serene Khader (City University of New York)
- Muhammad Ali Khalidi (City University of New York)
- Irfan Khawaja
- Sarah Kizuk (Skidmore College)
- Jennifer Komorowski(Toronto Metropolitan University)
- Alexi Kukuljevic (Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien/University of Applied Arts Vienna)
- Mark Lance (Georgetown University)
- Emily Lange (Marquette University)
- Matthew LaVine (SUNY Potsdam)
- Aurora Laybourn (DePaul University)
- Mithra Lehn (New School for Social Research)
- Joop Leo (University of Amsterdam)
- Joseph Levine (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
- Matthias Lievens (KU Leuven)
- Pilar Lopez-Cantero (Tilburg University)
- Jesús Luzardo (Loyola University Chicago)
- Nelson Maldonado-Torres (University of Connecticut)
- Patricia Marechal (University of California, San Diego)
- Ned Markosian (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
- Al Martinich (University of Texas at Austin)
- Hassan Massoud (University of Alberta)
- Margaret McLaren (Rollins College)
- Saladin Meckled-Garcia (University College London)
- José Medina (Northwestern University)
- Maria Mejia (Elon University)
- Eduardo Mendieta (Penn State University)
- José Jorge Mendoza (University of Washington)
- Torsten Menge (Northwestern University Qatar)
- Elaine Miller (Miami University Ohio)
- Frederick Neuhouser (Barnard College, Columbia University)
- Christopher Norris (University of Cardiff)
- Kyle O’Dowd (New School for Social Research
- Johanna Oksala (Loyola University Chicago
- Ian Olasov (City University of New York)
- Adi M. Ophir (Brown University)
- Romy Opperman (New School for Social Research)
- Imge Oranli (Arizona State University)
- Mariana Ortega (Penn State University)
- Emily Parker (Towson University)
- Diana Milena Patiño Niño (Deinstitutionalized scholar, Colombia)
- Josué Piñeiro (Kennesaw State University)
- Andrea Pitts (University of Buffalo)
- Giovanni Poggi (Nelson Mandela University, South Africa)
- Eli Portella Perreras (Florida Gulf Coast University)
- Laura Quintana (Universidad de Los Andes)
- Najat Rahman (Université de Montréal)
- Amy Ramirez (National University of Singapore)
- Tully Rector (Radboud University)
- Joel Michael Reynolds (Georgetown University)
- Julian Rios (Grinnell College)
- María Lucía Rivera-Sanín (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
- William Clare Roberts (McGill University)
- Luke Roelofs (University of Texas at Arlington)
- Monique Roelofs (University of Amsterdam)
- Taylor Rogers (Governors State University)
- Nuria Roldán (Seville University)
- Catherine Rowett (University of East Anglia)
- Kathryn Russell (SUNY Cortland)
- Muhammad Sadiq Kakar (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
- Abdelhamid Safa (IPU New Zealand)
- Gayle Salamon (Princeton University)
- Jorge Sanchez-Perez (University of Alberta)
- Sahotra Sarkar (University of Texas at Austin)
- Lara Scaglia (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
- Naomi Scheman (University of Minnesota)
- Lisa Schwartzman (Michigan State University)
- Paula Schwebel (Toronto Metropolitan University)
- Laurie Shrage (Florida International University)
- Richard Seaford (University of Exeter)
- Kris F. Sealey (Penn State University)
- Emiliano Sfara (University of Tours)
- Hasana Sharp (McGill University)
- Falguni Sheth (Emory University)
- Haiyue Shan (VU Amsterdam)
- Sonia Sikka (University of Ottawa)
- Laura Silva (Université Laval)
- Matthew Noah Smith (Northeastern University)
- Nicole Smith (University of Texas at Austin)
- Iarle Sousa Ferreira (Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciéncia e Tecnologia de Goiás)
- Michael Starling (San Joaquin Delta College
- Lucian Stone (University of North Dakota)
- J.T. (Thijl) Sunier (VU Amsterdam)
- Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (Georgetown University)
- Chloë Taylor (University of Alberta)
- Francisco Luciano Teixeira Filho (Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Brasil)
- Sunera Thobani (University of British Columbia)
- Peter Thomas (Brunel University London)
- Anya Topolski (Radboud University)
- Adriel Trott (Wabash College)
- Marcela Uchôa (University of Coimbra)
- Anwar Uhuru (Wayne State University)
- Helga Varden (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
- Elizabeth Victor (William Paterson University)
- Steven J. Wagner (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
- Catherine Walsh (Deinstitutionalized scholar, Ecuador)
- Cynthia Willett (Emory University)
- Vanessa Wills (George Washington University)
- Amelia Wirts (University of Washington)
- Sophie Withaeckx (Maastricht University)
- George Yancy (Emory University)
- Rocío Zambrana (Universidad de Puerto Rico)