Jewish Voice for Peace | 8 mars 2014 | Professors Judith Butler and Rashid Khalidi have jointly written the following statement objecting to increased incidents of censorship and intimidation in….
Jewish Voice for Peace | 8 mars 2014 |
Professors Judith Butler and Rashid Khalidi have jointly written the following statement objecting to increased incidents of censorship and intimidation in academic and cultural institutions for the purposes of imposing illegitimate limitations on freedom of expression relating to Israel and Palestine. The over 150 concerned signatories below have joined them.
Please note, the signatories have endorsed only this statement, not necessarily the mission, activities, or positions of Jewish Voice for Peace. Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.
Whether one is for or against Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a means to change the current situation in Palestine-Israel, it is important to recognize that boycotts are internationally affirmed and constitutionally protected forms of political expression. As non-violent instruments to effect political change, boycotts cannot be outlawed without trampling on a constitutionally protected right to political speech. Those who support boycotts ought not to become subject to retaliation, surveillance, or censorship when they choose to express their political viewpoint, no matter how offensive that may be to those who disagree.
We are now witnessing accelerating efforts to curtail speech, to exercise censorship, and to carry out retaliatory action against individuals on the basis of their political views or associations, notably support for BDS. We ask cultural and educational institutions to have the courage and the principle to stand for, and safeguard, the very principles of free expression and the free exchange of ideas that make those institutions possible. This means refusing to accede to bullying, intimidation, and threats aimed at silencing speakers because of their actual or perceived political views. It also means refusing to impose a political litmus test on speakers and artists when they are invited to speak or show their work. We ask that educational and cultural institutions recommit themselves to upholding principles of open debate, and to remain venues for staging expressions of an array of views, including controversial ones. Only by refusing to become vehicles for censorship and slander, and rejecting blacklisting, intimidation, and discrimination against certain viewpoints, can these institutions live up to their purpose as centers of learning and culture.
Judith Butler,
Professor of Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley
Rashid Khalidi,
Edward Said Professor in Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University
Etienne Balibar, Emeritus Professor, Paris-Nanterre
Natalie Zemon Davis, Professor of History
Deborah Eisenberg, Writer
Eve Ensler, Playwright/Activist
Samera Esmeir, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Khaled Fahmy, Professor, The American University in Cairo
Katherine Franke, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Paul Gilroy, London
Naomi Klein, Author and Journalist
Jacqueline Rose, Professor of English, Queen Mary University of London
Mariam C Said, Individual
Joan W Scott, Institute for Advanced Study
Professor Lynne Segal, University of London
Wallace Shawn, Writer
Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University
Sara Ahmed, Goldsmiths, University of London
Udi Aloni, Filmmaker and writer
Richard Appelbaum, MacArthur Foundation Chair, Global & International Studies, UCSB
Elsa Auerbach,
Professor Emerita, UMass Boston
Anthony Bale,
Professor of Medieval Studies, Birkbeck, University of London
Lisa Baraitser,
Birkbeck, University of London
Yael Bartana,
Artist
Rosalyn Baxandall,
SUNY Old Westbury Distinguished Prof Emeritus
Joel Beinin,
Donald J McLachlan Professor of History, Stanford Univerrsity
Emanuela Bianchi,
New York University
Omri Boehm,
New School for Social Research, Assistant Professor
Heather Boronski,
University of Colorado
John Borneman,
Princeton University
Nicolas Bousserez,
Research Associate, University of Colorado at Boulder
Sarah Bracke,
Harvard Divinity School
Naomi Braine,
Brooklyn College
Laurie A. Brand,
University of Southern California
Renate Bridenthal,
Professor, retired from CUNY
Wendy Brown,
UC Berkeley
Shale Brownstein,
Retired psychiatrist HHC
Susan Buck-Morss,
Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Center
Eduardo Cadava,
Princeton University
Margaret Cerullo,
Hampshire College
Sally Charnow,
Hofstra University, Professor of History
Alexandra Chasin,
New School for Social Research
Eric Cheyfitz,
Professor, Cornell University
Kandice Chuh,
Professor of English, CUNY Graduate Center
Ilene Cohen,
Editor
Elliott Colla,
Georgetown University
Christopher Connery,
Professor, University of California Santa Cruz
Stuart Davis,
Cornell University
Walt Davis,
Retired minister/professor
Ashley Dawson,
Professor, English Department, CUNY
Colin Dayan,
Vanderbilt University
Brett de Bary,
Professor, Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Cornell University
Gina Dent,
UC Santa Cruz
Beshara Doumani,
Professor of History, Brown University
Lisa Duggan,
Professor, New York University
Nancy du Plessis,
Artist
David Eng,
University of Pennsylvania
Darlene Evans,
Cornell University
Max Farrar,
Emeritus professor, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
Sara Farris,
Assistant Professor, Goldsmiths, University of London
Leila Farsakh,
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston
Pnina Feiler,
Physicians for Human Rights
Kathy E. Ferguson,
Professor, Departments of Political Science and Women’s Studies, University of Hawai’i
Elle Flanders,
Filmmaker
Jeff Fort,
University of California, Davis
Cynthia Franklin,
Professor of English, University of Hawaii
Carla Freccero,
Professor
Jamie Fuller,
Artist
Jennifer Gaboury,
Hunter College, CUNY
Ellen Gruber Garvey,
Ph.D.
Michael Gilsenan,
Prof. Michael Gilsenan
Neve Gordon
Samira Haj,
Professor
Lisa Hajjar,
Professor of Sociology, University of CA-Santa Barbara
J. Halberstam,
Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, USC
Sondra Hale,
Research Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Abdellah Hammoudi,
Professor , Princeton University
Beth Harris,
Associate Professor, Ithaca College
Salah D. Hassan,
Associate Professor, MSU
Gail Hershatter,
University of California, Santa Cruz
Neil Hertz,
Johns Hopkins University
Marianne Hirsch,
Professor, Columbia University
Katherine Hite,
Professor of Political Science, Vassar College
Andrew Hsiao,
Verso Books
Elizabeth Ingenthron,
Graduate Theological Union
Margo Jefferson,
Writer
Joseph Jeon,
Pomona College
Jeanette Jouili,
College of Charleston
Moon-Kie Jung,
University of Illinois
Ann Jungman,
Writer
Amy Kaplan,
University of Pennsylvania
Carolyn L. Karcher,
Professor Emerita, Temple University
Suvir Kaul,
A M Rosenthal Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Kendall,
Associate Professor, New School
Arang Keshavarzian,
Faculty member, New York University
Nancy Kricorian,
Writer
Dr. Gail Lewis,
Reader in Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck College
Risa Lieberwitz,
Professor, Cornell University
Audrea Lim,
Verso Books
David Lloyd,
University of California, Riverside
Zachary Lockman,
New York University
Ania Loomba,
Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Miriam R. Lowi,
Professor, The College of New Jersey
Sandra R Mackie,
Reverend
Saba Mahmood,
UC Berkeley, Associate Professor
Harriet Malinowitz,
Professor of English, Long Island University, Brooklyn
Curtis Marez,
Associate Professor, University of California, San Diego
Mario Martone,
Cornell University
Barry Maxwell,
Senior Lecturer, Cornell University
Rela Mazali,
Author & Independent Scholar
Jeffrey Menlick,
University of Massachusetts Boston
Brinkley Messick,
Columbia University
Jennifer Miller,
Circus Amok, Director
Susette Min,
University of California, Davis
Chandra Talpade Mohanty,
Syracuse University
Aurora Levins Morales,
Writer
Fred Moten,
University of California, Riverside
Yasser Munif,
Emerson College
Tad Mutersbaugh,
Professor of Geography, University of Kentucky
Chiara Nappi,
Professor Emerita, Princeton University
Manijeh Nasrabadi,
New York University
Yael Navaro-Yashin,
University of Cambridge
David Palumbo-Liu,
Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford
Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert,
Professor, Vassar College
Rosalind Petchesky,
Distinguished Professor Emerita, Hunter College & the Graduate Center CUNY
Merav Pinchassoff,
University of Westminster
Silvia Posocco,
Birkbeck, University of London
Vijay Prashad,
Trinity College
Sara Pursley,
Associate Editor, International Journal of Middle East Studies
Bruce Robbins,
Columbia University
Corey Robin,
Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
Andrew Ross,
New York University
Dr. Catherine Rottenberg
John Carlos Rowe,
Rachel Rubin,
Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston
Leticia Sabsay,
Birkbeck College, Univeristy of London
Neil Saccamano,
Cornell University
Ilan Safit,
Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Pace University
Josefina Saldaña,
Professor, New York University
Paul Sawyer,
Cornell University
James Schamus,
Columbia University
C. Heike Schotten,
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
Sarah Schulman,
Distinguished Professor of the Humanities CUNY College of Staten Island
Sherene Seikaly,
Director of Middle East Studies Center, American University in Cairo
Karen Shimakawa,
Associate Professor
Lincoln Shlensky,
University of Victoria
Marc Siegel,
Ast. Professor, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
Victor Silverman,
Chair, Department of History, Pomona College
David Simpson,
U of California-Davis
Jeffrey Skoller,
Professor, UC Berkeley
Darryl A. Smith,
Associate Professor, Pomona College
Alisa Solomon,
Professor, Columbia University
Reina van der Wiel,
Birkbeck, University of London
Dov Waxman,
Professor
Robert Warrior,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Kathy Wazana,
Documentary filmmaker
Max Weiss,
Princeton University
Laura Wernick,
Fordham University
Lisa Westarp,
Grace Memorial Episcopal Church
John M. Willis,
Assistant Professor, University of Colorado
Dagmawi Woubshet,
Cornell University, Associate Professor
Rachel Zolf,
Writer
Tim Zorach,
Retired Professor of Biology, Wells College