On 24 October, the Israeli sociological community and academics from around the world wrote a letter in response to the open letter from around 1,700 sociologists on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. In the letter, they voiced their disappointment with the letter written in support of Gaza and the Palestinian people. It is pertinent to note that the letter also contextualised the brutality which was unleashed by Hamas terrorists against Israel. They said the lack of recognition for a tragic event and one-sided perspective was presented in the open letter.
They raised particular concerns about the failure of the open letter’s signatories to acknowledge the 7th October terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli soil. They pointed out that on a per capita basis, the attack was akin to killing 50,000 Americans in cold blood and taking around 7,500 hostages. 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the attack, and around 200 were taken hostages, of which only a fraction have been released by Hamas terrorists.
NEW: Another group of sociologists has issued a counter letter to the one expressing “solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people” signed by over 1700 people.
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) October 24, 2023
“There should be no contradiction between staunchly opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, including… pic.twitter.com/xNTlj0kTU6
The letter read, “On that bloody day, Hamas terrorists indiscriminately murdered Israeli Jews, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and foreign nationals. The massacre of hundreds, the rapes, brutalisation, mutilation of bodies, torture of children, the wiping out of entire families, and the killing of medical workers cannot be framed as anything less than a crime against humanity. In addition, over 200 people were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza, most of whom were civilians, including babies, children (including three-year-old Abigail, whose parents were murdered before her eyes), and old and sick people. The sociologists’ letter completely ignores them, nor does it condemn their murder. On a per capita basis, the attack is akin to killing 50,000 Americans in cold blood and taking some 7,500 hostages.”
They added that while they also call for ending violence and support Palestinian liberation and end of the “occupation” that they have done for years, a “humanistic stance cannot ignore the horrible massacre on 7th October”. The letter added, “Acknowledging the massacre does not legitimise killing uninvolved civilians in Gaza. However, not condemning or even acknowledging the massacre legitimises Hamas’ crime against humanity.’
It further added, “The Hamas massacre reminds us to avoid simplistic divisions between oppressor and oppressed. The commitment to social justice should never forget to respect all humans – of all sides. Critical Sociology is built upon thinking empirically, morally, and politically, against the grain, against the taken for granted, and against unjust use of power and violence – while unconditionally respecting all humans and treating them with dignity.”
The group further urged the signatories to withdraw support from the “one-sided statement”. It urged them to join the counter letter in “digging deeper into our sociological toolkit to engage in studies that offer a more nuanced understanding of the conflict in the Middle East”. They added, “Such understanding may contribute to a long-term solution rather than to the legitimisation of horrendous violence.”
Full text of the letter can be checked here. List of signatories can be checked here.
The letter by 1,700 sociologists
The letter responded to the open letter by around 1,700 odd sociology “professors” who supported Gaza and Palestinians. The letter, a typical rant of the left, calls to “contextualise” the Hamas terror attack that killed over 1400 innocent Israelis and displaced over 2 lakh civilians in Israel.
The excerpt reads, “As educators, it is our duty to stand by the principles of critical inquiry and learning, to hold the university as a space for conversation that foregrounds historical truths, and that contextualises this past week’s violence in the context of 75 years of settler colonial occupation and European empire.”
The letter has been signed by professors from Ivy League institutes including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Brown, Berkeley, “intellectuals” of Indian origin and others.
Among those Indians who have signed the letter are The Wire founder Siddharth Varadarajan and his wife, Nandini Sundar. The Indian signatories to the letter also include students from IIT Bombay, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), OP Jindal, Ashoka University, JNU, Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and Delhi University (DU).
