https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/29/israel-gaza-palestinians-genocide-scholars-letter
As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities
Taner Akçam, Marianne Hirsch and Michael Rothberg
Within weeks, 400 colleagues joined our organization. We say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now
The world has stood by as Israel has murdered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, wounded more than double that number, buried countless more under the rubble and devastated civilian infrastructure. The territory’s survivors, displaced repeatedly by the Israeli military, are in a state of enforced
starvation and utter precarity. Despite Israel’s ban on international
journalists, witnesses and victims are livestreaming unbearable images
and videos of emaciated children and adults shot while desperately
seeking aid. Israeli officials have proposed the construction of what
would be concentration camps and the deportation of surviving
Palestinians.
Motivated
by our deep scholarly and ethical engagement with political violence
and mass atrocity, including the Nazi genocide of Jewish people, we
helped found the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network
in April. More than 400 scholars of genocide and Holocaust studies from
two dozen countries joined within weeks of its launch. The rapid growth
of the group testifies to the urgency of this moment. Today, along with
hundreds of humanitarian organizations, dozens of governments, and
millions of protesting students and citizens across the globe, we call
for immediate concrete measures to prevent further atrocity crimes and
to protect civilians.
Since the 7 October
massacre, Israeli officials and their accomplices have justified
genocidal violence against Palestinians by equating Hamas with Nazism, instrumentalizing
the memory of the Holocaust to advance, rather than prevent, mass
violence. Meanwhile, too many governments materially support the
genocide in Gaza while silencing protest. Even as the tone of some
official statements has become more critical of Israel in recent weeks,
many states continue to supply Israel with lethal weapons, shield Israeli leaders from international arrest warrants and fuel investment in the Israeli war economy. International pressure can work, but we need much more of it.
The
emergency is in front of us. And yet, some prominent scholars of the
Holocaust continue to engage in open denialism or outright approval of
mass atrocities perpetrated by Israel. Scholarly associations,
universities and institutions dedicated to Holocaust research, education
and commemoration not only remain silent in the face of Israel’s
genocidal assault on Gaza but provide ideological cover for Israel’s
blatant violations of international law. Institutions such as Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
adhere to a “Palestine exception” when opposing genocide and mass
atrocity. At the same time, organizations dedicated to combating
prejudice, such as the Anti-Defamation League, use spurious accusations of antisemitism to silence or discredit those who dare to speak out.
We are determined to challenge this moral and political capitulation.
We created the Genocide and Holocaust
Studies Crisis Network to do just that. We pledge to support
Palestinians as they exercise their rights to education and cultural
heritage in the face of massive destruction of their schools, archives
and memory sites. We commit to pressuring our institutions to confront
the contradictions between their stated commitment to “never again” and
their silence or complicity in the face of Gaza. In light of ongoing
genocidal violence and the return of authoritarian regimes, we will
provide new resources and syllabuses in order to teach rigorously about
the past in the context of our ever more vulnerable present. We will
offer solidarity and support to our students and colleagues who run
grave personal and professional risks for speaking out.
We contest the widespread “conspiracy of helplessness”
and the normalization of mass violence and starvation in Gaza. We have
learned from history that there are many ways in which states can take
action in response to crimes against humanity. We urge all states who
signed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
to fulfill their responsibilities under international law: demand and
enforce a permanent ceasefire, an arms embargo, the immediate withdrawal
of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, unimpeded distribution of
humanitarian aid, and equality and self-determination for all
Palestinians.
As members of the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network, we say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now.