On statements of concern, solidarity, and support

This week, after much prompting from some allied faculty members, an upper-level administrator on my campus issued a statement of support for our students on campus who may be struggling in a climate of increased antisemitism, anti-Arab racism, and Islamophobia.

I thought I would be somewhat comforted by the statement. After all, silence is consent. Silence is violence. As Palestinians are being slaughtered while the world watches, I was reminded of Martin Luther King, Jr’s assertion, being widely circulated on social media, that “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Now, at last, we had a statement. But I was not comforted. 

Instead, upon reading the statement a couple of times, I found I was offended. The statement mentions Israel and Gaza, twice, in that order, and antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism on campus, also in that order. I could not help but be painfully aware of the fact that no statement would have been issued, were it not for the deaths of Israelis. The So I responded to the three members of my university administration who have issued statements to our students. This is what I wrote them: 

Sadly, every statement of concern issued since October 7 reinforces the dehumanization of Palestinians: It is only when Israelis are killed that admin feels the need to express support for our students. Prior to October 7, Israel had already been engaging for years in collective punishment of the Palestinians—a war crime prohibited by treaty—and regularly killing Palestinians for being Palestinian. Arab and Muslim students did not suddenly enroll [on our campus] on October 8, prompting a need to include them in a statement of support, yet the university did not issue any statements about our feelings and safety on campus.  

Until Israelis were killed. 
Then we got tacked on.

I would urge all administrators on campus to consider how such statements of concern sound, to those of us whose most basic human rights have been violated for decades, whose lives are shattered, whose families are murdered, without a statement of concern from administrators.  
Until Israelis are killed.

I don’t know what the response to my email will be. I am fully aware of the fact that faculty have lost their jobs for expressing support for Palestine. I am known on campus for that, of course, but I have also now openly criticized my employers.  Oh well, the most I can lose is my livelihood, when my people back home are losing their lives. 

So, here are some suggestions, for administrators who are considering writing statements:

1. If your statement reinforces the “two-sides of a conflict” myth, don’t. Just don’t. 
2. If you must name the “two sides,” be truthful. Say “occupier and occupied,” “colonizer and colonized,” “apartheid regime, and people living under brutal occupation,” “violator of international law, and dispossessed people rising up for their rights.”  
3. Don’t be complicit in our erasure. Name Palestine. My university administrator’s statement mentions Israel and Gaza, when Israel is intent on fragmenting us, while completely erasing all of Palestine, not just Gaza. 
4. If you were silent when Israel was killing Palestinians, remain silent when Palestinians defend themselves.
5. The “latest round of violence” did not start on October 7, 2023. Israel’s violence has been ongoing, relentlessly, for over 75 years. 
6. If all you’re going to do is issue a statement, don’t. Join the “thoughts and prayers” clan instead.
7. If you want to express support for Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, because of our immediate circumstances, do so, without tacking us on to other communities. 
8. If all you are asking for is a ceasefire, without an end to the blockade, without an end to Israel’s impunity as it violates international law, don’t. Palestinians do not want to go back to the way things were before October 7. We want freedom, return, decolonization, land back.

And mostly, thank you to all our true allies, who saw and exposed and denounced our dehumanization and genocide even when we were the only ones being killed in Israel’s war on Palestine and the Palestinian people, and whose statements unequivocally name Israel as the aggressor.