International Writers and Scholars Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel

We stand in support of the indigenous Palestinian people in Gaza, who are fighting for their survival against one of the most brutal uses of state power in both this century and the last.

We condemn Israel's recent (December 2008/ January 2009) breaches of international law in the Gaza Strip, which include the bombing of densely-populated neighborhoods, illegal deployment of the chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities, and places of worship. We condemn Israel's restriction of access to media and aid workers.

We reject as false Israel's characterization of its military attacks on Gaza as retaliation. Israel's latest assault on Gaza is part of its longtime racist jurisprudence against its indigenous Palestinian population, during which the Israeli state has systematically dispossessed, starved, tortured, and economically exploited the Palestinian people.

We reject as untrue the Israeli government's claims that the Palestinians use civilians as human shields, and that Hamas is an irredeemable terrorist organization. Without endorsing its platforms or philosophy, we recognize Hamas as a democratically elected ruling party. We do not endorse the regime of any existing Arab state, and call for the upholding of internationally mandated human rights and democratic elections in all Arab states.

We call upon our fellow writers and academics in the United States to question discourses that justify and rationalize injustice, and to address Israeli assaults on civilians in Gaza as one of the most important moral issues of our time.

We call upon institutions of higher education in the U.S. to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, dissolve study abroad programs in Israel, and divest institutional funds from Israeli companies, using the 1980s boycott against apartheid South Africa as a model.

We call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state for all residents of Palestine/Israel comes into existence.

Nahla Abdo

Etel Adnan

Mohammed Abed

Elmaz Abinader

Diana Abu Jaber

Ali Abunimah

Opal Palmer Adisa

Dina Al-Kassim

Deborah Al-Najjar

Doug Anderson

Evelyn Azeeza Alsultany

David Baker

Amina Baraka

Amiri Baraka

George Bisharat

Sherwin Bitsui

Breyten Breytenbach

Van Brock

Ellen Cantarow

Hayan Charara

Yvette Christianse

Allison Hedge Coke

Cindy Cruz

Lara Deeb

Vicente Diaz

Ben Ehrenreich

Nava Etshalom

Marilyn Hacker

Mechthild Hart

Sam Hamill

Suheir Hammad

Randa Jarrar

Fady Joudah

Tony Judt

Mohja Kahf

Rima Najjar Kapitan

Persis Karim

J. Kehaulani Kauanui

Haunani Kay-Trask

Marilyn Krysl

David Lloyd

Sunaina Maira

Nur Masalha

Rania Masri

Khaled Mattawa

D.H. Melhem

Imam Mersal

Daniel AbdalHayy Moore

Aileen Moreton-Robinson

Michel Moushabek

Nadine Naber

Marcy Newman

Viet Nguyen

Sana Odeh

Simon J. Ortiz

Vijay Prashad

Adrienne Rich

Steven Salaita

Therese Saliba

Sarita See

Deema Shehabi

Matthew Shenoda

Naomi Shihab Nye

Magid Shihade

Vandana Shiva

Ella Habiba Shohat

Evie Shockley

Noenoe Silva

Andrea Smith

Ahdaf Soueif

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

Ghada Talhami

Chase Twichell

Daya Varma

Frank X. Walker

Robert Warrior

Ellen Dore Watson

Abe Louise Young

Rami Zurayk

Eleanor Wilner

Nathalie Handal

Mary Austin Speaker

Jill Schoolman