We, the undersigned, are writing to express our horror and outrage at Israel's forced starvation and ceaseless bombings of Gaza.
We have all seen images of emaciated children being intentionally starved, families crushed or burned alive in airstrikes, and heard the desperate cries of parents pleading for the world to end their immeasurable suffering. We have all witnessed countless acts of unconscionable cruelty, including Israeli forces killing more than 1,000 Palestinians since May while trying to collect a bag of flour or rice from aid distribution sites to bring back to their starving families.
With the UN secretary general warning that Gaza's “last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” and the World Health Organization declaring Gaza's remaining hospitals to be at a "breaking point," it is crucial for the international community to put forth concrete steps to end Israel's U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza.
We demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the lifting of the siege, and the resumption of aid deliveries to nourish and treat the starving, ill, and wounded Palestinians who have been subjected to a nearly complete blockade of food, medicine, and other vital supplies since March. This blocking of food and medicine is not only immoral, it is also a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
We add our voices to the global outcry demanding that the killing and forced starvation be stopped immediately, that the death traps run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation be dismantled, and for the United Nations to resume the distribution of that aid, as “only a massive scale-up in food aid can stabilize the hunger catastrophe engulfing Gaza.”
What we are witnessing in Gaza is a stain on our collective conscience, and we all have a responsibility to do something to end it. We invite people from all institutions, wherever you may be located, to sign onto this letter, or use it as a template to create your own.
Signed,
- john a. powell, Director, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Stephen Menendian, Assistant Director, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Denise Herd, Associate Director, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Eli Moore, Director of Community Power & Policy Partnerships, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Rachelle Galloway-Popotas, Director of Convenings & Creative Projects, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Ashley Gallegos, Director of Places of Belonging, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Marc Abizeid, communications specialist, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Ella Streng, Video Producer, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Julia McKeown, Campus Bridging Project Specialist, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Puanani Forbes, Chief of Staff, Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley
- Charlotte O'Keefe Stralka, Project Coordinator, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Joshua Clark, Senior Social Scientist, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Samir Gambhir, Director of Equity Metrics, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Ivan Natividad, Assistant Director of Communications, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Erika Prasad, Development Director, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Basima Sisemore, Senior Researcher, Global Justice Program, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Shadrick Small, Staff Researcher, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Mora Tulian, Assistant to the Director, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Sara Grossman, Director, Democracy & Belonging Forum, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Jacob Tompkins, Information Designer, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Evan Yoshimoto, Head of Community, Democracy & Belonging Forum, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Cecilie Surasky, Director of Communications & Narrative, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Barbara Montano, Staff, African American Studies / Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, UC Berkeley
- Molly Shepherd, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
- Elsadig Elsheikh, Director of Global Justice, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Mansi Kathuria, Field Strategy and Research Analyst, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Christina Long, Research Associate, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Olivia Araiza, Othering and Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed, Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley
- Andrew Kim, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley
- Grace Lavery, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley
- Asher Waite-Jones, Clinical Supervisor, UC Berkeley School of Law
- Nikta Akhavan, Research Manager, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
- Erfan Moradi, Communications Associate, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Doug Parada, Project & Policy Analyst, American Cultures Center, UC Berkeley
- Anneka Lenssen, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
- Pichaya Kositsawat, Graduate Student Advisor, Department of French, UC Berkeley
- Keith Feldman, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
- Liza Schlosser, Program Manager, Office of the Vice Provost for Undergrad Education
- Charlotte Taylor, Administrative Manager, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Khalid Kadir, Continuing Lecturer, UC Berkeley
- Dora Zhang, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
- Gillian Edgelow, Administrative Staff, Gender & Women's Studies, UC Berkeley
- Angela Harris, Distinguished Professor, Seattle University Law School
- Rachel Morello-Frosch, Professor, UC Berkeley
- Hatem Bazian, Lecturer, Islamophobia Studies Center
- Elena Schneider, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of California, Berkeley
- Ivy Mills, Continuing Lecturer, UC Berkeley
- Nthando Thandiwe, Research Analyst, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
- Frederic Mousseau, Policy Director, The Oakland Institute
- Anuradha MITTAL, Executive Director, The Oakland Institute
- Nasser Zakariya, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
- Benjamin Robinson, Associate Prof of German Studies, Indiana University Bloomington
- Juana Maria Rodriguez, Professor, Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
- Héctor Alcalá
- Manzar Foroohar, History Professor Emerita, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
- Marisella Rodriguez, Inclusive Teaching Manager, Center for Teaching & Learning, UC Berkeley
- Chandra Ford, Ctr 4 the Study of Racism, Social Justice & Health
- Mienah Z Sharif, UC Berkeley
- Eliud Kabamanya, Farmer
- David Eifler, Environmental Design Librarian (retired), UC Berkeley
- Jasmin Zine, Professor Sociology /Religion and Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University
