Urgent warning: The Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity.

We, members and friends of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership’s enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the “fog of war” could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote “transfer” of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call “the demographic problem”. Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19, 2002.

In a recent interview in Ha’aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon described the Palestinians as a “cancerous manifestation” and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with “chemotherapy”, suggesting that more radical “treatment” may be necessary. Prime Minister Sharon has backed this “assessment of reality”. Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.

Signatories

• Dr. Issam Aburaiya, Jerusalem
• Prof. Zach Adam, Rehovot
• Dr. Amotz Agnon, Jerusalem
• Prof. Colman Altman, Haifa
• Dr. Janina Altman, Haifa
• Tammy Amiel-Houser, Tel Aviv
• Chaya Amir, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Shmuel Amir, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Daniel Amit, Jerusalem/Rome
• Elinor Amit, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Yali Amit, Chicago
• Dr. Yossi Amitay, Kibbutz Gvulot
• Dr. Meir Amor, Montreal, Canada
• Dr. Yonathan (Jon) Anson, Beer Sheva
• Dr. Ariella Azoulay, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Riva Bachrach, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Rachel Tzvia Back, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Shalom Baer, Jerusalem
• Prof. Ron Barkai, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Anat Barnea – Givat Chaim Ichud
• Prof. Dan Bar-On, Beer Sheva
• Dr. Avner Ben-Amos, Tel Aviv
• Tammy Ben-Shaul, Haifa
• Prof. Zvi Bentwich, Jerusalem
• Prof. Matania Ben-Artzi, Jerusalem
• Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi, Tel Aviv
• Avi Berg, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Louise Bethlehem, Hod Hasharon
• Prof. Anat Bilezki, Tel Aviv
• Uri Bitan, Beer Sheva
• Prof. Elliott Blass, Cambridge, MA
• Prof. Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Jerusalem
• Dr. Yair Boimel, Haifa
• Prof. Daniel Boyarin, Berkeley
• Prof. Haim Bresheeth, London/Jerusalem
• Ido Bruno, Jerusalem
• Prof. Victoria Buch, Jerusalem
• Shula Carmi, Jerusalem
• Smadar Carmon, Toronto
• Raz D. Chen-Morris, Jerusalem
• Ilan Cohen, Pordenone, Italy
• Dr. Nicole Cohen-Addad, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Mike Dahan, Jerusalem
• Dr. Uri Davis, Sakhnin
• Athena Elizabeth DeRasmo, Haifa
• Ronit Dovrat, Firenze
• Dr. Avishai Ehrlich, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Hala Espanioly, Nazareth
• Prof. Aharon Eviatar, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Zohar Eviatar, Haifa
• Debbie Eylon, Jerusalem
• Dr. Ovadia Ezra. Tel Aviv
• Prof. Raphael Falk, Jerusalem
• Moris Farhi, London, UK
• Prof. Emmanuel Farjoun, Jerusalem
• Prof. Raya Fidel, Seattle
• Pnina Firestone, Jerusalem
• Prof. Gideon Freudenthal, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Elizabeth Freund, Jerusalem
• Meir (miro) Gal, New York
• Prof. Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv
• Gadi Geiger, Cambridge, MA, USA
• Dr. Amira Gelblum, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Avner Giladi, Haifa
• Prof. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Snait Gissis, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Daphna Golan-Agnon, Jerusalem
• Dr. Anat Goldrat-First, Netanya
• Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Neve Gordon, Beer Sheva
• Dr. Yerah Gover, New York
• Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum, Jerusalem
• Dr. Lev Grinberg, Beer Sheva
• Prof. Yossi Guttmann, Haifa
• Ran HaCohen, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Uri Hadar, Tel Aviv
• Jeff Halper, Jerusalem
• Shoshana Halper, Jerusalem
• Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem, Jerusalem
• Dina Hecht, Jerusalem
• Dr. Sara Helman, Beer Sheva
• Prof. Hanna Herzog, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Ze’ev Herzog, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Hannan Hever, Jerusalem
• Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass, Jerusalem
• Shirly Houser, Tel Aviv
• Tal Itzhaki, Haifa
• Prof. Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv
• Andrea Jacobs, Austin, Texas
• Prof. Sabre Kais, Nahif/Purdue USA
• Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Haifa
• Aya Kaniuk, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Jacob Katriel, Haifa
• Prof. Tamar Katriel, Haifa
• Prof. Uri Katz, Haifa
• Prof. Baruch Kimmerling, Jerusalem
• Dr. Gady Kozma, Rehovoth
• Prof. Richard Kulka, Jerusalem
• Dr. Haggai Kupermintz, Boulder, Colorado
• Judy Kupferman, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Ron Kuzar, Haifa
• Dr. Idan Landau, Beer Sheva
• Dr. John Landau, Jerusalem
• Dr. Ariela Lazar, Evanston
• Dr. Ronit Lentin, Dublin
• Prof. Micah Leshem, Haifa
• Erez Levkovitz, Jerusalem
• Prof. Rene Levy, Lausanne
• Prof. Shimon Levy, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Joyce Livingstone, Haifa
• Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky, London/Jerusalem
• Dr. Orly Lubin, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Ivonne Mansbach, Jerusalem
• Prof. Uri Maor, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Ruchama Marton, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Anat Matar, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Nina Mayorek, Jerusalem
• Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr, Jerusalem
• Rahel Meshoulam, Cambridge, MA
• Dr. Uriel Meshoulam, Cambridge, MA
• Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, Jerusalem
• Jo Milgrom, Jerusalem
• Menucha Moravitz, Ramat-Gan
• Susy Mordechay, Giv’ataim
• Dr. Pnina Motzafi-Haller, Ottawa, Canada
• Prof. Ben-Tzion Munitz, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Dorit Naaman, Kingston, Ontario
• Regev Nathansohn, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Adi Ophir, Tel-Aviv
• Omer Ori, Jerusalem
• Prof. Avraham Oz, Haifa
• Dr. Ilan Pappe, Haifa
• Prof. Yoav Peled, Tel Aviv
• Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA
• Prof. Igor Primoratz, Jerusalem
• Amos Raban, Tel Aviv
• Tali Raban, Tel Aviv
• Shakhar Rahav, Berkeley
• Dr. Haggai Ram, Beer Sheva
• Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Beer Sheva
• Prof. Zvi Razi, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Tanya Reinhart, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Berlin
• Dr. Nira Reiss, New York
• Dr. Rivki Ribak, Haifa
• Prof. Freddie Rokem, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Avihu Ronen, Tel Hai
• Prof. Henry Rosenfeld, Haifa
• Dr. Maya Rosenfeld, Jerusalem
• Ouzi Rotem, Philadelphia
• Hava Rubin, Haifa
• Itai Ryb, Jerusalem
• Amalia Sa’ar, Haifa
• Dr. Dalia Sachs, Haifa
• Dr. Hannah Safran, Haifa
• Tami Sarfatti, UCLA
• Dr. Nita Schechet, Jerusalem
• Hillel Schocken, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Zvi Schuldiner, Jerusalem
• Uri Segal, Louisville, KY
• Ruben Seroussi, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Erella Shadmi, Mevasseret Zion
• Prof. Nomi Shir, Beer Sheva
• Dr. Miriam Shlesinger, Tel Aviv
• Aharon Shabtai, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Rann Smorodinsky, Haifa
• Orly Soker, Sapir-Jerusalem
• Dr. Yehiam Soreq, Tel Aviv
• Nurit Steinfeld, Jerusalem
• Dr. Eva Teubal, Jerusalem
• Prof. Gideon Toury, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Dudy Tzfati, Jerusalem
• Roman Vater, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Roy Wagner, Tel-Aviv
• Prof. Bronislaw Wajnryb, Haifa
• Prof. Pnina Werbner, Keele
• Dr. David Wesley, Tel Aviv
• Elana Wesley, Tel Aviv
• Tamar Yaron, Montreal & Kibbutz Hazorea
• Dr. Mamoud Yazbak, Haifa
• Dr. Michael Yogev, Haifa
• Kim Yuval, Tel Aviv
• Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, Jerusalem
• Prof. Nahla Abdo-Zoubi, Nazareth/Ottawa
• Nava Zuckerman, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Moshe Zuckermann, Tel Aviv
• Michal Zweig, Herzelia

Original source and links

• Original ProfessorsOfConscience.org website with text of letter (2002)
• Solicitation of more signatures & media coverage on Indymedia Israel (posted by organizer Prof. Jacob Katriel, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 2002)
• “800 American professors sign document warning of coming Israeli ethnic cleansing” by Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada (18 December 2002) – via the Internet Archive
• List of 1,242 American academics that ultimately signed from ProfessorsOfConscience.org website (2002)

Nigel Parry

Scottish OG from the time of the First Intifada and the birth of the international movement of solidarity with the Palestinian people • Former Friends of Birzeit University Coordinator • Birzeit University Public Relations Officer • Cofounder and Editor of the original Electronic Intifada website • Creator of countless websites for pro-Palestinian organizations around the world via nigelparry.net