Università israeliane? Prima criminalizzano poi fanno arrestare i docenti che dissentono dal genocidio
Intorno alle 17 di giovedì 18 aprile 2024, la professoressa dell’Università Ebraica e studiosa femminista di fama internazionale Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian è stata arrestata dalla polizia israeliana nella sua casa nella Città Vecchia di Gerusalemme con l’accusa di incitamento alla violenza.
La polizia ha fatto irruzione e perquisito la sua casa e lei è attualmente sottoposta a un interrogatorio duro e disumanizzante. Il suo avvocato ha detto che le accuse contro di lei sono gravi. Le informazioni sul suo rilascio non sono note. I palestinesi detenuti da Israele subiscono violenza fisica, emotiva e mentale.
La professoressa Shalhoub-Kevorkian, che possiede sia la cittadinanza israeliana che quella statunitense, è stata sottoposta a violenta repressione e molestie da parte dell’Università Ebraica per essersi espressa contro il genocidio in corso a Gaza.
Inoltre, a marzo è stata sospesa dall’incarico di insegnante, per poi essere reintegrata quando è diventato chiaro che le accuse contro di lei non avevano alcun fondamento.
L’attacco contro la professoressa Shalhoub-Kevorkian è un attacco contro uno delle e dei tanti studiose/i, studenti e attivisti palestinesi che portano alla luce la natura violenta e genocida dello Stato israeliano, che è sotto gli occhi di tutto il mondo durante la presentazione del Sudafrica alla Corte internazionale di giustizia (ICJ).
Quella presentazione è stata sufficientemente persuasiva da far sì che l’ICJ abbia ritenuto quasi all’unanimità nella sua sentenza provvisoria del 26 gennaio 2024 che l’attacco di Israele a Gaza è plausibilmente un genocidio.
Riconosciamo quindi questo come un tentativo di mettere a tacere la critica alla violenza dello stato israeliano in un contesto di una società intrisa di aperta incitamento e discorso genocida.
Il ministro della Sicurezza nazionale Itamar Ben Gvir, infatti, ha accolto con favore l’arresto e ha affermato che esso “trasmette un messaggio importante: chiunque inciti contro lo Stato di Israele, agiremo contro di lui. Non potranno nascondersi dietro la loro posizione o qualsiasi altro titolo.”
Questo silenzio e questa repressione mettono in pericolo non solo la professoressa Shalhoub-Kevorkian, ma anche la vita e l’istruzione degli studenti che studiano, scrivono e fanno parte della sua comunità intellettuale all’Università Ebraica e oltre.
Noi, come accademici internazionali, riteniamo l’Università Ebraica di Gerusalemme responsabile dell’arresto e della detenzione della professoressa Shalhoub-Kevorkian a causa della sua persistente e pubblica repressione della sua libertà accademica, che ha portato direttamente all’arresto di oggi.
Chiediamo agli studiosi, agli attivisti e alle persone di coscienza internazionali di chiedere il suo rilascio immediato. Siamo indignati per questa azione illegale e rifiutiamo la continua violenza che lo Stato israeliano e le sue istituzioni esercitano contro il popolo palestinese e coloro che difendono la giustizia e la libertà.
Agisci oggi per il rilascio immediato della professoressa Shalhoub-Kevorkian:
1) Scrivendo ad Asher Cohen, presidente dell’Università Ebraica di Gerusalemme (asher.cohen@mail.huji.ac.il); Tamir Sheafer, Rettore (tamir.sheafer@mail.huji.ac.il); e Asher Ben-Arieh, preside della Scuola di lavoro sociale (benarieh@mail.huji.ac.il).
2) Contattare i rappresentanti degli Stati Uniti e chiedere loro (1) di chiedere il rilascio immediato del professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian e (2) di proteggere la libertà accademica degli studiosi, degli studenti e di coloro che si esprimono contro il genocidio palestinesi.
3) Creare una tempesta sui social media facendo circolare la nostra dichiarazione e chiedendo il rilascio immediato del professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian; usa l’hashtag #FreeNadera e tagga The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Questo appello è stato sottoscritto finora da:
Dr. Lila Abu-Lughod, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science, Columbia University
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Department of History, Columbia University
Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, UC Berkeley
Sherene Seikaly, Associate Professor of History, UCSB
Dr. Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide, Stockton University
Dr. Sarah Ihmoud, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, The College of the Holy Cross
Dr. Sherene H. Razack, Distinguished Professor of Gender Studies, UCLA
Dr. Devin Atallah, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dr. Shahnaaz Suffla, Professor in the Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa
Dr. Saree Makdisi, Professor of English, UCLA
Dr. Robin Kelley, Distinguished Professor of History, UCLA
Dr. Miriam Cooke, Braxton Craven Distinguished Professor Emerita of Arab Cultures, Duke University
Pregs Govender, African Gender OInstitute, UCT, Former South African MP and SA Human Rights Commissioner
Dr. Deborah Dwork, Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity, Graduate Center–City University of New York
Mimi Kirk, Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown University
Dr. Keren Weitzberg, senior lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, fellow, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Queen Mary University of London
Dr. Clive Gabay, Reader in International Politics, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
Dr. Vasuki Nesiah, Professor of Practice in Human Rights and International Law, NYU
Dr. Leila Farsakh, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dr. Bram Wispelwey, Instructor, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Chan School of Public Health
Dr. David Theo Goldberg, Distinguished Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine
Miriam Ticktin, Professor of Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center
Dr. Hoda Elsadda, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cairo University
Dr. Fatima Sadiqi, Visiting Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Dr. Victoria Sanford, Lehman Professor of Excellence, Lehman College & the CUNY Graduate Center
Dr. Stephen Sheehi, Sultan Qaboos Professor of Middle East Studies, William & Mary.
Dr. Lara Sheehi, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Doha Institute of Graduate Studies
Dr. Rachel Rosen, University College London
Dr. Rosalind Edwards, University of Southampton UK
Dr. Lara Deeb, Professor of Anthropology, Scripps College
Dr. Gala Rexer, University College London
Dr. Heidi Morrison, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin- La Crosse
Dr. Jeffrey Sacks, Associate Professor and Chair, Literature, UC Riverside
Professor Rana A. Sharif, CSU Northridge
Professor Vasuki Nesiah, Human Rights and International Law, NYU
Professor Zakia Salime, Rutgers University
Dr. Rishita Nandagiri, King’s College London
Dr. Marion Kaplan, Professor Emerita of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, NYU
Dr. Leti Volpp, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Dr. Amahl Bishara, Associate Prof. of Anthropology, Tufts University
Dr. Taner Akçam, Director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program of PAI, UCLA
Dr. Sultan Doughan, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths University London
Dr. Nivi Manchanda, Associate Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary, University of London
Dr. Nadim Rouhana, Professor of International Negotiation and Conflict Studies, Tufts University
Dr. Atalia Omer, Professor of Religion, Conflict, and Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Dr. Minoo Moallem. Professor of Gender Studies, UC Berkeley
Dr. Shannon Speed, Professor of American Indian Studies and Gender Studies, UCLA
Dr. Noura Erakat, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Rutgers University
Dr. Daniel Segal, Jean M. Pitzer Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Emeritus Professor of History, Pitzer College
Dr. Darryl Li, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Associate Member of the Law School, University of Chicago
Dr. Ussama Makdisi, Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair, University of California Berkeley
David Lloyd, Distinguished Professor of English, UC Riverside, USA
Daniel Segal, Jean M. Pitzer Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Emeritus Professor of History, Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges
And Heather Ferguson, Associate Professor of History, Claremont McKenna College
Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut and Frantz Fanon Foundation
Mohamed Seedat, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa
Professor Salim Vally, Research Chair in Community, Adult and Workers Education, University of Johannesburg
Dr. Sondra Hale, UCLA
Dr. Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor, University of California-Davis
Dr. Sherene Hafez, Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of California, Riverside
Dr. Louise Cainkar, Professor, Marquette University
Dr. Bassam Haddad, Associate Professor of Political Science, George Mason University
Dr. Silvia Pasquetti, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Newcastle University
Professor Tariq Jazeel, Department of Geography, University College London
Dr. Tom Western, Lecturer in Social and Cultural Geography, University College London
Ms. Penelope Quinton former UNAIS Capacity Builder Right to Education Campaign, An Najah University, Nablus 2008/09
Dr. James Kneale, Associate Professor, Geography, University College London
Dr. Victoria Araj, Lecturer in Equality, University of Lincoln, UK
Dr. Mayssoun Sukarieh: King’s College London
Dr. Carlo Morelli, Dundee University & Honorary Secretary Scotland UCU
Professor Laleh Khalili, University of Exeter
Liam O’Dowd, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast
Erica Burman, Professor of Education, University of Manchester
Ian Parker, Emeritus Professor of Management, University of Leicester, UK
Dr. Artemis Christinaki, Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Manchester
Dr. Kirsteen Paton, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Glasgow
Maria Hantzopoulos, Professor of Education, Vassar College
Sadhvi Dar, Reader in Interdisciplinary Management and Organisation Studies, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Professor Roberto Veneziani, Queen Mary University of London
Nancy Stern, Professor, The City College of New York, CUNY
Nacira Guenif, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University Paris 8, LEGS (CNRS)
Professor Hannah Jones, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick
Dr. Hanan Toukan, Associate Professor of Politics and Middle Eastern Studies, Bard College Berlin
Anat Pick, Dept of Film, Queen Mary Univeristy of London.
Professor Rowland Atkinson, University of Sheffield
Dr. Jess Bier, Associate professor of urban sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Philomena Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Liverpool Hope University, UK
Dr. Thea Renda Abu El-Haj, Professor of Education, Barnard College, Columbia University
Dr. Nicola Perugini, University of Edinburgh
Sameena Ahmad, retired senior lecturer, Manchester University
Dr. Tanzil Chowdhury, Associate Professor of Public Law, Queen Mary, University of London
Dr. Anna-Esther Younes
Dr. Lisa Tilley, SOAS
Dr. Polly Pallister-Wilkins, Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam
Neve Gordon, Professor of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Catherine Rottenberg, Professor of Feminist Media Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Prof. Penny Green, QMUL
Prof. Paul Highgate, University of Bath
Dr. Zeina Zaatari, Director of Arab American Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Hind Ahmed Zaki, University of Connecticut
Dr. Houri Berberian, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine
Dr. Fida Adely, Department of Anthropology, Georgetown University
Dr. Maya Wind, University of British Columbia
Dr. Susan Morrissey, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine
Dr. Kevan Antonio Aguilar, Assistant Professor of History and Vice Chair of the Irvine Faculty Association, University of California, Irvine
Dr. Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University
Dr. Barry Trachtenberg, Michael H. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History, Wake Forest University
Dr. Omer Bartov, Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Department of History; Faculty Fellow, Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs, Brown University
Dr. Haynes Miller, Professor of Mathematics emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Sunaina Maira, Professor, Asian American Studies, UC Davis
Dr. Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies, Brown University
Dr. David Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor and Professor of Comparative Literature and, by courtesy, of English, Stanford University
Dr. Fatma Muge Gocek, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan
Dr. Adam Miyashiro, Professor of Literature, Stockton University
Dr. Egla Martinez, Associate Professor, Human Rights and Social Justice, IIS, Carleton University, Canada
Dr. Yazid Ben Hounet, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale, Paris
Dr. Liron Mor, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine
Un’ulteriore passo che mira a smantellare i consultori dal loro interno minando il diritto all’aborto, ad una libera scelta, 
