Stand in Solidarity and Support the People of Palestine: Divest from Genocide
To the Office of the President, Board of Trustees, Deans' Council, Faculty, Administrative Staff, and greater Seattle University Community:
We, the executive teams of the Seattle University Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), believe in the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and national sovereignty in their ancestral homeland.
As such, we are reaching out to address Seattle University's noticeable silence regarding the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Over the past year, the university has voiced its concerns about the invasion of Ukraine, promoted relief efforts for wildfires in Hawai’i, and provided resources to assist affected students.
However, the lack of a similar response towards the ongoing genocide in Palestine sets a double standard. How can an institution claim to respect and champion the rights of indigenous cultures while turning a blind eye to outright settler-colonialism and active apartheid practices occurring globally?
As members of an educational institution that claims to empower “leaders for a just and humane world,” it is our moral and ethical duty to spread awareness of the ongoing and historical crisis in Palestine, not only by educating our peers, faculty and staff but also by publicly denouncing acts of blatant violence. Human rights and social justice are key values of Seattle University, and we must adhere to that.
As of October 23rd, nearly 5,100 Palestinian civilians have been murdered, more than 2,000 of whom were children. Additionally, over 13,700 civilians have been injured which, for context, is nearly twice the size of the entire Seattle University student population.
As a result of deliberate misinformation campaigns, the history of Palestine has been painted as a complex issue, rather than one of settler-colonial occupation.
This is not an Israel-versus-Hamas war, nor is it a religious conflict between Muslims and Jews. The current violence in Israel is a purely political movement, the roots of which can be traced back to decisions made during WWI through the Balfour Declaration and the division of Ottoman land between imperial powers.
The UN Partition Plan in 1947 divided the Mandate of Palestine into two states (one Jewish and one Arab) and led to the creation of the State of Israel. The Zionist project of ethnic cleansing through armed militias that followed this division is known as the first Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic), which intentionally displaced 750,000 Palestinians and destroyed 530 villages and cities, as reported by the UN.
In the years since, Israeli state-sponsored colonial settlements have reduced native Palestinian land, and after various conflicts such as the Six-Day War, the Yom-Kippur War, as well as multiple intifadas (Palestinian resistance movements opposing colonial settlements), what used to be a vibrant, diverse nation has now been reduced to the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip.
In 2007, the Gaza Strip was placed under a complete land, air, and sea blockade, severely limiting the freedom of movement for its residents and creating the “world’s largest open-air prison.” Israel has the power to control virtually everything in the region and, as we’ve seen over the past ten days, has blocked off water, electricity, and food supplies as a form of collective punishment, in addition to obstructing all forms of humanitarian aid.
While the vast majority of Western media has portrayed the ongoing assaults on Gaza as a justified and proportional response by the Israeli government to the October 7th attacks, it must be noted that the violence did not begin on that date. Rather, it has been a central part of the disproportionate power dynamic between occupied Palestinians and the occupying Israelis since its inception in 1948. This newest iteration of collective punishment is simply an extension of the numerous examples of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Israeli state in direct violation of international law.
There is no rational justification for the indiscriminate bombing of thousands of innocent civilians, many of whom are asleep in their homes, solely based on the claim that terrorists are concealed within their midst. Seattle University's close corporate partner Boeing, which produces war machines and profits off of the Israeli occupation, has expedited the shipment of bombs to aid in Israel's brutalization and murder of besieged Palestinians in Gaza. Over 48 complete families – consisting of grandparents, parents and children – have been murdered in cold blood, with many individuals in the Greater Seattle area having lost their loved ones.
We ask you to consider why just days ago, over 300 civilians were ruthlessly murdered in one strike during the targeted bombing of one of many hospitals. Or why some of the 1.2 million Palestinians ordered to evacuate to southern Gaza (an area which clearly couldn’t handle such a dense population) in a span of 24 hours were bombed during their travel despite following orders. What is the justification of using internationally prohibited phosphorus bombs that suffocate and burn human skin, or the purposeful targeting of churches and mosques?
The media coverage of the ongoing crisis in Palestine consistently manufactures consent to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by parroting the occupation’s incessant lies and severely downplaying the disproportionate casualties of Palestinian civilians. Ironically, Israel has shown a blatant disregard for its own citizens as they are directly killed in the crossfire with Palestinian resistance fighters as well as in Israel’s leveling of nearly 170,000 civilian houses in the Gaza Strip with no regard for Israeli prisoners.
A clear illustration of this disparity can be seen in Seattle University’s own messaging. Why did the email sent to students titled “Vigil for Middle East and Conversation” specifically mention solidarity solely with “victims of the attacks in Israel” while ignoring the overwhelmingly disproportionate number of Palestinians who have been killed over the past seven decades?
As a result, biased information has perpetuated existing misconceptions and as we’ve seen in the past week, has caused a visible increase in Islamophobia within the United States. Last Monday, a six year-old Palestinian child in Illinois was murdered by the landlord of his apartment, who openly proclaimed that “you Muslims must die”. This Sunday, a 20 year-old Palestinian-American in Cleveland was targeted in a hit-and-run accident while walking home from lunch, with the driver yelling “Kill all Palestinians” and “Long live Israel,” ultimately hitting the man while shouting “DIE!” while fleeing the scene.
Condemning the actions of Israel is not anti-semitic. The idea that critiquing Israel (a settler-colonial state) is anti-semitic and that its government’s actions represent the Jewish people is a dangerous conflation that only results in increasing anti-semitism, since it maligns the Jewish people and faith with the crimes committed by the Israeli state. This position is held by many Jewish organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now Movement, who are vocal supporters of Palestinian human rights and stand firmly against Israeli government policies.
With this context in mind, we urge the Seattle University leadership and community to take the following steps:
To quote from the same speech that President Peñalver cited during the Seattle University 2022 Commencement, “What then does a university do, immersed in this reality? Transform it? Yes. Do everything possible so that liberty is victorious over oppression, justice over injustice, love over hate? Yes. Without this overall commitment, we would not be a university, and even less so would we be a Catholic university.” - Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. Commencement Address Santa Clara University, June 1982
Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing back from you.
This statement has been cosigned by the following campus organizations:
Advocates for Migration Justice
African Student Association (ASA)
American Indian Law Journal
Asian Law Student Association (ALSA)
Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American Student Association (APIDA)
Black Student Union (BSU)
Business Leaders of Color Coalition (BLCC)
Caribbean & Latin American Student Society (CLASS)
Circle K International (CKI)
Criminal Justice Club
Fashion Club SU
Filipino Law Students Association (FLSA)
French Club
Gender Justice Center
Hidaka Taiko
Infinity Club
Japanese Student Association (JSA)
KXSU 102.1 FM
Marianas Taotao Tåno Club
Middle East and North Africa Student Association (MENA)
Mock Trial Team
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MECHA)
Pacific Islander Law Student Association (PILSA)
Pre-Professionals Without Borders
Queerly Spiritual
Re-Mixed: Multi-Racial Student Association
Seattle University EcoSangha Zen
Seattle University Economics Club
Seattle University Esports and Gaming (SUEG)
Seattle University Model United Nations (SUMUN)
Seattle University Students for Reproductive Justice (SUSRJ)
Seattle University Visual Arts Club (VIVID)
South Asian Student Association (SASA)
Sustainable Student Action (SSA)
Triangle Club
United Filipino Club (UFC)
Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)
