In May 2019, the Media Education Foundation, with co-sponsorship from several UMass-Amherst departments and student organizations, organized a panel on the backlash against people speaking out about Palestinian rights at the UMass-Amherst Fine Arts Center (“Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech and the Battle for Palestinian Rights”). Eighty right-wing pro-Israel organizations had publicly condemned the event, culminating in a lawsuit filed in April, aimed at cancellation of the panel. With assistance from Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian Legal, and others, the court defended free speech in this case. The panel discussion took place as planned, in front of a packed and enthusiastic audience of 1700 people.

The condemnation and legal action against the event had unfolded in a larger political context—where speaking critically about the policies of the Israeli state towards Palestinians has been increasingly criminalized; the United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) as anti-Semitic; 27 states have passed anti-BDS legislation; the most fundamental free speech rights of Palestinian groups on campus are under attack; the Department of Education has withdrawn funding to groups and institutions deemed not to be pro-Israeli enough; President Trump has labeled Jewish-Americans who do not pledge fealty to Israel as disloyal and as traitors;  foreign academics and political leaders are denied visas to visit American universities as a result of their advocacy for Palestinian human rights; writers are stripped of awards because of their support of BDS; and elected American representatives such as Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are denied entry to Israel also because of their support of the right to boycott repressive regimes, and are told by the President to “go back home.”

In this situation, about the only place left in the society where there can be some semblance of a diversity of views on the subject of Israel/Palestine is the American campus. It is for this reason that campuses are now under sustained attack from the extreme right (funded by Trump-supporting billionaires like Sheldon Adelson). In Massachusetts, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently donated $20 million specifically to fight the BDS campaign on campus and The Guardian newspaper just reported on a major right-wing push (spearheaded by Florida Representative Randy Fine) that would ban criticism of Israel on campus.

The autonomy of the campus is under threat and the only acceptable response should be an unequivocal defense of its faculty and of academic freedom. We applaud the response by Duke University President Vincent Price and Duke Provost Sally Kornbluth in their strong statement against the financial intimidation from the Dept. of Education: “We want to be very clear: no outside entity will determine what Duke faculty will teach, how they teach it, what they choose to research or write about, or who can speak on our campus… Be assured that we will continue to be vigilant in protecting and advancing academic freedom at Duke.” Anything less forceful in this climate will be seen by faculty as a warning to stay away from controversial issues in their scholarly work.

On the heels of the successful May 2019 event, and given the continuing attacks against free speech on the question of Palestine in particular, a new panel, co-sponsored by the Resistance Studies Initiative, is being organized on November 12th at UMass-Amherst. "Criminalizing Dissent: The Attack on BDS and Pro-Palestinian Speech" will focus on free speech and the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

In signing this statement in support of the planned event, we uphold the values of academic freedom and freedom to voice dissent. Specifically, we emphasize the right to debate and discuss the possibilities (as well as limitations) of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions as nonviolent strategies against occupation. This is not a matter of being for or against the BDS campaign, but to defend the space to talk about BDS.

We believe the university must affirm the right to free speech on controversial issues and not its criminalization. This is all the more important, as the federal government is now infringing on the rights of departments to simply design their own curricula and intellectual approaches. As members of the academic community, we reject this type of surveillance. We instead defend the right to freely and openly explore controversial political subjects, especially when these explore anti-racist struggles and nonviolent avenues toward political justice and especially when they concern the ongoing scholarly work of many faculty and departments at the university.

The title of the current strategic plan of the University is “Be Revolutionary” and it recognizes “that we are entering a period of historic challenge for our society, and we are determined to rise to that challenge.” We too hope the university (faculty, students, staff and administrators) will rise to the challenge and defend and extend the values that drew so many people there – the proud history of UMass-Amherst as an independent and progressive institution that affirms the right of its faculty to conduct research and teach the truth even where it may cut against the grain of powerful and repressive forces.

Signed:

Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Laureate Professor, University of Arizona

Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan

Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz

Susan Douglas, Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, University of Michigan

Arturo Escobar, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University

Henry Giroux, Professor for Scholarship in the Public Interest and The Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, McMaster University

Lawrence Grossberg, Morris Davis Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Gerald Horne, John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston.

Robin Kelley, Distinguished Professor of History & Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in United States History, University of California, Los Angeles

George Lipsitz, Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Columbia University

Robert McChesney, Gutgsell Endowed Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign

Ilan Pappe, Professor, University of Exeter

Adolph Reed, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

David Roediger, Foundation Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas

Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard University, and Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

Sean Chabot, Professor of Sociology, Eastern Washington University

Carol Daniel , PhD Candidate, George Mason University

Brian Martin, Emeritus professor of social sciences, University of Wollongong

Susanna Lundberg, Senior lecturer of social Work, Malmö University, Sweden

Kerstin Sandell, Malmöuniversitu

Dror Feiler

Carol Daniel Kasbari, Phd candidate, George Mason University

Lisa Sharlach, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Richard Jackson, Professor of Peace Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand

Professor Emeritus of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University

Ann Ighe, Senior Lecturer, University of Gothenburg

Himadri Sekhar Mistri, Research Scholar, JNU, Indja

Lester R. Kurtz, Professor, George Mason University

Bjørn Ihler

Patrick Bond, Distinguished Professor of Political Economy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Yido CHAE

Angelica Vehmas Global studies GU

Annapurna Menon, Doctoral researcher, University of Westminster

Gustav Bergström Kamph, Master of Nautical Science, Chamlers University of Technology

Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam

Andreas Ottemo, PhD, University of Gothenburg

Burcu Eke Schneider, Peace Worker

Steven Salaita

Bridget Fowler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow

Christina Hansen, PhD, Malmö University

Håkan Thörn university of gothenburg

Tom Eriksson

Rosemary Elizabeth Galli, retired university professor

Simona Sharoni, Director, Interdisciplinary Institute, Merrimack College

Rae Gould, Associate Director of Native American and Indigenous Studies, Brown University

Peter Rachleff, Co-Executive Director, East Side Freedom Library, St. Paul, MN

Jeff Goodwin, Professor, New York University

Onwubiko Agozino, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech

Amber Eastman Black, Class of 1990

Ruba Hindi

Elke Zuern, Professor of Politics, Sarah Lawrence College

Kelly Rae Kraemer, Professor of Peace Studies, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University

Marwan Darweish, Associate Professor in Peace Studies, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK

Amanda Golert

Dr Max Farrar, Emeritus Professor, Leeds Beckett University, UK

Stephanie Jo Kent, PhD

Annie Hayford-Joyner, Doctoral student, Canterbury Christ Church University (UK)

Ahmad Abojaradeh, Executive Director, Life in my days

Jan Aragón Blažek, Independent researcher.

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics, University of San Francisco

Ari Villanueva, UAB Undergraduate Student Advocate.

Maurice Stierl, Dr, University of Warwick

Colin Stuart McCoy -Sunrise Foundation

Maija Jespersen, PhD candidate, University of Otago

Paolo Cuttitta, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow, Université Paris 13

Yasmeen Narayan, Lecturer in Postcolonial and Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London

Dr Michael Randle

Dr. Philip Farah

Tanisha Arena, Executive Director, Arise for Social Justice

Rahul Rao, Senior Lecturer in Politics, SOAS University of London

Åse Eliason Bjurström, University of Gothenburg

Tobias Baskin, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Ann Halloway

Michael Burawoy, Professor, UC Berkeley.

Ingvar Rönnbäck, Founder and Chair of the Board of Another Development Foundation, Sweden

John Higginson, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Osamah Khalil, Assoc. Professor, History, Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Biljana Vankovska , Professor, Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

Mathias Klang, Associate Professor, Fordham University

Jason Macleod, The University of Sydney

Jason Ferreira, Faculty Fellow, Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, Harvard University; Associate Professor, Race and Resistance Studies, College of Ethic Studies, San Francisco State University

Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Professor, New York University

Nora Madison, PhD

Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, UC Berkeley

Nalanda Roy

David Kotz, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Carlene Edie, Professor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Zahra Bayati filosophy Doctor Gothenburg University Sweden

Assoc. Prof. Dr (ret.) Stephan E. Nikolov

Jean Beaman, Assistant Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

Richard E. Rubenstein, University Professor, George Mason University

Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto

L. Janelle Dance, Associate Professor of Sociology & Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Masoud Kamali. Professor of sociology and social work

Joseph Levine, Professor of Philosophy, UMass Amherst

Louise Antony, Professor of Philosophy, UMass Amherst

John Abromeit, Associate Professor of History, SUNY Buffalo State

Mattias Gardell, Nathan Söderblom Professor of Comparative Religion, Uppsala University

Steve Smale, Professor retired Univ of Calif Berkeley, and CityU of HK

Antoanela Petkovska, PhD in Socioligy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Fakulty of Philosophy - Skopje

Michael Nagler, Founder, Metta Center for Nonviolence; prof. emer., UC, Berkeley

Stellan Vinthagen, Endowed Chair in the study of nonviolent direct action and civil resistance, and Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of Gothenburg, Director of the Resistance Studies Initiative, Editor of the Journal of Resistance Studies

Dean J Johnson, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Conflict Studies, West Chester University of PA

Timothy R. Dougherty, Associate Professor, West Chester University of PA

Casey Bohrman, Associate Professor, West Chester University

Ronnie Barkan, BDS activist and Israeli dissident

David Brophy, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney

V Spike Peterson, Professor of International Relations, U of Arizona

Abigail Fuller

Liam Lair, Asst. Professor, West Chester University

Rajani Bhatia, Associate Professor, University at Albany

Laura Briggs, Professor, University of Massachusetts

Christopher J. G. Meacham, Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Dr Michael Walls, Gothenburg University, curriculum content on the history of the Palestine/Israel conflict in Lower and Upper Secondary education in Sweden.

Patrick Keilty, Associate Professor, University of Toronto

Sut Jhally, Professor, University of Massachusetts

Rasigan Maharajh. Professor Extraordinary, Stellenbosch University, and Chief Director, Tshwane University of Technology

Lisa Stampnitzky, Lecturer in Politics, University of Sheffield (UK)

Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Cambridge Univ

Christina Lundh, University of Göteborg

Bertil Egerö, Lund university Sweden

Joanne Demchok

Associate Professor Jake Lynch, University of Sydney

Dr Kelvin Mason, para academic, Aberystwyth, Wales

Håkan Gustafsson, Professor in Jurisprudence, Karlstad University, Sweden

Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Open University, UK

Katy Fox-Hodess, Lecturer in Employment Relations, University of Sheffield

Bruce Pietrykowski, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Karen Graubart, PhD 2000, Assoc Prof of History, University of Notre Dame

Shahd Abusalama, PhD researcher at Sheffield Hallam University

Raja Shaheen, NP

Stanley Malinowitz

Elora Halim Chowdhury, Professor, Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, UMass Boston

Betsy Hartmann, Professor Emerita of Development Studies, Hampshire College

Krupa Shandilya, Amherst College

Marlene Gerber Fried, Hampshire College

Harriet Malinowitz, Lecturer, Ithaca College

Ane Kirkegaard, Malmö University

Frank Seeburger, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy Department, University of Denver

Leila Kawar, Associate Professor of American Culture and in the Residential College, University of Michigan

Suzanne Bergeron, B.A. 1983, Professor, University of Michigan Dearborn

Ivar Ekeland, FRSC, Professor em., University of Paris and University of British Columbia

Sanal Mohan, Director, Kerala Council For Historical Research, Thiruvanantgapuram.

Karen Pfeifer, Professor Emerita of Economics, Smith College

Richard L. Abel, Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA

Dr. Bill Yousman

Brad R. Roth, Professor of Political Science & Law, Wayne State University

Christopher Pastorella

Mats Alfredson, Sustainability expert, Sweden

Angela Lederach, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame

Tony Jenkins, Lecturer, Justice and Peace Studies, Georgetown University

Mary C Wilson, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Alice Speake

Dr. David I. Backer, Assistant Professor of Education, West Chester University

Arthur Romano, Assistant Professor, George Mason University

Catharina Koch

Diana J. Fox, Professor of Anthropology Bridgewater State University

Mary Ann Clawson, Professor Emerita, Wesleyan University

Oana Panait, researcher

Mark Lance. Professor of philosophy, professor of justice and peace, Georgetown University

Naomi Schneider, University of California Press

Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Director of Peace and Justice Studies, Gettysburg College

McKinley E. Melton, Associate Prof. of English, Gettysburg College; UMass Amherst PhD ‘12

Judith Rodenbeck, Associate Professor, University of California at Riverside

Frederic Ferdman

Patrik Berndtsson, GP, Sweden

Maria Teresa Braga Bizarria, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington

Sophie Bjerregaard

Ibrahim Fraihat, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Brian Brophy

Johan Olof Andersson

May Seikaly, Wayne State University - Retired

Fakhira Halloun, PhD, George Mason University

Carlin A. Barton, Professor Emeritus University of Massachusetts

Beth E. Wilson

Kalpana Shankar, Professor,. University College Dublin

Alex Dupuy, John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

Samer Kasbari, MD

Cynthia Horan  Yale University -Retired

Carol Lewis

Margaret Cerullo, Professor, Sociology and Feminist Studies, Hampshire College

Aaron Berman, Professor Emeritus, Hampshire College

Diego Checa Hidalgo, Lecturer in Contemporary History, Universidad de Granada

Zachary Lockman, New York University

Christoph Cox, Professor of Philosophy, Hampshire College

Noah Simblist, Chair and Associate Prof. Dept. of Painting + Printmaking, VCU

Lili M. Kim, Associate Professor, Hampshire College

Deborah J. Yost, HOOM (Retired)

Bryan McCann, Associate Professor, Louisiana State University

David C. Oh, Associate Professor, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Elizabeth M. Jenkins, PhD Student, Ohio University

Sarah Murru, PhD, Univeristy of Louvain (Belgium)

Daniel S. Chard, Instructor, Western Washinton University (PhD, UMass Amherst, '16)

Nina Banks, Associate Professor, Bucknell University

Katica Kulavkova, Member of Macedonian Academy of Sciences & Arts

Libby Kerr Psychotherapist

John Collins, Professor, St. Lawrence University

Ben Boyington, Educator

Rivera Sun, Author

Emma Lang, Class of 2007 (B.A.)

Jack Jackson, Whitman College

Brett Ingram, Professor of the Practice, Boston College

Carollee Bengelsdorf, Hampshire College

Amy Schrager Lang, Emerita Professor, Syracuse University

Carl Death, Senior Lecturer, University of Manchester

Christy Hyman

Srirupa Prasad, Associate Professor University of Missouri-Columbia

Lucinda Mesteth

Rosza Daniel Lang/Levitsky (Naye Khayes Farlag)

Shahnaz Rouse, Professor of Sociology

Roosbelinda Cardenas, Hampshire College

Giorgio Bertellini, Professor, University of Michigan

Frances W. Kaye, Professor Emerita, English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Anne Garcia, Ph.D.  Lecturer, Washtenaw Community College

Jeff Handmaker, ISS, Erasmus University (The Netherlands)

Nyaniso Kronenberg, UCT South Africa

Noa Shaindlinger

Mehammed Mack, Associate Professor, Smith College

Elisabeth Armstrong, Smith College

Mette Edith Stendevad, PhD Student, University of Leicester (UK)

Jess Johnson, Community Engagement Director, Department of History, UMass Amherst

Janne Flyghed, Professor, Department of Criminology, Stockholm University

Haeberlein, Jana Dr. Basel

Michael Mario Albrecht, Visiting Instructor, University of South Florida

Kevin A. Young, Assistant Professor of History, UMass Amherst

Jeff Handmaker, ISS (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLahlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University


Kirsten Isgro, Associate Professor in Communication Studies, SUNY Plattsburgh
Wim Laven, PhD

Miliann Kang, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Priscilla Murolo, Professor of History, Sarah Lawrence College

Abigail Boggs, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Wesleyan University

Isabel Espinal, Librarian

Carrie N. Baker, Smith College

Audrey Wu Clark, Associate Professor of English, United States Naval Academy

Nadia Kim, Professor, Loyola - Los Angeles

C.Margot Hennessy Phd., Professor of Wthnic and Gender Studies Westfield State University, UMass Alumni Phd

Kyla Schuller, Associate Professor, Rutgers University

Amílcar Shabazz, Professor, University of Massachusetts

Michael J Rulon, Senior Lecturer of French, Northern Arizona University

Nohham R. P. Cachat-Schilling, Oso:ah Foundation

Lisa Leitz, Delp-Wilkinson Professor of Peace Studies, Chapman University

Amanda Smith Byron, Associate Professor, Portland State University

Usha Natarajan, Associate Professor of Law, American University in Cairo