11/15/23 Statement: AU’s Response to the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Dear Members of the AU Administration and the AU Student Body,

The ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine has impacted many around the world, including here at AU. We stand in solidarity and grieve with all members of our community. As the governing body of all current SIS graduate students, it is the responsibility of the Graduate Student Council (GSC) to address the needs and security of SIS graduate students. We have received extensive student feedback concerning the university administration’s response since the escalation of violence started on October 7, 2023. As an academic institution guided by humanistic values, the School of International Service strives to uphold the principles of justice, equality, and human rights. We should all move forward with care and nuance because AU’s role is to promote critical thinking and moral courage in examining complex issues. A diligent focus on justice, compassion, and our common bonds must guide the path ahead. The GSC condemns all forms of violence, racism, and discrimination and is appalled by the rise in Antisemitism and Islamophobia within our country and university. As such, the GSC calls on the administration to address two principal student concerns: a lack of resources for community members impacted by the conflict, and the administration’s biased messaging.

Ongoing Situation on Campus

Many AU students and faculty have reported instances of discrimination, threats to their personal safety, and acts of antagonism. Students and faculty have addressed fears of repercussions for speaking out against the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. We feel as though the administration’s response was inadequate in addressing these acts of hate and has failed to mitigate discrimination against Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, Arab, and Israeli community members. As an academic institution, AU should be creating inclusive spaces for all members to voice their grievances and engage in civil discourse. The lack of action has disproportionately affected Palestinian and Muslim students and faculty who have been ostracized nationally for highlighting the persecution of Palestinians. Moreover, AU has fallen short in providing impartial resources for students to broaden their knowledge about the current conflict and its historical context.

Call for Adequate Response

GSC encourages AU to provide a platform for more Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim perspectives as well as other speakers to help educate the AU community concerning the situation on the ground and to provide unbiased context of the historical and present realities of this situation. Our institution has a duty to ensure that all students feel both physically and emotionally secure. As such, we urge the administration to reconsider partnerships and programs that exclude, obscure, or silence Palestinian narratives and realities. Diverse narratives and opinions are essential for students to think critically about complex global issues. Therefore, we hope that AU continues to allow peaceful student activism uninhibited, and AU should not engage in the suspension of any organizations on campus that promote the liberation of Palestinians as other universities have.

GSC calls for AU’s administration to take more concrete action to combat acts of hatred and violence on campus, not just in this current situation, but regarding all hate-based instances waged against students, staff, and faculty. The lack of actionable results from pending investigations has not resolved the ongoing issues of racism and discrimination on our campus. Going forward, AU needs to provide students with an equitable level of support in any future statements regarding outbreaks of violence.

Although we recognize and welcome President Burwell’s denouncement of Hamas’s attacks and the tragedy of Israeli lives lost, there has not been any type of messaging acknowledging or condemning the loss of Palestinian civilian lives in Gaza. We call on the administration to condemn Israeli attacks that have so far killed 11,000+ innocent Palestinians and displaced millions. The reason we call on the administration to do this is to demonstrate to its student body that AU holds all civilian lives to equal value and that not only Israeli deaths are worth condemning and grieving. The lack of mutual support in the October 12th email led Palestinian and Muslim students to feel as if their lives were not equally valued here at AU. The administration responded with compassion to the Israeli lives lost and expressively denounced the violence carried out against them. The same compassion and denouncement of violence has yet to be extended to the massacre of Palestinian civilians. AU should stand alongside international governing bodies, including the UN and humanitarian organizations in calling for a humanitarian truce.

This is a difficult time for our entire community. As we witness the tragic impacts of war, we want to ensure all AU members feel heard, safe, and acknowledged during this painful period. The SIS GSC remains committed to listening to student concerns and voicing them to the administration. We will continue working towards building an inclusive campus, where all community members are supported. Though deeply challenging, we believe this moment can catalyze meaningful dialogue, education, and action. Together, we can move forward with care and recognition of our shared humanity.

In solidarity,

SIS Graduate Student Council