Open letter on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
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20th October 2023
To the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, United Kingdom,
We, the undersigned, are a group of academics who are scholars of political science, political philosophy, ethics, history, geography, law and the Middle East. We implore you to call for an immediate cessation to Israel’s morally disastrous attack on Gaza, and for Israel to allow the free passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, in addition to continuing to call on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages. The attack by Hamas on 7th October was a horrific and morally abhorrent act of mass terrorism, one that indiscriminately targeted Israeli civilians, including children. According to international law, Israel has the right to take defensive measures against Hamas. But this right does not extend to or justify Israel’s current onslaught on the civilian population of Gaza. Indeed, to think that the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas justify the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Gaza is to indulge a central tenet of terrorism – that all citizens must pay for the misdeeds of their governments – as well as terrorism’s central practice: collective punishment.
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In its attack on Gaza, Israel has deliberately deprived innocent Palestinian civilians – a great number of them children – of water, food and electricity, as well as the means of escape. While Israel has recently agreed to allow limited deliveries of food, water and medical supplies through the Egypt-Gaza border, it continues to refuse the passage of fuel into Gaza, imperilling the ability of hospitals to function. The amount of aid Israel has agreed to allow in, the UN’s humanitarian chief recently warned, is grossly insufficient. Israel’s initial order to a population of approximately 1.2 million women, men and children in the north of Gaza to evacuate their homes in just 24 hours, with no guarantee of safety or the right to return, has been described as ‘the war crime of forcible transfer’ by the Norwegian Refugee Council. The United Nations warned of this action’s ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’. As we write, Gaza’s death toll has risen to approximately 3500, with another 12,500 injured. Included in that number are many children, journalists, health workers and aid workers. UNRWA, the UN’s agency supporting Palestinian refugees, has declared the situation an ‘unprecedented human catastrophe’. Israel’s actions are an affront to basic moral dignity.
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These facts are by now familiar. The question is how both the British government and its Opposition can, in the face of them, continue to support Israel’s actions. We implore you, as academics who spend our lives thinking about events such as these, to see what, in the fullness of history, will be obvious to all: that Israel is today engaged in a morally disastrous exercise, and that those nations who give Israel cover to do so have innocent Palestinian blood on their hands. In the name of human dignity and moral decency, you must call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Yours faithfully,
Amia Srinivasan, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls College, Oxford
Jeff McMahan, Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy, Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Neta C. Crawford, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, Balliol College, Oxford
Cécile Laborde, Nuffield Professor of Political Theory, Nuffield College, Oxford
Krzysztof Pelc, Lester B. Pearson Professor of International Relations, St Anne’s College, Oxford
Avi Shlaim, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, St Antony’s College, Oxford
John Broome, White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy Emeritus, Oxford
Henry Shue, Professor Emeritus of Politics and International Relations, Merton College, Oxford
Sophie Smith, Associate Professor of Political Theory, University College, Oxford
Daniel Butt, Associate Professor of Political Theory, Balliol College, Oxford
Stuart White, Associate Professor in Political Theory, Jesus College, Oxford
Miles Tendi, Associate Professor of African Politics, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Patricia Owens, Professor of International Relations, Somerville College, Oxford
Meera Sabaratnam, Associate Professor in International Relations, New College, Oxford
Thomas Sinclair, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Wadham College, Oxford
Daniela Dover, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Merton College, Oxford
Jeanne Morefield, Associate Professor of Political Theory, New College, Oxford
James McDougall, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Trinity College, Oxford
Robert Gildea, Professor of Modern History, Worcester College, Oxford
Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Walter Armbrust, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern Studies, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Neil Ketchley, Associate Professor of Politics, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Patricia Clavin, Professor of Modern History, Worcester College, Oxford
Thomas Adams, Associate Professor of Law, St Catherine’s College, Oxford
Adrian W. Moore, Professor of Philosophy, St Hugh's College, Oxford
Patricia M. Thornton, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, Merton College, Oxford
Roxana Banu, Associate Professor of Law, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Patricia Daley, Professor of the Human Geography of Africa, Jesus College Oxford
Paul Billingham, Associate Professor of Political Theory, Magdalen College, Oxford
Janet Radcliffe Richards, Professor Emerita of Practical Philosophy, Oxford
Rachel Fraser, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Exeter College, Oxford
Hilary Greaves, Professor of Philosophy, Oxford
Dominic Wilkinson, Deputy Director, Oxford Uehiro Centre and Professor of Medical Ethics, Jesus College, Oxford
Alison Light, Honorary Fellow in History and English, Pembroke College, Oxford
Hayden Wilkinson, Research Fellow in Philosophy, Wolfson College, Oxford
Fanny Bessard, Associate Professor in Medieval Eurasian History, Trinity College, Oxford
Katrien Devolder, Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Reuben College, Oxford
Thomas Douglas, Professor of Applied Philosophy, Jesus College, Oxford
Alexander Prescott-Couch, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Lincoln College, Oxford
Amber Murrey, Associate Professor in Geography, Mansfield College, Oxford
Raihan Ismail, H.H Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Natalia Waights Hickman, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Worcester College, Oxford
Leila Ullrich, Associate Professor of Criminology, Worcester College, Oxford
Sneha Krishnan, Associate Professor in Human Geography, Brasenose College, Oxford
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Alice Crary, Visiting Fellow in Philosophy and Christian Ethics, Regent's Park College, Oxford