We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership’s enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the “fog of war” could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote “transfer” of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call “the demographic problem”. Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19, 2002. In a recent interview in Ha’aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon described the Palestinians as a “cancerous manifestation” and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with “chemotherapy”, suggesting that more radical “treatment” may be necessary. Prime Minister Sharon has backed this “assessment of reality”. Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.

Signatories, as of the 23 Sept 2002, morning:

Prof. Zach Adam, Rehovot
Prof. Colman Altman, Haifa
Dr. Janina Altman, Haifa
Tammy Amiel-Houser, Tel Aviv
Chaya Amir, Tel Aviv
Dr. Shmuel Amir, Tel Aviv
Prof. Daniel Amit, Jerusalem/Rome
Yali Amit, Chicago
Dr. Meir Amor, Montreal, Canada
Dr. Yonathan (Jon) Anson, Beer Sheva
Prof. Shalom Baer, Jerusalem
Dan Bar-On, Beer Sheva
Dr. Avner Ben-Amos, Tel Aviv
Prof. Matania Ben-Artzi, Jerusalem
Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi, Tel Aviv
Avi Berg, Tel Aviv
Dr. Louise Bethlehem, Hod Hasharon
Prof. Anat Bilezki, Tel Aviv
Uri Bitan, Haifa
Prof. Daniel Boyarin, Berkeley
Prof. Victoria Buch, Jerusalem
Smadar Carmon, Toronto
Dr. Nicole Cohen-Addad, Tel Aviv
Dr. Uri Davis, Sakhnin
Athena Elizabeth DeRasmo, Haifa
Prof. Aharon Eviatar, Tel Aviv
Dr. Ovadia Ezra. Tel Aviv
Prof. Emmanuel Farjoun, Jerusalem
Pnina Firestone, Jerusalem
Elizabeth Freund, Jerusalem
Gadi Geiger, Cambridge, MA, USA
Dr. Amira Gelblum, Tel Aviv
Prof. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv
Dr. Anat Goldrat-First, Netanya
Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni, Tel Aviv
Dr. Neve Gordon, Beer Sheva
Dr. Yerah Gover, New York
Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum, Jerusalem
Dr. Lev Grinberg, Beer Sheva
Ran HaCohen, Tel Aviv
Prof. Uri Hadar, Tel Aviv
Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem, Jerusalem
Dr. Sara Helman, Beer Sheva
Prof. Hanna Herzog, Tel Aviv
Prof. Ze’ev Herzog, Tel Aviv
Prof. Hannan Hever, Jerusalem
Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass, Jerusalem
Shirly Houser, Tel Aviv
Tal Itzhaki, Haifa
Prof. Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv
Andrea Jacobs, Austin, Texas
Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Haifa
Aya Kaniuk, Jerusalem
Prof. Jacob Katriel, Haifa
Prof. Tamar Katriel, Haifa
Prof. Baruch Kimmerling, Jerusalem
Dr. Haggai Kupermintz, Boulder, Colorado
Dr. Ron Kuzar, Haifa
Dr. Ariela Lazar, Evanston
Prof. Micah Leshem, Haifa
Erez Levkovitz, Jerusalem
Prof. Rene Levy, Lausanne
Dr. Orly Lubin, Tel Aviv
Dr. Ruchama Marton, Tel Aviv
Dr. Anat Matar, Tel Aviv
Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr, Jerusalem
Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, Jerusalem
Menucha Moravitz, Ramat-Gan
Regev Nathansohn, Tel Aviv
Prof. Avraham Oz, Haifa
Dr. Ilan Pappe, Haifa
Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA
Shakhar Rahav, Berkeley
Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Beer Sheva
Prof. Zvi Razi, Tel Aviv
Prof. Tanya Reinhart, Tel Aviv
Prof. Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Berlin
Prof. Freddie Rokem, Tel Aviv
Prof. Henry Rosenfeld, Haifa
Dr. Maya Rosenfeld, Jerusalem
Ouzi Rotem, Philadelphia
Dr. Hannah Safran, Haifa
Tami Sarfatti, UCLA
Dr. Nita Schechet, Jerusalem
Hillel Schocken, Tel Aviv
Ruben Seroussi, Tel Aviv
Dr. Erella Shadmi, Beit Berl
Prof. Nomi Shir, Beer Sheva
Dr. Miriam Shlesinger, Tel Aviv
Aharon Shabtai, Tel Aviv
Orly Soker, Sapir-Jerusalem
Nurit Steinfeld, Jerusalem
Roman Vater, Tel Aviv
Dr. Roy Wagner, Tel-Aviv
Dr. Michael Yogev, Haifa
Kim Yuval, Tel Aviv
Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, Jerusalem
Michal Zweig, Herzelia