On Wednesday, October 12, VCU President Michael Rao shared a statement concerning the recent Israeli-Palestinian war. You can read Rao’s letter here. (https://news.vcu.edu/article/2023/10/condemning-terrorist-violence

While many found his words understandable, many also could not help but feel left out and unseen. It can be difficult to consider context in tense moments, but we feel called to do just that, in the service of community and hopefully the extension of compassion and sympathy to everyday Palestinians.

We have written a letter in response and need your help for it to be fully effective and to reach VCU leadership. Please read and sign below.

To President Rao and the VCU Community:

As we watch in horror the violence unfolding in Israel and in Gaza, we are gravely concerned about yesterday’s letter to the VCU community denouncing “the terrorist attack on Israel.” Your letter risks dividing the VCU community and alienates Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Israeli, and Jewish voices for peace, among others. It stands against shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and threatens the integrity of the inclusive community we all strive to create.

We mourn the loss of life caused by Hamas’s recent attack, and we value the lives of all people whose very existence, much less their ability to thrive, depends on state actors and the violence they claim as legitimate. We understand this most recent attack within the context of the 75-year-long settler-colonial occupation of Palestinian land and war against the Palestinian people. This occupation was conceived, from its start, with the explicit intention of ethnic cleansing—a strategy that continues today, as seen in the Israeli defense minister referring to the Palestinian people as “human animals” and threatening their annihilation. This, more than anything, frightens us, as the US-backed Israeli military has the resources and international support to fulfill this express intent and commit genocidal atrocities of unspeakable proportions. We mourn the loss of all lives, and we stand firmly against genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.

The Israeli government declared war on Gaza on Sunday, October 8. Gaza has been under Israeli blockade and siege for 16 years.

You are correct in stating that the most recent attack on Israel was committed by Hamas. Hamas—a Palestinian religious entity and resistance movement—was formed in 1987 at the beginning of the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising) to fight against

Israel’s increased oppression of Palestinians intensified expropriation of land and expansion of settler colonialism in the West Bank and Gaza after the victory of Israel’s right-wing Likud Party in 1977.

The Israeli state—which has the backing of the US government and popular support from US citizens—has committed countless war crimes in Gaza and against Palestinian civilians. Its actions have killed more than 1,050 people, injured 5,000 people, displaced 300,000 people within the Gaza Strip, annihilated families, murdered members of the press as well as UN workers and Red Crescent paramedics, and destroyed hospitals and schools. These crimes have been condemned by the United Nations code of law, the Geneva Convention (Articles 52 and 147), the Rome Statues of the International Criminal Court, and the Hague Regulations (Article 25) concerning the destruction by Occupying Powers and the Laws and Customs of War and Land.

As we write this, all roads to Gaza are closed. It has fallen under complete Israeli siege. Two million people are blocked off on a strip of land that is twice the size of Washington DC. They are deprived of electricity, fuel, food, water, and humanitarian aid. Wounded Palestinians, including hundreds of children, have no access to treatment. Without electricity, Gaza is under news black-out, making it imperative for those of us who have the academic freedom and the power to speak up to demand an end to the war and to firmly stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people.

While we understand that you might have had the intention of standing with Jewish members of our community, you seem to assume that all Jewish people have the same ideological position. This is not a religious conflict—it is not about Judaism, but rather Zionism. You could have consulted statements from Jewish Voice for Peace, B’Tselem, or Breaking the Silence—to name just a few examples—to find more diverse perspectives. You also don’t account for the fact that VCU has a campus in Qatar, with many faculty, students, and staff that may not share in the ideological position expressed in your letter.

We echo the statement you have received from the Palestinian Student Organization at VCU:

Every voice of conscience needs to be raising awareness, rather than issuing a one-sided statement that completely disregards the attacks on Palestinians. As an administration, please do better.

Signatories

Sarah Rifky, ICA Senior Curator
Yomna Osman, ICA at VCU Curatorial Fellow (former)
Majdulin Nasrallah, VCUQ alumna
Alexander Zohore, Assistant Professor VCUarts
Noah Simblist, Associate Professor, VCUarts
nicole killian, Associate Professor, VCUarts
Cara Benedetto, Associate Professor, VCUarts
Egbert Vongmalaithong, Assistant Curator, ICA VCU
Saar Shemesh, Adjunct Professor, VCUarts
Margo Lentz-Meyer, Registrar/Digital Assets Manager, ICA VCU
Rola Khayyat, Assistant Professor, VCUQ
Aissa Deebi, Associate Professor, VCUQ
Michael Perrone, Assistant Professor, VCUQ
Peter Welz, Assistant Professor, VCUQ
Mariah Dekkenga, VCUQ Family
HH Hiaasen, Assistant Professor, VCUarts
Hana Al-Saadi, Adjunct Professor, VCUQ
Zainab AlShibani, Alumni, Teaching Assistant , VCUQ
Habeeb M. Abu-Futtaim, Junior Faculty, Artist in Residence, Alumni, VCUQ
Izza Alyssa, VCUarts Alumna

Yasamin Shaikhi, Alumna, VCUQ
Ryan Basilio, VCUQ Alumna
Dana Ahmed, VCU Alumna
Ameena Al Boinin VCUQ alumni
Saga Elkabbash, Fablab Specialist/ MFA student & Alumna, VCUQ
Luma Mansi, Research assistant & Alumna, VCUQ
Dana Abuhejleh, Teaching & Research Assistant/ VCUQ Alumna
Reham Mohamed, VCUQ Alumni
Maryam Altajer, VCUQ, MFA
Noof Alkhenji, VCUQ alumni
Patty Paine, Associate Professor, VCUarts Qatar
Pornprapha Phatanateacha, Adjunct Faculty, VCUQ
Levi Hammett, associate Professor, VCU school of the arts Qatar.
Kaltham Alfakhroo, VCUQ SGA President, VCUarts Qatar
Valeria Mazzei, VCUQ
Summer Bateiha, Professor, VCUarts Qatar
AlMaha AlMaadeed, VCUQ Alumni
Reem Aboughazala, Alumna, VCUQ
Amna AlHumaidi, VCUQ SGA Vice President, VCUarts Qatar
Michael Hersrud, Associate Professor, VCUarts Qatar
Sarah Abdeen, VCUQ Alumna
Law Alsobrook, Associate Professor, VCUQatar
Margarita Zúñiga, Community Relations Coordinator, VCUarts Qatar
Ahmed moawad, vcu alumni
Amy Andres, Associate Professor, VCUarts Qatar
Simone Muscolino, Associate Professor, VCUarts Qatar
Joshua Rodenberg, Assistant Professor, VCUarts Qatar
Amira Natsheh, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Leila Natsheh, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Roda Alkoori, VCUQ Alumni
Maryam khalil, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Eman Makki, VCUArts Qatar AlumnaQatar
Selma Fejzullaj, VCUarts Qatar student
Syed Erzum Naqvi, VCUarts Qatar MFA student
Ayza Sheikh, VCUarts Qatar MFA student
Fatima Al-Siddiqi, VCUarts Qatar, student
Hissa Al-Ghanim, VCUarts Qatar Alumni
Salha Alsubaiei, VCUarts Qatar student.
Aisha Yousef Al-Abdulla, VCUarts Qatar Alumni and Teaching assistant
Dalal Johar, VCUArts Qatar Alumni
Jood Elbeshti, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Hessa AlSulaiti VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Amena Al-Yousef, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Nadia Jabari, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Aia Zaina, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Ayah Akl, VCUarts student

Anastasia Marinova, VCUarts Qatar student
Maryam Picken, VCUarts Qatar student
Ebtesam Bint Mohammed, VCUArts Qatar Alumni.
Hind Al Kuwari, VCUArts Qatar Alumni and MFA Student
Shaikha Al Fadalah VCUarts Qatar Student
Maryam Al-Khulaifi VCUarts Qatar Student
Doaa Emam, VCUarts Qatar Student
Yomna Abdelkader VCUarts Qatar student
Almaha Alhorr VCUarts Qatar student
Maria Mebarki, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Noora Al-Saei, 2020 VCUQarts Qatar Alumna
Chalifa Anindita, VCUQarts Alumna
Adriane de Souza, VCUQ MFA Student
Reem Al Mannai, VCUarts Qatar Student
Dana Al Farra, VCUarts Qatar Students
Sara Nabet, VCUarts Qatar student
Tuleen Al Naji,VCUarts Qatar student
Rahaf Al-Mohannadi, VCUarts Qatar Student
Haya Al Janahi, VCUArts Qatar Student
Aiman Mohammed, VCUarts Qatar Student
Afreena Niaz, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Rawan Odeh, VCUarts Qatar Student
Fatima Jaber Al Thani, VCUQarts Qatar Student
Mubashira Basheer M Kandy, VCUarts Qatar Student
Zeyad Bateiha, Director of Academic and Career Advising, VCUarts Qatar
Naima Almajdobah, VCUQ Alumna, MFA Student
Nadia Abudayeh, Senior Manager media and PR, VCUQ
Shaikha AlHajri VCUarts Qatar Student
Shaikha Al-Thani, VCUarts Qatar student
Noora alderham, VCUarts qatar student
Sofia Flores, VCUarts Qatar student
Noor almuhannadi,VCUarts Qatar student
Farida Elgendy, VCUarts Qatar student
Muneera Almohannadi VCUarts Qatar student
Fatima Al-Thani VCUarts Qatar student
Amna Al Sayed VCUarts Qatar student
Khawla Al-Akbari VCUarts Qatar Alumni
Carlotta Bernardi, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Ameena Rasul,VCUarts Qatar student
Shahd Al Suwaidi, VCUarts Qatar Student
Sara
Shima Aeinehdar, Creative Manager TypeAraby, VCUarts Qatar Alumna
Julie Grosche, Adjunct Professor, VCUarts
Chioke I’Anson, ICA at VCU

Nour Ahmad, President of the Arab Student Union at VCU

Lugene Qawasmeh, President of the Palestinian Student Organization at VCU