We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Dartmouth College and other concerned individuals express our full solidarity with the people of Gaza as they continue to face a campaign of genocide by the Israeli army of occupation. 

We call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and throughout the region, for the protection of Palestinian civilians, and for unrestricted humanitarian aid to reach the affected populations.

As an academic community, we have been profoundly shocked and dismayed by the Israeli authorities' reckless disregard for the lives and safety of Palestinian students and faculty and by the senseless destruction of Palestinian schools and universities across the Gaza Strip.

We reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to establish their independent Palestinian state, and to resist Israel's unlawful occupation by all necessary means, including armed struggle, as laid out in paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 6 of UN General Assembly Resolution 45/130 (1990).

We unequivocally denounce racism, racial intolerance and hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, and all forms of discrimination and bias.

We are alarmed by attempts at stifling free speech on campuses across the country and by the increased targeting of students and colleagues for exercising their free speech rights. 

We were deeply distressed by the violent suppression on May 1 this year, of a peaceful protest against the war in Gaza and the arrest of 89 students and faculty attending the protest—actions that likely infringe on the free speech rights of students and faculty. Moreover, insofar as they have the potential to discourage student engagement with the pressing issues of their world, these actions will not advance the College’s mission of educating responsible global citizens.

We, therefore, reiterate our call for all charges against the students to be dropped and for an end to the judicial harassment of students and colleagues.

We also call for greater transparency regarding College ties to companies potentially complicit in war crimes and human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories and elsewhere. We strongly believe that endowment management decisions must reflect the core values and standards of our diverse community.

Photo caption: Children react during the funeral of the Faojo family, killed in Israeli bombing on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on 11 November 2023. Said Khatib / AFP 

PERMANENT LINK: Change.org/ freedom for Palestine