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Petition to: University administrations, research institutions, and other academic and educational bodies globally

Why this matters

On February 28, 2026, the US-Israeli war on Iran began with one of its most devastating incidents: a US missile strike on an elementary school in Minab, a small town south of Iran.

According to various journalist investigations, at least 165–170 people were killed, the majority of them schoolchildren between 7 and 12. Subsequent reporting indicates that the weapon used was likely a US Tomahawk missile, and that the strike showed characteristics inconsistent with an accidental hit.

Read: Al Jazeera investigation: Iran girls’ school targeting likely ‘deliberate’ (March 3, 2026). Al Jazeera.

Further reporting raised the possibility of a “double-tap” pattern, in which a second strike targets those seeking shelter or rescue after the first tap. The position of the bodies shows that, apparently, a group of students was moved to the prayer hall to take shelter, but the second tap struck that area.

Read: Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school. (Mar 4, 2026). Middle East Eye. 

This was not an isolated incident.

By late March 2026, more than 2,000 people in Iran had been killed, with US-Israeli strikes hitting homes, schools, and civilian infrastructure.

Read: Schools, water, industry: What civilian targets have the US, Israel, and Iran hit? (March 4, 2026). Al Jazeera.

By April 5, 2026, at least 30 universities in Iran had been affected by US-Israeli strikes, including major institutions such as the internationally top-ranked Sharif University of Technology and the Pasteur Institute of Iran, a century-old biomedical research center.

Read: Universities hit as US, Israel ramp up attacks on Iran’s infrastructure. (April 4, 2026). Al Jazeera. 

This is not new: Israel had the same pattern in Palestine

What is happening in Iran follows a pattern already documented in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

This pattern has been described as scholasticide:  the systematic destruction of educational institutions (Nablusi, 2009)

1. All 12 universities in Gaza have been destroyed
2. At least 90% of schools have been damaged or destroyed 
3. Hundreds of thousands of students have been deprived of education
4. Thousands of students, teachers, and academics have been killed

Read: Salhani, J. (Jul 3, 2024). Genocide, urbicide, domicide – how to talk about Israel’s war on Gaza. Al Jazeera.

Gaza academics themselves have described this as the deliberate erasure of intellectual life.
Read: Administrators, G. A. and. (May 29, 2024). Open letter by Gaza academics and university administrators to the world. Al Jazeera. 

Lebanon and beyond

The same pattern is also visible in the Israeli attack on Lebanon. Especially since last year, the situation has disrupted the education of nearly half of Lebanon’s 1.25 million students, while mass displacement has forced hundreds of thousands of children out of school.

Read: Jamal, U. (Jan 25, 2025). Between bombs and books: The lasting impact of war on Lebanese students. Al Jazeera.

What is scholasticide?

Scholasticide is not collateral damage.

It is a genocidal colonial strategy:

• Destroy schools → disrupt learning
• Destroy universities → dismantle knowledge production
• Kill teachers and researchers → sever intellectual continuity
• Bomb archives and labs → erase memory and future capacity

From residential schools in Canada and the US to the bombing of universities today, the pattern is clear: destroy knowledge to wipe out communities and claim land and resources!

Why we are speaking out

As students, scholars, educators, and academic workers, we reject the idea that education can be separated from war.

We reject the normalization of:

• Bombing schools
• Destroying universities
• Killing students and teachers
• Erasing entire education systems

We also reject claims of Western “advanced knowledge,” “progress,” or “civilization” that coexist with the systematic destruction of education in the Global South.

Our demands

We call on governments, universities, and institutions to:

1. Publicly condemn the current scholasticide in Palestine, Iran and Lebanon and any future similar attempts elsewhere
2. Demand an immediate end to US-Israeli wars, in particular their attacks on schools, universities, and research centers
3. End institutional complicity, including military research partnerships tied to such violence [Support your local BDS campaigns]
4. Provide material support to affected students and scholars (funding, placements, rebuilding initiatives) [Support Scholars at Risk Network; Donate to the joint International Red Cross and Red Crescent account for Iran]
5. Recognize scholasticide as a violation of international law and academic freedom

Our Position

Education is not a secondary concern.
It is foundational to life, dignity, and collective futures.

The bombing of a school is the bombing of a generation.
The destruction of a university is the destruction of possibility.

We refuse to be silent.
We refuse complicity.

No to scholasticide.
No to the destruction of knowledge.
Not in our name.

Sign this petition

Add your name if you believe:

• Schools should never be targets
• Universities should never be bombed
• Knowledge should never be destroyed as a weapon of war
   

Read more stories about the children of Minab:

McClure, T., & Baloch, S. M. (2026, March 29). ‘Her head was broken’: Parents at Iranian school bombed by US describe their worst day. The Guardian. 

Mohsenifar, S. G., Mohammad. (2026, April 9). The Lost Children of Minab. Foreign Policy. 

More evidence on the deliberate US attack on the elementary school in Minab:

AI got the blame for the Iran school bombing. The truth is far more worrying. (2026, March 26). The Guardian.

Beaumont, P. (2026, March 11). US responsible for deadly missile strike on Iran school, preliminary inquiry says. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/11/iran-war-missile-strike-elementary-school

Listen to: Who will answer for the Iranian schoolchildren killed in Minab? An investigation finds the Minab school strike may have been deliberate. Who can hold the US accountable? (Mar 18, 2026) Al Jazeera.

Pearson, J., McNeill, R., & Pearson, J. (2026, March 12). Bombed Iranian girls school had vivid website and years long online presence. Reuters.

U.S. responsible for strike on Iran school, internal military probe reportedly finds. (2026, March 12). [Video recording]. CBC.