An open letter from mathematicians against the massacre in Gaza. Opinion

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a terrorist attack in Israel, killing more than 1,200 people out of a population of 9.5 million, including more than 800 civilians and at least 33 children, and injuring more than 5,400. . 248 hostages were also captured in the attack, about 100 of whom are still in Gaza.

Since then, the Israeli government has begun a response of genocidal violence against the Palestinian population of Gaza, under the watch of the international community. By the end of October 2024, the number of identified victims had reached 43,061 in a population of 2.3 million, including more than 13,735 children, 7,216 women and 3,447 elderly people, and more than 100,000 were injured. Countless additional victims are still buried under the debris.

Israeli forces are now carrying out atrocities against Palestinian civilians equivalent to at least one every ten days on October 7, and have been doing so for more than a year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian crisis”. In addition to the heavy toll on civilians, the war has led to the massive destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure and forced the repeated displacement of 90 percent of Gaza’s population. Most hospitals were bombed and destroyed, and many medical teams were killed. Continued attacks and blockades on food, water, fuel, medicines and humanitarian aid cause unbearable suffering for the Gaza population, who face starvation and infectious disease. Children, along with other vulnerable groups, are particularly badly affected.

In late October 2024, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Ministry of Education reported that Israel had killed more than 11,057 schoolchildren and 681 students, and wounded more than 16,897 schoolchildren and 1,468 students in Gaza since October 7, 2023. . Overall, 441 teachers and education personnel were killed, and 2,491 were injured. At least 117 academics have been killed in Gaza, including mathematician, theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic University of Gaza Sufyan Tayeh, who was killed with his family in an Israeli bombardment of the Jabaliya refugee camp on December 2, 2023 .

Additionally, 406 schools have been damaged in Gaza, 77 of which have been completely destroyed. Gaza’s universities have been severely affected, with 20 institutions damaged, 51 buildings completely demolished and 57 partially destroyed. As a result, approximately 88,000 students and 700,000 out-of-school children in Gaza have been deprived of education for more than a year.

On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there was a threat of genocide and ordered Israel to take measures to prevent it. On 28 March, the ICJ reiterated this order, requiring the implementation of these preventive measures. Then, on 24 May, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately stop its military offensive in Rafah and open the Rafah crossing to allow unhindered access to humanitarian services and aid for civilians.

These orders appear to have been completely disregarded, and attacks on civilians in Gaza have intensified, especially in the north, with the express aim of depopulating the area of ​​Palestinians. On September 30, 2024, after several days of aerial bombardment, Israeli forces also invaded Lebanon, killing at least 1,600 and displacing 1.2 million.

The Israeli government’s human rights violations extend beyond the Gaza Strip and did not begin as retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In the West Bank, 79 schoolchildren and 35 students have been killed since October 7, 2023, while hundreds of others have been injured or arrested. Systematic, widespread human rights violations, such as land confiscation, resource plunder and racial discrimination, have been well documented over the 57 years of occupation of the Palestinian territories and 17 years of blockade of Gaza.

On July 19, 2024, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion on “Legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem and Gaza”, explicitly declaring Israel’s occupation illegal. and called for its immediate end. , The ICJ underlined that the responsibility not to support this illegal practice rests not only on third party states, but also on all institutions upholding international law, including universities.

The scientific community has often mobilized in the past to defend human rights and international law. In an open letter published in the New York Times in December 1948, signed by Hannah Arendt and Albert Einstein, the authors condemned the visit of Menahem Begin, leader of the Tnuut HaAerut party, the predecessor of Likud (the party of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Britten). Netanyahu), in these words: “One of the most troubling political events of our time is the rise of the “Freedom Party” in the newly created State of Israel (Tnuat HaHareut), a political party distinguished by its organization, methods, political philosophy and Close in social appeal to Nazi and fascist parties. It was formed from the membership and following of the former Irgun Zwei Leumi, a militant, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine…. It is in its actions that the terrorist group reveals its true character; a shocking example of what it can expect to do in the future is their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. Far from the main roads and surrounded by Jewish lands, the village took no part in the war, and even fought Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On April 9, terrorist groups attacked this peaceful village. The attack, which had no military objective in the battle, killed most of its inhabitants – 240 men, women and children – and kept some of them alive to be paraded through the streets as captives. Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified by this act, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. But instead of being ashamed of their actions, the terrorists were proud of the massacre, publicized it widely, and invited all foreign correspondents present in the country to see the mass of corpses and general destruction in Deir Yassin.

For over a year now, the Israeli government and its military forces have been committing crimes equivalent to the Deir Yassin massacre in Gaza every day, while the scientific community remains largely silent. Yet, as the open letter above shows, this community has already strongly opposed attacks on civilians, whether during the Algerian and Vietnam wars or, more recently, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Scientists, especially mathematicians, cannot remain indifferent to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, especially when Western powers appear to be supporting this crime against humanity politically, diplomatically and militarily.

enough is enough. We urge our colleagues to cease all scientific cooperation with Israeli institutions that do not unequivocally condemn the genocide in Gaza and the illegal colonization of Palestine. We also encourage them to pressure their own institutions to conclude agreements with these partners under the same terms and conditions in accordance with international law. This position clearly does not include individual cooperation with Israeli allies, 3,400 of whom have boldly signed the call to the international community, which we wish to support, “to achieve an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Israel.” “Immediately intervene by imposing any possible sanctions against.” “For the future of our neighbours, Israel/Palestine and the people living in the region, and to guarantee their right to security and life.” Finally, we demand that our institutions scrupulously respect academic freedom and firmly uphold freedom of expression in accordance with the law.

Signers (the petition closed on December 4, 2024 with 1078 signers):

Ahmed Abbas, Director de Recherche or CNRS, France

Sammy Abbs, Maître de Conference, University Paris City, France

Maha Aboud, Professor, Cy Sergie Paris University, France

Nahla Abdellatif, Professor, École Nationale d’Ingénieur de Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

Amin Abdelaziz, Docteur de l’Université Grenoble Alpes, France

Chaima Abid, PhD in Applied Mathematics/LAMSIN, Tunisia

Hammadi Abedi, Professor, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

Mohammed Abli, Maître de Conference, Université de Lille, France

Abdelhak Aboukateb, Professor, Kadi Ayyad University, Morocco

Tiago Miguel Abreu, PhD student at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil

Khader Faiz Abu-Helayel, Professor at the Universidad de Jaén, Spain

Vincent Acheri, Director de Recherche à l’INRIA, France

Céline Acri-Robert, Ingenieur de Recherche, UGA, France

Faisel Achoud, PhD student, University Hassan I, Morocco

Boris Adamczewski, Research Director at CNRS, France

Luigi Addario-Berry, Professor, Canada Research Chair, McGill University, Canada

Karim Adiprasito, Director de Recherche or CNRS, IMJ-PRG, France

Dan Aguero Serna, Postdoc, SISSA, Italy

Marie-Therese Aimar, Maître de Conferences Emeritus Aix-Marseille University, France

Sabah Al Fakir, Professor of Antiquities, Université Scientifique de Lille, France

Safa Al-Ali, Postdoctoral Researcher, Center INRIA de l’Université Côte d’Azur, France

Dario Alatorre, Outreach Technician, Institute of Mathematics, UNAM, Mexico

Baklouti Ali, Professor, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Tunisia

Roberto Alicandro, Professor, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Mohamed Aliouane, PhD student, SISSA, Italy

Nasreen Altafi, Postdoc at Queen’s University, Canada

Tuna Altinel, Maître de Conference, University Lyon 1, France

María de la Paz Álvarez-Scherrer, Retired, Facultad de Ciências, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Saber Amdouni, Associate Professor, École Nationale d’Ingénieur de Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

Sylviana Amethyst, Research Engineer, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany

Omid Amini, CNRS – École Polytechnique, France

Claire Amiot, Professor, University Grenoble Alpes, France

Farid Ammar Khodja, Maître de Conference, Université de Franche-Comté, France

Cherif Amrouche, Professor Emerite Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, France

Abdelhamid Amroun, MCF University Paris-Saclay, France

UK Anandvardhan, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Yves André, Director de Researches CNRS, France

Angel Angel, Professor Universidad Polítecnica de Madrid, Spain

Daniele Angela, Professor, Departimento di Matematica e Informatica “Ulisse Dini”, Universitat di Firenze, Italy

Pablo Angulo, Professor PCD en Accademia – Universidad Polítecnica de Madrid, Spain

Jean-Philippe Ancher, Professor Emerite, Université d’Orléans, France

Colette Anne, Mathematicienne Retreat (CNRS), France

A full list of all signatories can be found here.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.