The Academics for Peace, who massively faced threats, investigations, and expulsion from their universities after signing a peace declaration/petition in 2016 have made a new statement in response to the ongoing war in Gaza by Israel.
The 2016 petition by the academicians which resulted in a harsh wave of pressure on the academics who signed it was calling for a return to the peace process that was terminated in Turkey that year.
In a written statement released today, 190 academics called on the international community, politicians, and the media to take a stand against Israel's massacres and urged Turkey to cut its military, commercial, and diplomatic ties with Israel until the occupation ends and peace is established.
The text signed by 190 academics called "Tell Israel to stop" reads as follows:
“Israel which occupies the Palestine lands illegally since 56 years and keeps Gaza under seige illegally since 2006 as the Secretary General of the United States also indicates, is committing another crime against humanity against the Palestine people in front of the whole world.
The "Palestinian Resistance Groups Joint Operations Room," which is known as Hamas but which apparently includes various Palestinian organizations of different ideologies has passed into Israel from the Gaza border on October 7,2023 and killed more than 1400 people in air and ground attacks, most of whom were civilians. In response the Israeli government used this attack as a pretext to carry out one of the most severe state-sponsored acts of terrorism against the Palestinian people. This included the destruction of two hospitals, the bombing of ambulance convoys, and a declaration by the Israeli state that it would not abide by any rules of war. As of November 6, the estimated number of casualties in Gaza has exceeded 10,000, with thousands of them being children and women.
Israel uses the last attacks by Hamas as a pretext for the last massacres it has carried out; but we know that the Palestine people have been subjected to intense pressure and violence from the Israel security forces also at times when Hamas was not present. The Israeli government which is named as an Apartheid regime by many Jewish diaspora initiatives and also political and civil initiatives constituted by the Israeli citizens themselves as well, is implying targeting to wipe away from the earth the Gaza people, estimated to be around 2,2 million. The ground operation started by Israel amounts to etnic cleansing and even a genocide.
We witness that many Israeli academics, journalists, and thinkers who currently oppose this dreadful extermination attempt have been targeted by their own government, subjected to a severe witch hunt, and questioned the official state narrative due to their dissent. We heard the voices of these courageous individuals when they opposed their government's unjust war and massacres during the 2014 Gaza bombardment. It is heartening to see that the number of those joining this chorus has significantly increased following the recent Gaza massacres by Israel.
"As Turkish Peace Academics, we are acutely aware of the methods that states, particularly in extraordinary situations like war, can employ to silence and intimidate dissenting voices. Therefore, we stand in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues and with our colleagues in Israel who can raise voices contrary to the official view.
"We, the Turkish Peace Academics whose signatures appear below, call on the international community, politicians, and the media to take a stand against Israel's massacres. We also call on the Republic of Turkey to cut its military, commercial, and diplomatic ties with Israel until the occupation ends and peace is established. The construction of lasting peace, as in all conflicts worldwide, can only be achieved through a peace process in which the oppressed people have an equal place at the table."
190 academics
Signatories:
Adalet B. Alada, Adnan Şahin, Ahmet Çinici, Ahmet Bülent Özer, Akın Atauz, Ali Taşıran, Ali Yalçın Göymen, Aliye Kovanlıkaya, Alper Açık , Alper Kaliber, Aslı Davas, Aslı Odman, Aslı Takanay, Aslı Telli, Atakan Büke, Aydın Ördek, Aydoğan Kars, Ayfer Bartu Candan, Aynur Özuğurlu, Ayşe Durakbaşa, Ayşe Erzan , Ayşe Gözen, Ayşe Serdar, Banu Can, Barış Ünlü, Barış Yapışkan, Bediz Yılmaz, Beyza Üstün, Biray Kolluoğlu, Bülent Küçük , Can Candan, Can Şeker, Caner Doğan, Caner Ercan, Cem Oyvat, Cem Özatalay , Cemil Yıldızcan, Ceren Özselçuk, Ceren Şengül, Cesim Çelik, Cumhur İzgi, Cüneyt Başbuğu, Çare Olgun Çalışkan, Demet Bolat, Derya Keskin, E. Ahmet Tonak, Ebru Işıklı, Eda Aslı Şeran, Efe Arık, Elif Sandal Önal, Emrah Günok, Emre Çetin Gürer, Ercan Şen, Erdal Gilgil, Erdem Üngür, Ergün Özgür, Erhan Yalçındağ, Erol Köroğlu, Esmeray Yoğun, Esra Dabağcı, Esra Ergüzeloğlu , Esra Mungan , Fatma Gök, Fatma Ünsal, Ferda Fahrioğlu-Akın, Feryal Saygılıgil, Fikret Uyar, Fuat Özdinç, Funda Karapehlivan, Gençay Gürsoy , Görkem Akgöz, Gözde Aytemur, Gülcan Ergün, Gülsün Güvenli, Gürel Tüzün, Hacer Ansal, Hacı Çevik, Hakan Altun, Hakan Koçak, Halis Ulaş, Hazel Başköy, Hilal Alkan, Hülya Dinçer, Hülya Doğan, İ. Kuban Altınel, İbrahim Yaman, İlkay Özküralpli, İlker Cörüt, İrfan Eroğlu, Kaan Ağartan, Koray Sakarya, Kumru Toktamış, Kuvvet Lordoğlu , Latife Akyüz, Leyla Şimşek-Rathke, Lülüfer Körükmez, Lütfiye Bozdağ, Mehmet Onur Yılmaz, Melek Zorlu, Melih Kırlıdoğ, Meral Camcı, Meral Demirel, Meryem Koray, Mesut Coşkun, Murat Büyükyılmaz, Murat Gülsoy, Murat Koyuncu, Murat Özbank, Mustafa Altıntop, Mustafa Çapar, Mustafa Kemal Coşkun, Mustafa Kerem Yüksel, Mustafa Oğuz Sinemillioğlu, Mustafa Şener, Muzaffer Kaya, Nagehan Tokdoğan, Nazan Üstündağ, Nazım Dikbaş, Nazlı Bülay Doğan, Nergis Perçinel, Neşe Özgen , Neşe Şen, Nil Mutluer, Nilay Etiler, Nilgün Toker, Nur Bekata Mardin, Nur Betül Çelik, Nurçin İleri, Nuri Ersoy, Nüket Esen, Nükhet Sirman, Olcay Akyıldız, Olcay Kunal, Olga Selin Hünler, Onur Hamzaoğlu, Orhan Kaya, Osman İşçi, Öget Öktem Tanör, Ömer Faruk Yekdeş, Özge Ertem, Özgür Çiçek, Özgür Müftüoğlu, Özgür Orhangazi, Özlem Özkan, Öznur Yaşar Diner, Pınar Şenoğuz, Ramazan Kurt, Rana Gürbüz, Rıfat Okçabol, Saadet Sorgunlu, Seçil Doğuç, Seçkin Özsoy, Selda Altınok, Selime Güzelsarı, Serdar Başçetin, Serdar Tekin, Sevil Çakır, Seyhan Çamlıgüney, Sezai Ozan Zeybek, Sibel Irzık, Sibel Özbudun, Sibel Perçinel, Suzan Yazıcı, Şahan Yatarkalkmaz, Şebnem Oğuz, Şükrü Boylu, Tahsin Yeşildere, Tamer Demiralp, Tijen Tunalı , Tuba Akıncılar, Tuna Altınel, Turan Keskin, Ülkü Güney, Ümit Biçer, Veli Deniz, Volkan Çidam, Yasemin Özgün, Yaşar Akdağ, Yücel Demirer , Z. Gizem Sayın, Z. Tül Akbal Süalp, Zafer Yenal, Zerrin Kurtoğlu Şahin, Zeynep Gambetti, Zeynep Kadirbeyoğlu, Zeynep Kıvılcım, Zeynep Uysal, Zeynep Yürekli, Zişan Kürüm.
(AS/PE)
