As of the time of writing, Israel’s ongoing military offensive has killed over ten thousand Palestinians. The Israeli regime has cut off essential resources—water, electricity, and fuel—from the survivors, and has forced more than a hundred thousand residents of northern Gaza to flee to the southern Gaza Strip. Legal scholar Noura Erakat has called the unceasing assault an “ongoing Nakba,” a reference to the 1948 displacement of 700,000 Palestinians. President Netanyahu has continually refused to accept a ceasefire, despite calls from the head of the World Health Organization, 18 United Nations leaders, and millions of protestors worldwide.
On November 8, Brown University administrators moved to arrest 20 Jewish students who organized a sit-in at University Hall. These students called for the Brown Corporation to divest from “Israel and the military-industrial complex” and for the administration to publicly support a ceasefire in Gaza. Shortly after a group of Brown University alumni circulated a letter calling on the administration to “condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” to “protect students, faculty, and staff from retribution” for organizing in favor of divestment, and to “rectify the excessive use of force against protesters.”
Knowing that this newsletter reaches many Indy alums, we, the current undergraduates at the College Hill Independent, call on our alumni to sign that letter here.
In addition, we’d like to draw attention to three pieces from our archive to highlight Brown’s persistent disregard for the will of its students and its ongoing complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime.
From the Archive
“Why Won’t Brown Talk About Divestment?”
In 2019, Brown students held a referendum calling on the corporation to “withdraw all of its monetary instruments” in companies “complicit in human rights abuses” in Palestine. The vote passed with an overwhelming majority. In 2021, Brown Students for Justice in Palestine condemned the administration for not committing to divestment, despite this staggering referendum. At the corporation meeting members evaded answering student questions, instead opting for diversions like “[divestment is an] issue before the Corporation.”
“The university likes to masquerade as a liberal institution open to student activism, yet its highest body simultaneously ignores and further marginalizes student voices.” Read more here.
“Holding Ground”
On December 12, 2016, the Israeli military ordered the demolition of Palestinian family homes in the village of Susiya, in the southern West Bank. The West Bank is split into what Israel designates Areas A, B, and C. Villages in Area C like Susiya require the Israeli government’s approval to build new structures. Since 1983, the Israeli government, in collaboration with individual settlers, has slowly encroached upon Palestinian homes and local resources, incrementally displacing dozens of families.
“Fifteen years ago, the army attempted to prevent the villagers from using the water well, in an attempt to force them off the land. An army bulldozer lifted pieces of a rusting car into the wells, permanently poisoning the water source.” Read more here.
“Letter in Solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation Struggle”
In 2021, the Palestine Solidarity Caucus (PSC) condemned the Israeli regime for, among other things, “[displacing] 28 Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah” and “[withholding] COVID-19 vaccines from Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.” They encourage Brown students to get vocal about justice for Palestine.
“As members of the Brown community, we work, live, and study at an institution built on stolen Narragansett land and built by stolen labor. The ongoing legacy of slavery, settler colonialism, and the academic and non-academic entanglements of empire recommit us to our duty to rise up against settler colonialism, apartheid, racism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, anti-semitism, and state violence everywhere around the world, and our struggle is incomplete without the fight for Palestinian liberation.” Read more here. In Arts this week, JK ‘24 visits artist Andrea Emmerich in her studio to talk about labor, craft, recognition in the artworld, and building a sustainable, pleasurable artistic practice. Read the interview here.
Read more of our recent coverage about justice for Palestine below:
“Homeland” — by Waleed Mustafa
“Weathered Identity” & “Reflection” — by Waleed Mustafa
“‘Return of the Repressed’” — by AA
“Testimonies for Palestine” — by anonymous contributors
“Statement from Brown Students for Justice in Palestine” — by Brown Students for Justice in Palestine
Thanks for reading. If given the chance, please share with fellow Brown University alumni.