First thanks to those of you who have reached out. This is not an easy letter to compose. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to share with you my observations and to explain why silence in the face of evil is not an option. Yesterday was an up day for those of us who are dual American Israeli Citizens. It was an up day because we had the opportunity to view the coverage of a major demonstration showing support for Israel in Washington DC. An opportunity to hear the voices of Christians and Muslims join those of my Jewish brothers and sisters in articulating why Hamas must be destroyed and cease to be a threat to Israel and the Palestinian people.
After watching demonstration after demonstration voicing antisemitic diatribes with calls to kill Jews, of observing swastikas drawn on synagogues and Jewish institutions, and after reading of the unwillingness of significant segments of academia to condemn the October 7, 2023 massacre by Hamas, I feel both alone and under personal attack. The silence of many is not only personally hurtful it is symptomatic of a corruption of an Institution I love, and to which I have dedicated my life. While I was an active member of the Academy, I stood for one and only one principle; the achievement of excellence both in the classroom and in one's scholarship. There were no distinctions in my classroom. There were no Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Caucasians, African Americans, Asian Americans, Europeans, men, women, LBTGQs etc. There were just students, and my job was to help them to achieve excellence. To teach, by example, critical analysis and thinking skills so that they could go out and become productive, successful, compassionate and concerned citizens. Citizens who would accept that the world is diverse and that all people must be treated with respect and empathy.
There are many who see Israel as a Colonialist State. As a country founded by the destruction of an indigenous Palestinian nation who had a common interest and a long historical connection to the land of Israel. One can debate this contention. What is not in dispute is that after World War II the United Nations voted to partition the British Palestinian Mandate into a Jewish State and a Palestinian State. The Jewish Zionist Leadership accepted this vote whereas five Arab countries attacked, with the intent of wiping out, the fledgling Israel. After a brutal war with huge losses on both the Israeli and Arab sides an Armistice was accepted, however the areas not captured by the Jews were placed under the auspices of Transjordan and Egypt. By decision of the bordering Arab states no Palestinian State was founded, and the existence of Israel was not officially recognized.
After 75 years the Palestinians remain refugees held in this status by their own leaders and by UNRWA who educates Palestinian children to believe the Israelis are demons, and that the Palestinians ultimately will return to their villages. The Palestinian people were and are used as pawns by their Arab brothers in a continuing war against the Jews. In contrast to the 900,000 Jews who were expelled from Muslim countries in 1948 and who are now fully integrated into Israeli society, the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from Israel, remain stateless and under the oversight of a corrupt Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a terrorist organization. In its Covenant Hamas unequivocally states that its goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Many in the Academic community have argued that neither Hamas nor the PA really want to destroy Israel, “it is just rhetoric”. October 7, 2023 proves that Hamas intends to fulfill its mission. Not only did Hamas murder, rape, and kidnap infants, children woman and the elderly, they gleefully publicized their “success” to the world. Not to condemn this inhumane barbarous act is to be complicit. To remain silent or to call for a cease fire is to promote the savagery of the Hamas terrorists.
My view is that the current struggle pits civilization against those who accept no moral boundaries. In the future we will be judged by our response. Will you stay silent when women are raped because they were Jews? Will you close your eyes when human beings are beheaded? Will you just shrug when infants and young children are kidnapped from parents who were murdered before their own eyes? Will academia exhibit no moral standard? I hope the answer is NO!!!
Dr Naider is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the City University of New York. He lives in Rehovot and has two grandsons in the IDF.
Dr. Fred Naider
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Chemistry
College of Staten Island, CUNY
Graduate Center of CUNY