This statement is initiated by South/South Movement, which is not formally affiliated with Central European University or any other institution whatsoever.
We, the undersigned students, academics, civil society organizers, activists, and allies, express unwavering solidarity towards the Free Palestine Collective (FPC) at the Central European University (CEU). FPC has been the target of malicious attacks mounted by individuals and institutions in Austria who are working to silence pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist voices, thereby undermining the cause of Palestinian liberation.
On 18 October, FPC issued a statement in the form of an open letter co-signed by individuals from different departments across CEU. The statement, which was the first pro-Palestinian statement issued by a student collective in Austria, denounced the ongoing genocide in Gaza and petitioned the university administration to issue a statement in support of the Palestinian cause. It was circulated by CEU’s Student Union (SU) on 30 October with the aim of fostering “respectful dialogue” and “inclusivity” on the University’s campus. Outside of the University, the statement was amplified by Der Funke and LeftEast, in hopes of bringing the issue to the attention of the Austrian media and political establishment.
The following afternoon, on 31 October, the Austrian Union of Jewish Students (JöH) released a statement in response to the SU email, in the form of an Instagram infographic. The post made several inflammatory and spurious claims, accusing FPC of antisemitism and the spreading of conspiracy theories (slide 1). JöH further accused the statement shared by the CEU SU of historical revisionism (slide 3), and consistently conflated anti-Zionism and antisemitism (slides 5, 7, 8).
In a subsequent post made on 1 November, the Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH) uncritically regurgitated JöH’s slanderous accusations and reproached the CEU SU of supporting Hamas and of being antisemitic in their emails. It did so through an Instagram post that presented FPC’s statement alongside reports of the recent antisemitic arson and vandalization of the Jewish section of the Vienna Central Cemetery, absurdly implying their connection. Moreover, their post also condemned the spray tags across University of Vienna (UNIVIE) campuses calling for a free Palestine and ending apartheid and settler-colonialism, branding these minor acts of civil disobedience as antisemitic and anti-Zionist smears. Der Spiegel, one of Germany’s leading news outlets, echoed ÖH’s malicious approach by presenting FPC’s statement alongside the attacks on the Cemetery. And in a subsequent post made on 2 November, JöH again doubled down on their defamatory accusations through another Instagram infographic compiling antisemitism cases in Austria that blatantly shoves the FPC open letter, the spray tags as well as the peaceful Palestine solidarity protests alongside the reported antisemitic arson attack. We reiterate that FPC’s statement has absolutely nothing to do with antisemitic attacks on cemeteries or other Jewish establishments.
We vehemently reject any attempts to equate actions by student activists and student organizations opposing the israeli settler-colonial ethnostate with a bonafide case of antisemitism—another regime of oppression we firmly reject. The CEU SU, as a result of these incendiary and unacceptable allegations, issued an email on 1 November apologizing for circulating FPC’s statement. Subsequently, on 3 November, a teach-in series on Palestine co-organized by the Gender Studies Department in CEU and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Department in UNIVIE was unilaterally canceled by UNIVIE. UNIVIE has done so under the pretext that the planned series was one-sided and would promote racism, intolerance, and antisemitism, further perpetuating the absurd and bad-faith accusations in an effort to continue to silence Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices. Equating a teach-in about the history of Palestine and the roots and realities of their struggle for liberation with racism and antisemitism perpetuates a dangerous discourse that attempts to paint Palestinians as villains and as such deserving of the current and previous political, military, and economic violence perpetrated against them over the last 75 years. It also is a dangerous undermining of academic freedom, by creating a narrative that those who are against the actions of state institutions and military and political regimes are not allowed a space to discuss in an academic forum their critiques.
We quote from a letter published on 2 November by a group of Jewish artists, writers, and activists: “Israel and its defenders have long used this rhetorical tactic to shield Israel from accountability, dignify the US’s multibillion-dollar investment in Israel’s military, obscure the deadly reality of occupation, and deny Palestinian sovereignty. Now, this insidious gagging of free speech is being used to justify Israel’s ongoing military bombardment of Gaza and to silence criticism from the international community.”
We unconditionally condemn the abuse of antisemitism discourse, of calling any and all critique of israel antisemitic, to intimidate and silence pro-Palestinian voices. Such discourse does a grave disservice to the history of the anti-colonial struggles of the Palestinian peoples and obfuscates the past and present of antisemitism in Europe and elsewhere. It falsely equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism with the aim of stifling critique of israel, whose existence the North relies on to reconcile its guilt for centuries of injustice and oppression.
We moreover strongly object to the McCarthyist tactics deployed by the supposedly leftwing ÖH and their allied groups to divide and threaten collectives like FPC. Such tactics undoubtedly have a chilling effect on critical voices who should rather be given a safe and open space to express their dissent. We further denounce their negligent inaction over the past weeks as Palestinian and pro-Palestinian solidarity groups have become targets of Austria’s increasingly racist and xenophobic civil society and media landscape.
Like their German counterparts, the hypocritical indifference coming from the Austrian left in this regard is a gross betrayal of their every commitment to international solidarity and both anti-racist and anti-fascist struggles. With such passivity, they risk becoming complicit in the israeli war crimes and genocidal aggression committed against one of the world’s most marginalized populations. With every passing day, they continue to isolate themselves from the global progressive solidarity movement that is committed to the liberation of the Palestinian people—not least supported by thousands of Jewish people and many organizations like the Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost and the Jewish Voice for Peace who similarly and adamantly denounce the israeli settler-colonial project and its genocidal manifestations.
There is no denying that antisemitism continues to be a stark reality in Austrian and western society, and there needs to be a strong and compelling front to unquestionably oppose this. At the same time, this should never be at the expense of sustaining this deafening silence and refusal to proactively amplify genuine voices against other forms of repressions and injustices. The struggles against these can only prosper with a total and unified solidarity with the Palestinian people’s fight for their basic dignity and freedom. Progressive movements and institutions especially in the German-speaking world are falling way behind in this regard, and they are poised to further pave their own path towards long-lasting marginalization as long as they continue to ignore the undeniable reality of the ongoing atrocities and dismiss those speaking up against such transgressions. Those involved in anti-colonial struggles have the right to “offend, shock, and disturb” settler-colonial regimes and their allies through their critique. Attempts by pro-Zionist organizations to introduce a regime of self-censorship amount to nothing short of a violation of fundamental rights.
As activists and academics committed to questioning dominant knowledge regimes, we take offense at the attempt to read and pigeonhole the critique of collectives like FPC through familiar eurocentric frames of reference. As persons from the global souths, we undoubtedly inhabit different positionalities entangled in different geopolitical struggles. However, we unapologetically refuse to share those that prop up eurocentric views of world politics and asphyxiate other ways of being-knowing-living. An attempt to imply that we are somehow knowingly or unknowingly antisemitic in our anti-colonial critique of israel, therefore, amounts to a form of double epistemic violence insofar as our critiques, much like our knowledges from and for the global souths, are flattened and not taken seriously in the North.
Last but not least, we oppose the further neoliberalization and depoliticization of the university, and insist that the university’s role is to provide spaces for students and faculty to openly and safely contest and call out oppression, colonization, and violence. Instead, students and faculty alike, especially those already marginalized and precarious, are facing an active silencing, as they push back against these deeply troubling tendencies in western academia, despite facing threats and economic reprisals in the process. We stand with fellow travelers engaged in such struggles in UNIVIE, CEU, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and elsewhere.
This active silencing should cause us to pause if we were genuinely committed to the values of academic freedom and critical thinking.
Unfazed, we stand in full and fierce solidarity with the anticolonial liberation struggles of Palestinians and of all peoples resisting colonialisms and colonialities everywhere.
Please consider signing this statement:
Note: Signatures are updated periodically.
Signatories:
- Taraf Abu Hamdan, South/South Movement
- Antonio Alcazar III, South/South Movement
- Carolina Bertazolli, South/South Movement
- Josh Makalintal, South/South Movement
- Rohit Sarma, South/South Movement
- Vijetha Ravi, Free Palestine Collective at CEU
- Bela Hümmelgen, Free Palestine Collective at CEU
- Laura Baker, Central European University
- Elisaveta Nikityuk
- Paolo Philips, CEU Nationalism Studies, Jewish Studies
- Anela Dumonjić, Student at the CSEES, KFU Graz
- Luca Szöllősi, Central European University
- Donny Marie Kish, Free Palestine Collective at CEU
- Frida Stenbäck, MA student of Social Design, University of Applied Arts Vienna
- Ramez Hayek, Irish Center for Human Rights
- Malavika Prasanna
- Oishi Sengupta, South/South Movement
- Siddarth Sridhar
- Pia Schuh, TU Vienna
- Ezra Schatzler, Student
- Jana Weissteiner, Student
- Adam Lee Smith, South/South Movement
- Omid Khoshbakht
- Annapurna Menon, University of Sheffield
- Apolonia Bokszycka, Student of Design Investigations at Universitat fur Angewandte Kunst Vienna
- Frida Robles, University of Applied Arts Vienna
- Andrea Chiurato, MA student, Central European University
- George Nicolas
- Alexandre DA TRINDADE E OLIVEIRA, University of Cambridge
- Ivana Mihaela Žimbrek, Central European University
- Nour Shantout, Phd candidate, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien
- Sruthisagar Yamunan
- Naiara Unzurrunzaga
- Kyungrim Lim Jang
- Uthara Geetha
- Junaid Ali, TU Wien
- Helin Çelik, Filmmaker
- Anushri Rastogi
- Cecilia Cienfuegos, PhD student, Carlos III University of Madrid
- Julie Chauvin
- Deepthi Gopinathan
- Shehreen Ataur Khan, South/South Movement
- Ena Šehić, Bh. Pride March Organizational Committee member
- Ulises Garcia Figueroa, Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Bayan Haddad, Birzeit University
- Prem Kumar Rajaram, Central European University
- Janie Grafinger, Universität Wien
- Ana Abril, Department of Gender Studies, CEU
- Suren Omar Mushir, University of Barcelona
- Sunna Kokkonen, Central European University
- Aishwarya V.
- Elsa Bauer
- Gowri Niranjana, CEU
- Jakub Gawkowski, Central European University
- Diana Yehorova, University of Copenhagen
- Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores, Texas Tech University
- Julia Boechat Machado, PhD Candidate, Central European University (CEU)
- Sarah Osmen
- Sherin Idais, Youth Against Settlements Hebron
- Maria Zaslavsky , CEU MA Gender Studies ’23, JBW*, Independent Jewish Voices Canada
- Martino Comelli, CEU
- Salsabil Salem, University of Vienna
- Arev Papazian, Central European University
- Emilija Maciunskaite, CEU
- Huiming Cai, CEU Alumni
- Seerat Fatima, University of Manchester
- Nadhirah H
- Anna Orinsky, European University Institute – PhD student
- Rigmor HvAV, University of Oslo/UiO
- AJ Kurdi, UC Berkeley
- Cody James Inglis, Central European University
- Amina Dessouki, Central European University
- Nadia Raza
- Marie Laur, Central European University
- Nadja Genschel-Kaylor, CEU
- Hager El-Sayed, Universität Wien
- Zosia Hołubowska
- Viola Bulker, Austria
- Wen-Yu Wu, University of Plymouth
- Elettra Repetto, CEU alumna
- Fiammetta Bonfigli, Univie
- Una Blagojevic, Central European University
- Fathima Zahra H, Delhi University
- Ivan Nikolovski, Central European University
- Flavia Julius, Macquarie University
- Alaa Alssadi
- Khaoula Bengezi, South/South and SWANA Collective
- Jennifer Edwards, CEU alumni, MA critical gender studies ‘20
- Monica Lafaire, Central European University
- Britton Perry, Central European University
- Barbora Horská
- Criostóir King, Maynooth University
- Nada Abdel, Student
- Renny Hahamovitch, University of Michigan (alum of CEU)
- Srishagon Abraham, Católica Global School of Law, Universidade Católica Portuguesa
- Aleks Matuska, University of Łódź graduate
- Reka Marton
- Lilit Hakobyan, Central European University Alumni
- Stefan Kamola, Austrian Academy of Sciences
- Ikshaku Bezbaroa, CEU
- Edina Zelenyánszky, Central European University
- Dr Anissa Haddadi, South/South Movement
- Ruadhán James Flynn, University of Vienna
- canan coskan, Independent researcher
- Mikel oleaga, University of Vienna, PhD
- Marlene, Universität Wien
- Aaron Reinelt
- Anaïs Duong-Pedica, Åbo Akademi University
- Sladjana Lazic, University of Innsbruck
- Erdost Akin, Ceu alumn
- Mostafa Elkadi, PhD researcher at Central European University
- Gabriel Bittencourt Bodenmuller de Oliveira, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUC-PR)
- Michelle Dworak
- Madeline Knowles, Student
- Afreen Jawaharlal, Nehru University
- Nadyaa Azerin, National Research University – Higher School of Economics
- Kristina Vasic, CEU
- Sanat Sogani, CEU
- Deborah Biging, CEU, DSPS
- Ana Ivasiuc, Maynooth University
- Emina Baralić, Faculty of medicine, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Nefertiti Bikin-kita
- Diana Bashur, University of Vienna
- Ebrar Keskin, University of Vienna
- Bilal Hisham, Free Palestine Collective at CEU
- Tathagata Bhattacharya
- Tomas Palpallatoc
- Ivanka Custodio, CEU
- Yuvraj Chaudhry, academic
- Nerea González, Central European University
- Rabbya Akbild
- Rose Heffernan, CEU
- Cristina C., University of Vienna
- Andrés Paz
- Jennifer Baumgartner
- Ipek Untuna, Central European University
- Bianca Zapp, University Vienna
- Eliška Kubicová, University of Vienna
- Udeepta Chakravarty , New School for Social Research
- Ines Bammert, human medicine student at Medizinische Universität Wien
- Naveen Isarapu, South/South Movement
- Kate Karklina, CEU
- Luqman Muraina, University of York, UK
- Elena Stavrevska, University of Bristol
- Teodora Miljojkovic, CEU
- Héctor Ortiz Elizondo, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México
- Mara
- Martina Daidone, MA Student
- Katharina Fornetran
- Hani Abou Fadel, Lund University
- Nelly Bassily
- Tiffeny Jimenez, National Louis University
- jazlyn O’Bonsawin, Wilfrid Laurier University
- Gaetano Marco Latronico, Centre for Social Studies University of Coimbra
- Anna Maria Rosińska
- Geoffrey Aung, University of Vienna
- Ana Ivasiuc, Maynooth University
- Ifeanyichukwu Charles Nweke, Institute of Security & Global Affairs, Leiden University
- Aritra Mukherjee, University of Delhi
- Danna Aduna, Macquarie University
- Maria Khristine Alvarez, University College London
- Sandeep Bakshi, Université Paris Cité
- Sonja Riegler, University of Vienna
- Khushbu Sharma, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Flavio Hoeck
- Fajar Al Hadi, CEU
- Dinara Satbayeva, Ceu alumni
- Awonke Baba, Dullar Omar Institute, South Africa
- Andi Shiraz, Independent Scholar / Poet
- Sarah Ahmad, UMass-Amherst
- Bahareh, Vienna University
- Vijay Kishor Tiwari, WBNUJS
- Annalee Sekulic
- Mathilde Gingembre, Independent academic