「学問の自由を求めるカリフォルニアの学者たち」とは？
…「9.11」以後の学問の自由に対する侵害に対して発言・行動してきた、
カリフォルニアの研究機関に勤務するアラブ、ムスリムなどの研究者たち100人ほどによる組織。
イスラエルのガザ攻撃が、イスラーム系の大学や教育施設を目標としていることを非難し、
イスラエルの戦争犯罪と人権侵害、大量爆撃で数百の人々が死んだことを非難している。
具体的には、12月27日に、ミサイル攻撃によって、ガザ訓練学校の生徒たちが攻撃され
8人が死に、19人が負傷したこと、29日に、イスラム大学が爆撃され、科学資料室や図書館が破壊されたことなどをあげています。
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Statement, California Scholars for Academic Freedom, 4 January 2009
California Scholars for Academic Freedom, a group of 100 scholars at 20
California institutions of higher learning, condemns in the strongest
possible terms the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip that have targeted
the Islamic University and other educational sites.
While we decry Israeli war crimes and violations of human rights, and
condemn the massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza which has caused
hundreds of deaths, as educators in California institutions of higher
learning, we are especially appalled at the destruction of educational
institutions and student casualties.
On 27 December, Human Rights Watch reported that an Israeli
air-to-ground missile struck a group of students leaving the Gaza
Training College, adjacent to the headquarters of the UN Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) in downtown Gaza City, killing eight students and
wounding 19 others. Two days later, on 29 December 2008, Israel bombed
the Islamic University of Gaza, destroying the science laboratory block
and destroying or damaging other blocks of buildings, including the
library. Although Israel has claimed that the science laboratory
facilities were used as "a research and development center for Hamas
weapons," this claim has been denied by officials of the Islamic
University, and according to the New York Times of 1 January 2009 Israel
has not produced any evidence for its claim.
These direct assaults on Palestinian students and educational
institutions are only the latest chapter in Israel's ongoing denial of
the right to education guaranteed in international conventions. Since
the first uprising in 1987, Israel has systematically frustrated or
denied Palestinian students their right to study, not just in the
occupied territories, but at universities abroad, as most recently
demonstrated by the Israeli government's refusal to allow students
awarded prestigious Fulbright fellowships to leave for the United
States. University students living in Gaza have not been able to leave
in order to attend universities throughout the world, let alone Birzeit
University, and students in the West Bank itself have to negotiate
roadblocks and checkpoints to get to their classes -- often never making
it.
The background to the current crisis is too complicated to detail in a
press release. It is, however, important to note, first, that under
international law, Israel is still an occupying power, maintaining
control of Gaza's borders, air and water space. It has completely
isolated Gaza and wrought a humanitarian catastrophe, as noted by UN
Special Rapporteur Richard Falk. Second, the current bombing campaign by
Israel constitutes collective punishment, which is a violation of
international law. Third, Hamas won the majority of seats to the
Palestinian Legislative Council in the internationally acknowledged fair
election of January 2006.
As California Scholars for Academic Freedom, we will continue to play
our mandated role to educate the international public about the right to
education and the egregious violation of that right by the Israeli
government. We will participate in campaigns aimed at exerting pressure
on international authorities and the governments of Israel and the US to
implement an immediate cease-fire and begin preparations for an end to
the blockade and the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
We insist that Israel has the responsibility to ensure the right to
education as mandated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, which Israel ratified in 1991. The undermining and
disruption of Palestinian education as a result of the deliberate
destruction of academic facilities constitutes a violation of a basic
human right that will have long-term negative political, economic, and
humanitarian ramifications for all people involved.
California Scholars for Academic Freedom is a one-year-old group of 100
academics who teach in 20 California institutions. The group formed as a
response to various violations of academic freedom that were arising
from both the post-11 September 2001 climate of civil rights violations
and the increasing attacks on progressive educators by
neo-conservatives. Many attacks were aimed at scholars of Arab, Muslim
or Middle Eastern descent or at scholars researching and teaching about
the Middle East, Arab and Muslim communities. Our goal of protecting
California Scholars based mainly in institutions of higher education has
grown broader in scope. We recognize that violations of academic freedom
anywhere are threats to academic freedom everywhere.