Rufo exposes elite academics who signed pro-Hamas letter
The letter attempts to justify the actions of Hamas and calls for boycotts of Best American Poetry and other 'Zionist' literary institutions.
Several high-profile academics from institutions including Harvard University and the University of Chicago signed the letter.
Conservative academic Christopher F. Rufo recently exposed several “prominent” academics who signed a pro-Hamas letter.
NEW: A group of prominent academics have signed a letter justifying violent struggle against Israel, including: Adhy Kim (Harvard), RH Lossin (Harvard), Eman Abdelhadi (UChicago), Sophie Lewis (Penn), Marty Cain (Cornell), Maz Do (Cornell), Addie Tsai (William & Mary), Aaron… pic.twitter.com/OFdzxrdbNu
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 19, 2023
In the post, Rufo, a professor at Hillsdale College, specifically identified Adhy Kim and RH Lossin from Harvard University, Eman Abdelhadi from the University of Chicago, Sophie Lewis from the University of Pennsylvania, Marty Cain and Maz Do from Cornell University, Addie Tsai from the College of William & Mary, Aaron Aceves from the University of Texas, and Joshua Nguyen from Tufts University as having signed the letter, which was titled “WRITERS IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE.”
Rufo linked to an archived copy of the letter in his post. “We are writers who unequivocally stand with Palestine and its fight for liberation against the illegal occupation of ‘Israel’ and the violent settler colonial apartheid state,” the letter began.
[RELATED: PROF ELLWANGER: Donors school UPenn in responding to Hamas]
“We strongly condemn the response of western media and political actors at all levels of government in their dissemination of misinformation and propaganda, intended to manufacture consent for the genocide of Palestinian people,” the first paragraph of the letter continued.
The letter criticized the language used by the media when speaking about Hamas’ attack on Israel. “We come from the lineage of Audre Lorde’s language acts— ‘for those of us who write, it is necessary to scrutinize not only the truth of what we speak, but the truth of that language by which we speak it,’” the letter went on to say.
The letter gave several examples of the purported failures of language when discussing an attack, stating that “[a]ny form of Palestinian resistance is in no way equivalent to the daily violence of ‘Israeli’ settlers, the IOF, and the entire ‘Israeli’ state apparatus” and “[t]he resistance is an ongoing response to a long history of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
The letter also proposed a call to action, with demands including “[t]o stand in firm, vocal, and unwavering solidarity with Palestinian resistance,” to boycott “Zionist literary institutions” including “Best American Poetry, the 92NY Discovery Prize, PEN America, the Frankfurt Book Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar,” as well as “all other literary institutions who profess Zionist affiliations.”
As of today, the letter is reported to have “1700+ signatures and counting.” The signatures of the letter fill over 40 pages.
Campus Reform has reached out to Rufo and the colleges and universities mentioned for comment and will update the story accordingly.
