Open Letter by TAU International Students
Written on | Israel at War, Tel Aviv University
“What is happening in Israel right now is a threat to all humans everywhere, and therefore all should unite against it.”
We are a group of international students at Tel Aviv University coming from all corners of the globe. We have different backgrounds, a spectrum of study interests, diverse political views, races, and religions. However, we have united to share the truth about what we are seeing and experiencing here in Israel. On the 7th of October, 2023, we were woken up not by the rays of a beautiful morning sun but by the sound of the sirens. We were shocked and unprepared, and especially unprepared for what the day was about to bring. With every passing hour, it became more and more clear that we woke up to war, to a new reality where Israel was attacked by the terrorist group Hamas. It is hard to believe how many horrific things happened during the past week. From the Tel-Aviv area, we began to hear news from the south of the country about the terrorists massacring young people in a peace festival, about killing, raping, and kidnapping innocent people, about massive bombings leading to the complete destruction of various villages and the death of hundreds of citizens. Not to mention the barbaric acts of beheading kids or recording the torturing of hostages. We believe that the world needs to see and recognize that these are nothing other than acts of terrorism. We are writing these words on a day when Israeli soldiers are still sacrificing their lives to defend their brothers and sisters, innocent people are kept hostage, and we grow anxious every time we hear the siren. In the meantime, we hear sounds even more concerning than those coming from the battle, voices of people who justify the attacks, support the terror, and remain blind to the fact that this is more than just “a regular conflict in the Middle East.” Hearing that, we decided that we can not remain silent. We decided to use our knowledge and international perspective to raise the awareness of societies worldwide. This time, it is not about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What is happening in Israel right now is a threat to all humans everywhere, and therefore all should unite against it. We stand with humanity. We believe this is not a war of Israelis against Palestinians or Jews against Arabs. This is a war of humanity against terrorism, of good versus evil. Signed,Ina Memaj, Albania | Suzana Abuleac Steinberg, Brazil | Zhiyi Cui, China |
Demian Aisicovich, Argentina | Avery Deveto, Canada | Santiago Sarmiento, Colombia |
Maia Bornsztein, Argentina | Ben Bright, Canada | Alisa Gumerova, Czech Republic |
Pablo Rodriguez Osztreicher, Argentina | Melissa Greenspan, Canada | Tereza Becková, Czech Republic |
Loren Kertsman, Austria | Rebekah Petchatnikov, Canada | Alexandra Ruf, Ecuador |
Elvin Khasiyev, Azerbaijan | Ximena Silberman, Chile | Ambre Demeure, France |
Rafael Nabizade, Azerbaijan | Ping’an Li, China | Anaïs Herbillon, France |
Carole Hitter, Belgium, Israel | Wei Zeng, China | David Nataf, France |
Giovanna Melo, Brazil | Zhi Li, China | Nina Wexler, France |
Denise Chisom Jaeschke, Germany | Gina Krymalowski, Germany | Janina Rebhan, Germany |
Freya Prein, Germany | Janka Hoefer, Germany | Maria Heusch, Germany |
Marian Blok, Germany | Philipp Hofmann, Germany | Stefanie Schulz, Germany, United States |
Evangelia Akritidou, Greece | Michail Kitsos, Greece, United States | Annamária Balogh, Hungary |
Edvin Gobanyi, Hungary | Alon Shepon, Israel | Elie Francois, Israel |
Erica Katzin, Israel | Olga Mondrus, Israel | Rodney John, Israel |
Anamika Kumari, India | Anway Pradhan, India | Chaitanya Patel, India |
Deepan Chowdhury, India | Dhiraj Udapure, India | Lakshminarasaiah Uppalapati, India |
Mahekdeep Kaur, India | Meera Cheviri, India | Mrinal Kashyap, India |
Poulami Chakraborty, India | Prakash Varkey Cherian, India | Pritee Subhadarshini, India |
Pushpendra Mani, India | Sagnik Biswas, India | Shiven Nath, India |
Sreyashi Bhowmick, India | Iori Saze, Japan | Daniel Ganda, Kenya |
Emmanuel Opondo, Kenya | Purity Mumbi Muchoki, Kenya | Alex Mulbah, Liberia |
Ieva Vebraite Adereth, Lithuania | Maria Ellul, Malta | Andrea Garza Díaz Barriga, Mexico |
Mijal Bercovich, Mexico | Paola Perez Gallardo Garibay, Mexico | Markus McCraith, New Zealand |
Veronica Igube, Nigeria | Zofia Sznajder, Poland | Catia Carvalho, Portugal |
Reis, Portugal | Razvan Mocanu | Anastasia Mikunis, Russia |
Evgenia Kurmashova, Russia | Evgeniy Rodnyanskiy, Russia, Israel | Denis Dmitriev, Russia |
Dmitrii Sukhanov, Russia | Dolgor Baldorzhieva, Russia | Taisiya Ilizarova, Russia |
Eugene L., Singapore | Adam Angel, South Africa | Tyla Shur, South Africa |
Minji Jin, South Korea | Pin Ying Huang, Taiwan | Alexander Viches, Ukraine |
Mykhailo Rozhkov, Ukraine | Tanya Albrecht, Ukraine | Valeriia Svirska, Ukraine |
Margherita Calice, United Kingdom | Alex Blecker, United States | Annika Hauser, United States |
Ari Spielman, United States | Batya Goldberg, United States | Benny Rushfield, United States |
David Guttman, United States | Ella Nudell, United States | Elisha Heching, United States |
Elisheva Ely, United States | Eva Fabian, United States, Israel | Gabriella Jacobs, United States |
Kat Lacey, United States | Kayla Goldberger, United States | Larry French, United States |
Jordyn Engel, United States | Joshua Levin, United States | Rachel Thau, United States |
Rachel Thau, United States | Rina Poran, United States | Samantha Trenk, United States |
Sander Ashman, United States | Sarah Carr, United States | Shoshana Markowitz, United States |
Sophie Humphers, United States | Tamar Ford, United States | Yael Shmilovitz, United States |
Yaron Ginsberg, United States, Israel | Zev Huneycutt, United States | Luis Hamel, Venezuela |
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