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Open Letter by TAU International Students

Written on | ,

“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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