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Open Letter by TAU International Students

October 31, 2023 |

“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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