Faculty for Justice
in Palestine
In response to the urgent call to establish Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) groups across U.S. campuses, we at UMass Amherst come together to express our solidarity with students and colleagues who are organizing for Palestinian liberation and self-determination, and who are facing threats and attacks for their advocacy. We understand the struggle for Palestinian liberation to be aligned with anti-colonial movements and struggles in many parts of the world, and commit to ensuring the collective right to speak on and engage in this activist work on our campus. Without a space to question and historicize colonial hierarchical power relations, academic freedom becomes impossible. As educators and workers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we oppose all forms of colonialism, racism, and apartheid, and will work to nurture and defend our students and community when they speak out in support of Palestine.
Our Principles
In this context, we support those in Palestine who have called for an international solidarity movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, and affirm the following principles of unity:
1.
FJP is a collective of UMass Amherst faculty who support the cause of Palestinian liberation. We stand by the right to exert our academic freedoms, and to express our perspectives as scholars, intellectuals, thinkers, and educators.
2.
FJP supports the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions and for an end to Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine. We pledge to uphold the academic and cultural boycott until Israeli academic and cultural institutions recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law.
3.
FJP pledges to support and amplify the work of SJP and other campus groups fighting for Palestinian liberation at UMass Amherst. The most securely employed among us will protect more vulnerable members of the campus community in their right to free speech and activism.
4.
FJP rejects the conflation of support for Palestinian liberation and antisemitism. We stand against racism in all its manifestations. There is no place for racism on our campus.
5.
FJP will participate in regional cross-campus coalitions with allies at other colleges and universities and as a branch of an emergent national and international network of solidarity.
Action Item: Petition Requesting a Special Membership Meeting of the MSP on the Gaza Emergency
As members of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, we feel it is imperative that our union engage in an open discussion about how to respond to the Gaza emergency and its reverberating impacts. MSP members, please sign this petition to join us in requesting that MSP officers convene a special session on this matter, open and advertised in advance to all members.
UMass Amherst Faculty for Justice in Palestine 