Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McMaster pens open letter

C/O Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona, Unsplash

SPHR McMaster calls on McMaster to stop partnering with Tel Aviv University 

The Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights Organization at McMaster is a student-led social justice club that raises awareness regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine and holds events to promote Palestinian culture. 

“SPHR is a non-profit, student-based organization that advocates on a strong social justice platform to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of human rights violations and all forms of racism, discrimination, misinformation and misrepresentation,” SPHR states on its Facebook page. 

EXPLORE 4II3, The beginning of science: ancient Egyptian and Babylonian conceptions of time and space, is a course being offered at McMaster in the fall semester of 2021. The course is co-taught by Sarah Symons, an associate professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science at McMaster, and Eshbal Ratzon, a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University. 

According to the course description, the course focuses on the origins of science. The course is worth three units, graded, entirely virtual and it is taught out of McMaster University and Tel Aviv University.

SPHR McMaster’s open letter explains that the club has four key demands for the university. Firstly, they call on the Office of the Registrar to end its collaboration with Tel Aviv University on EXPLORE 4II3. Second, they call on Symons, the course coordinator, to withdraw from the course. Third, they ask that McMaster end all partnerships with Tel Aviv University. Finally, they demand that McMaster make a statement in support of Palestinian students. 

In the letter, SPHR McMaster makes clear that they do not object to the content of the course or the involvement of Ratzon; rather, it is McMaster’s partnership with Tel Aviv University that SPHR is protesting.

“Tel Aviv University (TAU), among several other Israeli universities, directly contributes to the human rights violations that the state of Israel commits against the people of Palestine,” stated the letter.

According to the letter, Tel Aviv University is involved with Israel’s military efforts, such as the development of weapons and technology as well as military strategy. Additionally, according to the letter, Tel Aviv University currently houses 63 Palestinian corpses, thus preventing Palestinian families from mourning and burying the dead. 

“The very research done within the grounds of the university aids and abets in displacement, killing and ethnic cleansing,” stated the letter. 

The letter has now been signed by 10 McMaster or Hamilton-based organizations as well as three McMaster professors.