Stories by U.S. Scholarship Coalition on Medium

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 23, 2023) — On Friday morning, over 1,200 Americans from the Rhodes, Fulbright, Truman, Marshall, Knight-Hennessy, Schwarzman, Paul and Daisy Soros, Luce, and other premiere scholarship communities issued a joint statement responding to the siege and bombardment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. By Monday morning, as of 8:00am ET, the list of signatories had grown to over 1,700. The scholars call on President Biden and other United States officials to urgently seek a ceasefire, which the President failed to do in his remarks on Thursday evening — instead committing at least $14 billion in increased military support to Israel.

The coalition’s statement demands that “the international community must intervene, and quickly.” Widely recognized as members of the world’s most prestigious scholarship communities, the statement’s signatories include current and future leaders in public policy, law, international relations, journalism, science, the humanities, business, and more.

454 scholars signed onto the statement under the condition of anonymity due to the risk of doxxing and recent retaliation from employers and schools.

Amytess Girgis, a Rhodes Scholar and doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, voiced concern about these trends: “With each passing day, hundreds more Palestinians are killed by Israeli bombs. Given the urgency and severity of the situation, I’m appalled by the retaliation against activists across the U.S. The Rhodes Trust often calls on its scholars to ‘fight the world’s fight,’ and if that phrase means anything at all, it must mean that we call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. There’s no time left to lose.”

The enormity of the crisis in Gaza cannot be overstated. Thus far, over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 1,000 children, with the death toll increasing by the hour. The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine has characterized it as an imminent ethnic cleansing event. Millions of Palestinians currently remain trapped in the Strip, which has been under a full Israeli blockade for the past 16 years. Members from these scholarship communities call for a ceasefire and in-kind humanitarian aid to meet the grave, immediate needs of Palestinians in Gaza.

“Just as my grandparents signed their names into the registry for Palestinian refugees, I sign mine here because I am the product of what a displaced homeland looks like. I stand against apartheid and the massacre taking place in Gaza as my family, hospitals, schools, children, and olive trees bear witness to injustice and long for their liberation.”

— Leen Abozaid, a Fulbright Scholar, Palestinian child of diaspora, and UNRWA Jordan alumna

“I grieve the sheer loss of life in Gaza and the so-called West Bank. Grieve for the people and the history, all of that heritage, all of that wonder in the decades-long process of violent erasure. What we are is a collective of hearts and hands advocating for a people who cannot use their own voice because they’re being drowned out by blood and semantics. And if a people don’t have a voice for their struggle, then they will die forever in suffocating silence.”

— Thaer Husien, a Fulbright Scholar, Palestinian living in the U.S., and Novelist

“As a Jewish American and Marshall Scholar, I stand with Palestine — not in spite of my Jewishness but because of it. Jewish history and culture inspire me to fight against oppression, wherever it may be. Now I call on U.S. leaders to honor these principles by stopping the genocide in Gaza.”

— Kendall Gardner, Marshall Scholar and Jewish American Doctoral candidate in Politics at the University of Oxford

“I’ve worked in politics and policy for my entire career — and this may be the first time that I have seen such unabashed support for genocide. I, like many others, grieve for the lives lost and the hostages snatched on October 7. But our elected government cannot continue to support an Israeli regime that refuses to halt its relentless campaign against Palestine and Palestinian civilians. It is not enough to pledge humanitarian aid in one breath and with the next, to commit to spend 10x more to fund and distribute weapons. We join the millions across the world who demand an immediate ceasefire, and we call on President Biden to do the same.”

— Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Rhodes Scholar, Policy Expert, and co-author of the Green New Deal

This release was first issued at 10:30am ET on Friday, October 20, 2023 and re-released at 10:00am ET on Monday, October 23, 2023. Signature collection remains ongoing. Visit Medium for the full text of our statement and updated signature tallies.

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Joint Statement Calling for an End to the Siege and Bombardment of Gaza

U.S. Scholarship Coalition — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 14:59:25 GMT

Signed by over 1,800 U.S. Rhodes, Fulbright, Truman, Marshall, Knight-Hennessy, Schwarzman, Paul and Daisy Soros, Luce, and other Scholars. Updated Oct 23, 2023, 8:30am ET.

We, the undersigned American Rhodes, Fulbright, Truman, Marshall, Knight-Hennessy, Schwarzman, Paul and Daisy Soros, Luce, and other Scholars, write to express our deep concern regarding the humanitarian disaster rapidly unfolding in Gaza. As scholars and professionals in a wide range of fields, our commitment to service, leadership, humanitarian principles, and justice compel us to denounce what is clearly evolving into a genocide. We therefore call on President Biden to seek an immediate halt to the Israeli regime’s siege and bombardment of Gaza; the restoration of access to safe drinking water, food, electricity and fuel in the area; and the adherence to international humanitarian law. We urge our fellow Americans to do the same.

For almost two weeks, Gaza has been pummeled by indiscriminate bombing by the Israeli military. Last Tuesday evening, the ongoing violence culminated in the catastrophic destruction of al-Ahli Arab hospital, in which hundreds of people died — including medical personnel, patients, and civilians seeking shelter. This marks the most recent disaster in what has been a week of unfathomable loss. Thus far, over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 1,000 children, with the death toll increasing by the hour. Thousands more have been wounded, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency reported over one million Palestinians — nearly half the population of Gaza — have been displaced amid the violence. The Israeli regime has also conducted attacks on medical vehicles and personnel throughout the area. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International verified that Israeli forces released white phosphorus — a chemical which burns flesh upon contact — in densely populated areas across Gaza. Nine Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli Defense Forces, with BBC also reporting its journalists were assaulted and held at gunpoint by Israeli police despite being in a vehicle clearly marked as media. The Israeli regime has also moved to shut down the local bureau of Al Jazeera, one of the few remaining outlets able to report directly from the situation on the ground.

Importantly, the terms of this war are not neutral: Gaza is not a country, nor does it have a military. Gaza has been under the complete control of the Israeli regime for 16 years — one of many consequences of decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine. This power imbalance severely limits freedom of movement and access to resources for Gaza’s residents, and Israeli forces have exacerbated these restrictions in the past week. On the morning of October 13, Israeli authorities ordered more than 1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. The United Nations has called this order “impossible” and warned of its “devastating humanitarian consequences.” The only way out of Gaza was bombed by the Israeli Defense Forces, trapping 2.3 million Gazans — half of whom are children — and cutting them off from electricity, fuel, food, and water in what the Israeli Defense Minister has labeled “a complete siege of the Gaza strip”. As both the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights have said, targeting civilians in this way violates international humanitarian law.

On their own, each of these acts individually warrants condemnation by the international community. When taken together, the situation could not be clearer: with each passing hour, we inch closer to the precipice of a genocide in Gaza. The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine characterized the situation as imminent ethnic cleansing. Millions of Palestinians remain trapped in a 365-square-kilometer area, facing total devastation, as Israeli forces have already dropped 6,000 bombs in six days. To echo U.S. Palestinian rights organizations such as the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, the American activist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and Israeli veterans’ organization Breaking the Silence, the gravity of this disaster cannot be overstated. The international community must intervene, and quickly.

As leaders in our diverse fields — public policy, law, science, the humanities, business and more — we urge those in positions of power across the country, including our fellow scholars, to make every possible effort to pressure the Israeli regime to end its siege on Gaza and indiscriminate assault on the Palestinian people. Moreover, we urge the U.S. government to reverse its decision to increase its military presence in the region: at the time of writing, a U.S. Marine rapid response force of 2,000 personnel is being sent to Israel, with other U.S. warships, forces, and military equipment already sent to the area. Echoing Jewish Voice for Peace, “those who continue calling for ‘ironclad’ U.S. support for the Israeli military are only paving the path to more violence.” After ten days of catastrophic violence, we are deeply concerned by this escalation, as we are by any further Israeli military action which will result in more deaths.

The Biden administration must take immediate action to end this rapid escalation of violence and ensure international humanitarian law is respected in its aftermath.

Signed,

1,810 U.S. Rhodes, Fulbright, Truman, Marshall, Knight-Hennessy, Schwarzman, Paul and Daisy Soros, Luce, and other Scholars

as of Oct 23, 2023, 8:30am ET

The authors of this statement urge material action in service of the Palestinian people, and we invite you to support this list of aid and advocacy projects.

Signatories

NOTE [14 April, 2025]: Amid the rapidly escalating persecution of Palestine activism in the United States, we have now chosen to temporarily anonymize the signatories on this letter. We remain committed to Palestinian liberation, and will continue advocating until Palestine is free.