The Board of Directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East wishes to join Professor Rivka Carmi, President, of Ben-Gurion University, in condemning the recent death threat against Professor Neve Gordon. Although many of us fervently disagree with views that he has publicly expressed, death threats as a response to anyone’s views are violations of freedom of expression. Death threats to academics also represent an escalation of the incivility that increasingly debases discourse on campus. Other academics and intellectuals, including some with views opposed to those of Professor Gordon, have also received death threats in recent years. We urge university leadership to take all such threats seriously, to condemn them unequivocally, and to take appropriate action against perpetrators.
Approved by the Board of Directors
July 4, 2010
