BY HANK REICHMAN

In two remarkable statements issued recently scholars from more than thirty countries, including Germany, Israel and the U.S., have spoken out against efforts by the German government to restrict the academic freedom and free speech rights of artists and scholars suspected of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights. In March, public officials, including Felix Klein, the Federal government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, put pressure on the Ruhrtriennale Festival to disinvite Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe, who was to deliver the festival’s opening address. The festival has since been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the City of Dortmund reversed the decision to award British-Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie the Nelly Sachs Prize for Literature.

On April 30, a group of Jewish scholars from Israel and elsewhere released an open letter to German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer, with copies to Chancellor Angela Merkel and Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, calling for the removal and replacement of Commissioner Klein for his support of the attacks on Mbembe, which the letter said had “degraded into a witch-hunt.”

“Prof. Achille Mbembe is one of the most important intellectuals in Africa, whose humanistic voice and scholarship is heard and admired globally,” the letter said. “We consider Mr. Klein’s attempt to frame Prof. Mbembe as an antisemite baseless, inappropriate, offensive and harmful.”

The letter continued:

By accusing Prof. Mbembe of “relativizing the Holocaust”, Mr. Klein has also harmed academic freedom. This toxic allegation relates to Prof. Mbembe’s study in reference to the Holocaust in comparative context. We wish to be very clear: such study isn’t a trivialization of the Holocaust and certainly not antisemitism. It is legitimate, essential and in fact commonplace in Holocaust and genocide studies. Some 600 leading Holocaust scholars recently asserted that banning analogies from the debate about the Holocaust is “a radical position that is far removed from mainstream scholarship on the Holocaust and genocide. And it makes learning from the past almost impossible.”

“Unjustified allegations of antisemitism are increasingly creating a climate of fear in Germany, deterring intellectuals, journalists and the public at large from exercising free speech regarding controversial issues that should be publicly debated. At this very hour, free and critical speech in relation to Israel is needed more than ever,” the letter continued.  The signatories noted that “our views on BDS differ, but it is entirely clear: BDS as such is not antisemitic and is essentially protected by freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.”

Among those signing the letter were Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture at the University of California, Berkeley; Alon Confino, Pen Tishkach Chair of Holocaust Studies, Director of The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, Department of History and of Jewish and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts; Amos Goldberg, Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Nurit Peled-Elhanan, School of Education at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and co-recipient of the Sakharov Prize; Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Department of Jewish History at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; and Barry Trachtenberg, Michael R. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History, Department of History at Wake Forest University.

Last year some 240 Israeli and Jewish professors had urged Germany not to enact into law a bill that would define the BDS movement as “anti-Semitic.”  That letter had declared that “we all reject the deceitful allegation that BDS as such is anti-Semitic and maintain that boycotts are a legitimate and non-violent tool of resistance.”  Signatories included 24 scholars from the Hebrew University, 24 from Tel Aviv University, 11 from Ben Gurion University, nine from Haifa University, five from the Weizmann Institute of Science and five from the Open University of Israel.

Then today it was announced that 384 scholars and artists from over thirty countries, including forty from Germany, had signed a statement pledging not to serve on juries or prize committees or in academic hiring consultations in Germany whenever there are “convincing indicators that their decisions may be subject to ideological or political interference or litmus tests.”  The pledge signatories state that they “hold a variety of positions on BDS, but we agree with the 40 Jewish organizations and also with the three German courts — most recently the Administrative Court of Cologne, in September 2019 — that have reaffirmed that support for BDS is a legitimate exercise of the universally recognized right of freedom of expression.”

The pledge signatories affirm that, “To reverse a prize jury’s decision or to withdraw an invitation to speak on ideological grounds is an intolerable interference that we cannot condone, even by our participation in juries subject to such interference.” They state that making decisions contingent on a commitment to disavow BDS violates academic freedom and freedom of expression, making “a mockery of the very system for and purpose of awarding prizes to individuals judged to be leaders in their fields.”

Signatories include Judith Butler of the University of California, Berkeley; Étienne Balibar of Columbia University;  Nobel laureate in Chemistry George P. Smith; AAUP Committee A member Joan W. Scott; and linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky. The statement declares that accusations directed by German officials against Shamsie, Mbembe, and others “are intended to narrow the frame of discussion solely to antisemitism and its pernicious impacts” and “are designed to draw attention away from, and to silence, any critical focus on the treatment of Palestinians in Israel-Palestine.”  Shamsie and Mbembe both signed the pledge.

Below are the full texts and lists of signatories of both statements.

Mr. Horst Seehofer
Minister of the Interior, Building and Community
Alt-Moabit 140
10557 Berlin
Germany

Copied: Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Heiko Maas, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Concerns: Call to replace Felix Klein as the Federal government Commissioner for the Fight against Antisemitism

30 April 2020

Dear Minister Seehofer,

We, Jewish scholars and artists from Israel and elsewhere, many of whom specialize in anti-Semitism and in Jewish, Holocaust and Israel Studies, are calling on you to replace Felix Klein, the Federal government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, following his shameful attack on Prof. Achille Mbembe.

As you know, Prof. Achille Mbembe is one of the most important intellectuals in Africa, whose humanistic voice and scholarship is heard and admired globally. We consider Mr. Klein’s attempt to frame Prof. Mbembe as an antisemite baseless, inappropriate, offensive and harmful.

We are aware that the attack on Prof. Mbembe was initiated by others, who rejected him as the opening speaker of this year’s Ruhrtriennale Festival. Given his official role and responsibility, we find it unacceptable that Mr. Klein joined this attack, which degraded into a witch-hunt.

We are perplexed that Mr. Klein did so without bothering to study Prof. Mbembe’s work. Instead, he relied for his allegations on a deeply selective reading and manipulative interpretation of Prof. Mbembe’s writings by others. Considering that accusations of antisemitism can ruin someone’s reputation, this in itself amounts to severe professional and moral misconduct.

The Ruhrtriennale Festival has been cancelled by now, due to the coronavirus. This incident, however, cannot remain without consequences for Mr. Klein. Apart from the personal and professional harm done to Prof. Mbembe, Mr. Klein has done a disservice to the urgent fight against real antisemitism, casting a shadow over the integrity of his public office.

By accusing Prof. Mbembe of “relativizing the Holocaust”, Mr. Klein has also harmed academic freedom. This toxic allegation relates to Prof. Mbembe’s study in reference to the Holocaust in comparative context. We wish to be very clear: such study isn’t a trivialization of the Holocaust and certainly not antisemitism. It is legitimate, essential and in fact commonplace in Holocaust and genocide studies. Some 600 leading Holocaust scholars recently asserted that banning analogies from the debate about the Holocaust is “a radical position that is far removed from mainstream scholarship on the Holocaust and genocide. And it makes learning from the past almost impossible”.

Mr. Klein’s attack on Prof. Mbembe fits into a pattern. He has assumed a leading role in the “weaponization” of antisemitism against critics of the Israeli government and activists exercising their freedom of speech and assembly to protest Israel’s violations of basic rights of the Palestinians. As an official representative of the German government, Mr. Klein is undermining the exercise of fundamental freedoms – this should deeply alarm your government, considering itscommitment to democratic principles and the rule of law.

Unjustified allegations of antisemitism are increasingly creating a climate of fear in Germany, deterring intellectuals, journalists and the public at large from exercising free speech regarding controversial issues that should be publicly debated. At this very hour, free and critical speech in relation to Israel is needed more than ever. While the world is desperately fighting the coronavirus, the incoming Israeli government is moving towards annexation of vital parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank – a grave violation of international law, formalizing a situation of two peoples with unequal rights inside one territory.

56 former members of the Knesset, some of whom have served as ministers in various Israeli governments, have recently warned this would establish an Apartheid state in Israel-Palestine.

Does Mr. Klein consider them antisemites? And all others who will speak of inequality and discrimination, after annexation has been implemented? These questions arise after Mr. Klein has accused Prof. Mbembe of antisemitism for allegedly equating Israel with Apartheid South Africa.

In addition, Mr. Klein has promoted and amplified aggressive campaigns against organizations and individuals, some of them Jewish, due to their support for “BDS”. He is clearly obsessed by the BDS campaign, which has a miniscule footprint in Germany, and appears to devote more of his time to it than to the acute threat that the surge in far-right antisemitism poses to Jews and Jewish life in Germany.

Our views on BDS differ, but it is entirely clear: BDS as such is not antisemitic and is essentially protected by freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, as also confirmed by several German courts. It is deplorable but unsurprising that the Israeli government is waging war against BDS – but how can a German government official join this war in the frontline?

In this context, we wish to add that this anti-BDS crusade is undeniably contributing to the marginalization of non-white voices and minorities in Germany, fostering racism and nationalistic sentiments. It is a shame that none other than the Federal Commissioner for the Fight against Antisemitism is leading this trend.

We also deplore that Mr. Klein has been encouraging politicized abuse of the IHRA definition, which conflates antisemitism with criticism and activism directed at Israel, to discredit and silence opponents of Israel’s policies. Here again, we observe Mr. Klein operating in synergy with the Israeli government.

That same Israeli government is currently preparing for annexation of vital parts of Palestine. It has deliberately weaponized allegations of antisemitism to politically shield this dramatic step and to distract from the documented evidence about its systematic violations of the human rights of the Palestinians.

On numerous occasions since his appointment in May 2018, Mr. Klein has facilitated and legitimized this fatal instrumentalization, which – we wish to repeat – harms the fight against real anti-Semitism. The latest example is his attack on Prof. Mbembe.

For all these reasons, we consider Mr. Klein unqualified and unfit for the important task assigned to him. He is a civil servant that operates and falls under your political responsibility. We call on you to replace Mr. Klein without delay as the German government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Gadi Algazi, Department of History, Tel Aviv University; Associate Fellow at Re:Work:
International Research Center Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History at Humboldt
University, Berlin

Dr. Seth Anziska, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London

Prof. Louise Bethlehem, Department of English and the Program in Cultural Studies, The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem; recipient European Research Council Consolidators Grant

Prof. Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, University of California,
Berkeley; Fellow American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Von Humboldt Senior Laureate

Prof. (emeritus) Jose Brunner, Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and
Ideas (former director) and Buchmann Faculty of Law; co-founder of Israel’s first legal clinic for
the rights of Holocaust survivors, Tel Aviv University

Prof. (emerita) Jane Caplan, History Department, University of Oxford; Emeritus Fellow, St.
Antony’s College, Oxford; Marjorie Walter Goodhart Professor Emeritus of European History,
Bryn Mawr College; Visiting Professor, Birkbeck, University of London

Dr. Raya Cohen, formerly Department of Jewish History, Tel Aviv University; formerly
Department of Sociology, University of Naples Federico II

Prof. Jean Comaroff, Alfred North Whitehead Professor of African and African American
Studies and of Anthropology; Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard
University

Prof. John Comaroff, Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African American Studies and of
Anthropology; Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University

Prof. Alon Confino, Pen Tishkach Chair of Holocaust Studies, Director of The Institute for
Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, Department of History and of Jewish and Near Eastern
Studies, University of Massachusetts; recipient of the Humboldt-Stiftung and of the Guggenheim
Fellowships

Prof. (emerita) Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Department of General and Comparative Literature, The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem; recipient of Guggenheim Fellowship

Prof. (emeritus) Gideon Freudenthal, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of
Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University

Dr. Katharina Galor, Hirschfeld Visiting Associate Professor, Program in Judaic Studies, Brown
University

Prof. Amos Goldberg, Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem

Prof. Neve Gordon, School of Law, Marie Curie Fellow, Queen Mary University of London

Dr. Ilana Hammerman, Writer, recipient of the Yeshayahu Leibowitz Prize

Prof. David Harel, Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, The Weizmann
Institute of Science; recipient of the Israel Prize and of the EMET Prize

Prof. Eva Illouz, The Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem; The European Centre for Sociology and Political Science, Paris; recipient of the
Anneliese Meier International Award for Excellence in Research from the Alexander von
Humboldt-Foundation and of the EMET Prize

Dani Karavan, Sculptor, projects include the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National
Socialism in Berlin, the Regensburg Synagogue Memorial and the Way of Human Rights in
Nuremberg; recipient of the Israel Prize

Miki Kratsman, Photographer; former head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy
of Arts and Design; recipient of the EMET Prize

Alex Levac, Photographer, recipient of the Israel Prize

Prof. (emeritus) Yehuda Judd Ne’eman, Tel Aviv University, recipient of the Israel Prize

Dr. (emeritus) Mark Levene, Department of History, University of Southampton UK; Parkes
Centre for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations; recipient of the Lemkin Prize of the Institute for the
Study of Genocide

Prof. Neil Levi, English Department (chair), Drew University

Dr. Anat Matar, Department of Philosophy, Tel Aviv University

Prof. (emeritus) Paul Mendes-Flohr, Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor Emeritus of Modern
Jewish History and Thought and Associate Faculty in the Department of History, The University
of Chicago Divinity School; Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem

Prof. Isaac Nevo, Department of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Prof. (emeritus) Adi Ophir, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and
Ideas, Tel Aviv University; Visiting Professor of the Humanities, The Cogut Institute for the
Humanities and the Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University

Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; The

David Yellin Academic College of Education; co-recipient of the Sakharov Prize

Prof. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Department of Jewish History, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, recipient of the Zalman Shazar Prize for Jewish History

Prof. (emerita) Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Departments of English Literature and Comparative
Literature, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and
Humanities

Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Head of the Talmud and Late Antiquity section, The Department of
Jewish Philosophy and Talmud, Tel Aviv University

Prof. Michael Rothberg, 1939 Society Samuel Goetz Chair in Holocaust Studies, Department of
Comparative Literature, University of California

Prof. Catherine Rottenberg, Department of American and Canadian Studies, University of
Nottingham

Prof. Barry Trachtenberg, Michael R. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish
History, Department of History, Wake Forest University

Prof. David Shulman, Department of Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, recipient of the Israel Prize and of the
EMET Prize

Prof. (emeritus) Moshe Zuckermann, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of
Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University

Pledge opposing ideological or political interference and litmus tests in Germany

We the undersigned writers, artists, scientists, and scholars have either been invited (many of us more than once) or occupy professional positions that make it likely that we will in future be invited to nominate candidates for literary, artistic, scientific, and scholarly honors awarded by German institutions, to serve on or report to the juries selecting the recipients for these honors, and/or to assist academic committees at German universities with hiring or promotion decisions. We were therefore dismayed to learn that on two recent occasions city authorities in Germany have intervened to overrule the decisions of prize committees on ideological and political grounds, and that for similar reasons a performer has been threatened with cancellation of an already publicized concert.

On September 14, 2019, the City of Dortmund rescinded the award—already announced—of the Nelly Sachs Prize for Literature that was to have gone to British-Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie. Sixteen days later, the City of Aachen announced that it had reversed a previous decision to award the Aachen Art Prize to the Lebanese-American artist Walid Raad. Around the same time, Israeli-German performer Nirit Sommerfeld received a warning from the municipal Gasteig cultural center in Munich that her planned concert at the center faced cancellation if she broached certain themes. This March, Stephanie Carp, curator of the 2020 Ruhrtriennale Festival in Bochum, came under pressure from two public officials (Lorenz Deutsch, a Deputy in the Nordrhein-Westfalen State Parliament, and Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Anti-Semitism) to rescind the invitation to Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe to deliver the festival’s opening address; the two falsely claimed that Mbembe’s academic work was anti-Semitic because it includes an analysis and critique of Israeli government policies.

These four incidents, involving four German cities and four different forms of expression, had one thing in common: in each case, the artist or intellectual in question was considered a supporter of the non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights. In Raad’s case it was his “evasive[ness]” when asked to “distance himself from BDS” that led to the withdrawal of Aachen’s sponsorship of his prize, on the grounds that BDS is a form of anti-Semitism; and even though the Verein der Freunde des Ludwig Forums decided to award the prize to Raad without the city’s cooperation, they did so only after their “intensive” investigation turned up no “conclusive” proof that the accusations against Raad were justified. Although Sommerfeld’s concert went forward as planned, three years earlier a benefit concert in which she was scheduled to perform, in the same city, was cancelled on the same grounds. And while this year’s Ruhrtriennale has been cancelled because of Covid-19, Carp and the festival organizers remain under pressure not to invite Mbembe in the future either.

In declaring BDS a form of anti-Semitism, the authors of the attacks on Mbembe and the cities of Aachen, Dortmund, and Munich aligned themselves in direct opposition to more than forty progressive Jewish organizations around the world — including European Jews for a Just Peace, the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace, and the German Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden im Nahost e.V. — that on July 17 2018 issued a statement affirming that “dangerously [conflating] anti-Jewish racism with opposition to Israel’s policies and system of occupation and apartheid … undermines both the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality and the global struggle against anti-Semitism. It also serves to shield Israel from being held accountable to universal standards of human rights and international law.”

The signatories of this letter hold a variety of positions on BDS, but we agree with the 40 Jewish organizations and also with the three German courts — most recently the Administrative Court of Cologne, in September 2019 — that have reaffirmed that support for BDS is a legitimate exercise of the universally recognized right of freedom of expression.

To make the awarding of a prize, or a hiring decision, contingent on a commitment to disavow BDS not only violates academic freedom and the rights of freedom of expression described above. It also makes a mockery of the very system for and purpose of awarding prizes to individuals judged to be leaders in their fields. To reverse a prize jury’s decision or to withdraw an invitation to speak on ideological grounds is an intolerable interference that we cannot condone, even by our participation in juries subject to such interference.

Accusations of the kind levelled by politicians like Deutsch, Klein, and city officials in Germany are intended to narrow the frame of discussion solely to antisemitism and its pernicious impacts. They are designed to draw attention away from, and to silence, any critical focus on the treatment of Palestinians in Israel-Palestine. We anticipate that some will seek to paint this point as an expression of or relativization of anti-Semitism; to do so would be to engage in exactly the tactics we are opposing with this statement.

While we wish to acknowledge how much we appreciate the honor of being chosen to consult on prizes and hiring decisions, we cannot continue to lend our weight to judgments of artistic, scientific, or scholarly distinction that are subject to political interference. We therefore wish to inform the German artistic and academic community and the institutions that support them, including municipal councils, that all of us undersigned will no longer agree to serve on prize committees or in hiring consultations if there are convincing indicators that their decisions may be subject to ideological or political interference or litmus tests. In such cases, we will specifically require assurance that the support for any non-violent campaign (including BDS) directed at any country that practices discrimination and violence against any population under its control will not be used as a litmus test to disqualify candidates selected for hiring, distinction, or honor.

1. Ackbar Abbas, University of California, Irvine, United States
2. Ahmed Abbes, mathematician, Directeur de recherche au CNRS, France
3. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University, United States
4. Malek Abisaab, McGill University, Canada
5. Nadia Abu El-Haj, Barnard College and Columbia University , United States
6. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Artist, Lebanon
7. Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University, United States
8. Evelyne Accad, University of Illinois / Prof Emerita, United States
9. María del Rosario Acosta , University of California Riverside , United States
10. Mojisola Adebayo, Lecturer, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
11. Elena Agudio, curator, art historian, Germany
12. Arnika Ahldag, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi , India
13. Mounira Al Solh, Lebanese Artist , Netherlands
14. Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies, Brown University, United States
15. Antonia Alampi, Artistic Co-Director, SAVVY Contemporary, Germany
16. Mehdi Alioua, Sociologist, International University of Rabat (UIR), Morocco
17. Heba Y. Amin, Artist, Germany
18. Hila Amit, Writer, Germany
19. Evelyn Annuss, Professor of Gender Studies, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria
20. Arjun Appadurai, The Hertie School and New York University, Germany
21. Iasmin Omar Ata, Graphic novelist, United States
22. Danielle Aubert, Wayne State University, United States
23. Ariella Azoulay, Brown University, United States
24. Annie Baker, Playwright and Associate Professor, the University of Texas at Austin, United States
25. Viviane Baladi, Mathematician, CNRS, France
26. Alex Baladi, Comic book artist, Switzerland
27. Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock , SAVVY Contemporary , Germany
28. Etienne Balibar, Department of French & Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, United States
29. Nicolas Bancel, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
30. Sindre Bangstad, Research Professor KIFO (Institute For Church, Religion And Worldview Research, NO
31. Kass Banning, University of Toronto, Professor, Canada
32. Edwige Baron, Project Manager, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Germany
33. Yto Barrada, Artist, United States
34. Taysir Batniji, Visual artist, France
35. Ian Baucom, University of Virginia, United States
36. Jean-François Bayart, IHEID (Genève), Suisse
37. Arnaud Beauville, Professor emeritus, Université Côte d’Azur, France
38. Joel Beinin, Donald J McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University, United States
39. Habib Bel Hedi, Producer, Tunisia
40. Joachim Ben Yakoub, Ghent University, Belgium
41. Roberto Beneduce, University of Turin, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Dept. of Cultures, Politics, and Society, Italy
42. Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University, United States
43. Hourya Benthouami , Université de Toulouse , France
44. Lauren Berlant, University of Chicago , USA
45. Florence Bernault, Centre d’Histoire, Sciences Po, France
46. Susan Bernofsky, Associate Professor of Writing & Director, Literary Translation at Columbia, School of the Arts, Columbia University, United States
47. Omar Berrada, Writer and Curator, Morocco
48. Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, Dept. of social anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway
49. Jess Bier, Assistant Professor of Urban Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
50. Yahya Birt, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
51. Susan Blackwell, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
52. Pascal Blanchard, Groupe recherche Achac (Paris) et LCP CNRS, France
53. Nicholas Blincoe, Writer, United Kingdom
54. Gilles Boetsch, CNRS, France
55. Claudia Bosse, artist, choreographer, artistic director theatercombinat, Österreich
56. Stefanie Böttcher, Director Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany
57. Charles Bottex, Retraité , Canada
58. Hemley Boum, Writer, France
59. Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, United States
60. Robert Boyce, London School of Economis and Political Science, United Kingdom
61. Brian Boyd, Columbia University, United States
62. Sarah Bracke, Professor of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
63. Anouar Brahem, Composer, Tunisia
64. Rony Brauman, Physician, writer, France
65. Candice Breitz, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Germany
66. Marie Brennan, University of South Australia, Australia
67. Timothy Brennan, University of Minnesota, United States
68. Haim Bresheeth, SOAS, London, United Kingdom
69. Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley, United States
70. Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory, University of California, Berkeley, United States
71. Alexandre Capitaine, Writer, France
72. Ana Casares, Escritora. Editora. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Unversidad Nacional de Jujuy. Argentina, Argentina
73. James Chandler, Univerisity of Chicago, U.S.
74. Julie Chateauvert, School of social Innovation, St-Paul University, Canada
75. Zahid Chaudhary, Princeton University, United States
76. Hannah Chazin, Columbia University, United States
77. Usuf Chikte, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
78. Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus at MIT, Laureate Professor of Linguistics, Agnese Nelms Haury Chair University of Arizona, United States
79. Barriere Christine , Headmaster, France
80. Andrés Claro, Universidad de Chile, Chile
81. Véronique Clette-Gakuba, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgique
82. Yinon Cohen, Sociology, Columbia University, United States
83. Steven Cohen, Artist, France
84. Juan Cole, University of Michigan, United States
85. Elliott Colla, Georgetown University , United States
86. Imraan Coovadia, University of Cape Town, South Africa
87. Eli Cortiñas, Visual artist, Germany
88. Molly Crabapple, artist and writer, United States
89. Carolina Crespo, CONICET-INAPL- UBA, Argentina
90. Warren Crichlow, York University, Toronto, Canada
91. Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, curator, Brazil
92. Robin Huw Crompton, Hon. Professor, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease and School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
93. Ayça Çubukçu, Asssociate Professor, Co-Director, LSE Human Rights, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kindgdom
94. Iftikhar Dadi, Cornell University, United States
95. Patricia Dailey, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, United States
96. Leyla Dakhli, CNRS, Centre Marc Bloch, Allemagne
97. Luis Dapelo, translator, France
98. Chandler Davis, Professor of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Canada
99. Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, Sociologist, Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris Diderot, France
100. Université libre de Bruxelles de Vries, Director Weserburg Museum for Modern Art, Germany
101. Tj Demos, University of California, Santa Cruz / Professor, United States
102. Manthia Diawara, University Professor, New York University, United States
103. James Dickins, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
104. Laurence Dreyfus, Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford, FBA, United Kingdom
105. Madhusree Dutta, Artistic Director Akademie der Künste der Welt, Köln, Germany
106. Ronit Eden, Curator, Netherlands
107. Ben Ehrenreich, Writer, United States
108. Anna Ehrenstein, visual artist, Germany
109. Paul Eid, Professor, dept. of sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
110. Galit Eilat, Curator, writer, The Netherlands
111. Ivar Ekeland, Professor Emeritus and Former President, the University of Paris-Dauphine, France
112. Yara El-Ghadban, Anthropologist and novelist, Canada
113. David Eng, University of Pennsylvania, United States
114. Farid Esack, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
115. Arturo Escobar, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of North Carlina, Chapel Hill, United States
116. Maria J. Esteban, Mathematician, director of research at CNRS, France
117. Iolanda Évora, University of Lisbon, Portugal
118. Reem Fadda, Curator , Palestine
119. Mohammad Fadel, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Canada
120. Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University, United States
121. Emmanuel Farjoun, Mathematics Department, Hebrew University, Israel
122. Leila Farsakh, Associate Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, United States
123. Aslam Fataar, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
124. Gary Fields, University of California, San Diego, United States
125. Jonathan Flatley, Wayne State University, United States
126. Marilyn Frankenstein, University of Massachusetts/Boston (retired), United States
127. Gideon Freudenthal, Professor emeritus, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
128. Will Fredo Furtado, artist writer, Germany
129. Jeanne Marie Gagnebin, Catholic Pontifical University in São Paulo, Prof.f.sil, Brazil
130. Verónica Gago, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
131. Zeynep Gambetti, Political theorist, Turkey
132. Debjani Ganguly, Professor of English, University of Virginia, USA
133. Keya Ganguly, Professor, Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature, U of Minnesota, United States
134. Luis-Manuel Garcia, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
135. Flavia Gasetua, Citca-CONICET, Argentina
136. Irene Gendzier, Prof. Emeritus, Boston University, United States
137. Peter Geschiere, Emeritus Professor for the anthropology of Africa, University of Amsterdam / Leiden University, Netherlands
138. Bishnupriya Ghosh, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
139. Natasha Ginwala , Curator and Writer, Germany
140. Carlo Ginzburg, UCLA/Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
141. Charles Glass, Author and journalist, England
142. Amos Goldberg, Holocaust history professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
143. David Theo Goldberg, University of California, Irvine, USA, USA
144. Catherine Goldstein, CNRS, IMJ-PRG, France
145. Priyamvada Gopal, Cambridge University, United Kingdom
146. Arunima Gopinath, Jawaharlal Nehru University/ Professor, India
147. Neve Gordon, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
148. Michael Götting, Writer, Germany
149. Daragh Grant, University of Chicago, United States
150. Erella Grassiani, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
151. Herman Gray, University of California, Santa Cruz, United States
152. Lev Grinberg, Ben Gurion University, Israel
153. Raphaël Grisey, Artist, Germany
154. Francio Guadeloupe, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
155. Nacira Guénif, Professor of sociology and anthropology at University Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint- Denis, France
156. Mahmoud Guettat, Ethnomusicologist, Professor Emeritus, University of Tunis, Tunisia
157. Henriette Gunkel, Professor of Media Studies, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
158. Farid Hafez, University of Salzburg, Austria
159. Ghassan Hage, University of Melbourne, Australia
160. Wael Hallaq, Columbia University, United States
161. Ross Hamilton, Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University, United States
162. Yael Harlap, University of Bergen, Norway
163. Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University and Université Paris-Diderot, United States
164. Michelle Hartman, Professor, McGill University, Canada
165. Salah Hassan, Professor, Cornell University, USA
166. Wail Hassan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States
167. Abe Hayeem, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Chair of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, United Kingdom
168. Eric Hazan, Editor, France
169. Nanna Heidenreich, media/cultural studies scholar and curator, Germany
170. Ethan Heitner, Cartoonist and visual artist, United States
171. Charles Heller, Co-director of the Forensic Oceanography project, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
172. Barry Heselwood, Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Leeds, UK, United Kingdom
173. Shir Hever, Scholar, journalist, Germany
174. Béatrice Hibou, CNRS – SciencesPo, France
175. Alcinda Honwana, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
176. Laura Horelli, Visual artist and filmmaker, Germany
177. Nancy Rose Hunt, Universities of Florida | Michigan, United States
178. Hannah Hurtzig, Mobile academy Berlin / theatre maker, Germany
179. Simon Inou, Journalist, Austria
180. Jean E. Jackson, Professor of Anthropology Emerita, MIT, United States
181. Sean Jacobs, The New School, United States
182. Stine Marie Jacobsen, Artist, Germany
183. Shamil Jeppie, University of Cape Town, South Africa
184. Ivana Jofre, Conicet, Argentina
185. Emily Jones, Lecturer in Law, University of Essex, United Kingdom
186. Rebecca Jordan-Young, Professor, Barnard College, United States
187. Ashraf Kagee, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
188. Tom Kalin, Columbia University School of the Arts, Film, United States
189. Louis Kampf, Professor of Literature and Women’s Studies, Emeritus, MIT, United States
190. Sibel Karadag, Koc University, Turkey
191. Nina Katchadourian, New York University, United States/Germany
192. Suvir Kaul, A M Rosenthal Professor, United States
193. David Kazanjian, University of Pennsylvania, United States
194. Michael Keith, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
195. Enora Keller, Theater Author & Director, Perfomer, Artist, France
196. Assaf Kfoury, Computer Science Department, Boston University, United States
197. Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University, United States
198. Laleh Khalili, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
199. Ranjana Khanna, Duke University , United States
200. Sami Khatib, Professor of Visual Arts, American University in Cairo, Egypt
201. Dina Khoury, Professor of History, George Washington University, USA, United States
202. Ana Kiffer, Ponficia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio, BRAZIL
203. Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Philosopher, Associate Professor at Paris 8 Vincennes St Denis / France, France
204. Séverine Kodjo-Grandvaux, Philosopher, France
205. Lina Louisa Krämer, Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany, Germany
206. Kobi Kremnitzer, University of Oxford, England
207. Nancy Kricorian, Writer, United States
208. Phil Kutzko, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Iowa, United States
209. Dominique Lacombe, Syndicaliste, France
210. Premesh Lalu, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
211. Brian Larkin, Barnard College, Columbia University, United States
212. Vito Laterza, Associate Professor, Department of Global Development and Planning, University of Agder, Norway
213. Maurizio Lazzarato, Writer, France
214. Patrick Le Monnier, Sound engineer and musician, Canada
215. Nitzan Lebovic, Lehigh University, United States
216. Herman Lebovics, Distinguished Professor of History emeritus, Stony Brook University, United States
217. Patricio Lepe-Carrión, Núcleo de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad de La Frontera, Chile
218. Les Levidow, Open University, United Kingdom
219. Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond, Emeritus professor, University of Nice, France
220. Zachary Lockman, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and of History Acting Chair, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies New York University, United States
221. Ania Loomba, University of Pennsylvania, United States
222. Ali Louati, Writer, Tunisia
223. Geraldine Lublin, Swansea University, United Kingdom
224. John MacKay, Yale University, United States
225. Revital Madar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, France
226. Ewa Majewska, ICI Berlin (affiliated fellow), Poland
227. Antje Majewski, Artist, Professor for painting at Muthesius Kunsthochschule Kiel, Germany
228. Fouad Makki, Development Sociology, Cornell University, United States
229. Dominique Malaquais, CNRS, France
230. Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University, United States
231. Firoze Manji, Daraja Press, Canada
232. Sarah Marusek, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
233. Brian Massumi, Professor (retired), Communication Department, University of Montreal, Canada
234. Anat Matar, Tel Aviv University, Israel
235. Florencia Mazzadi, Director of cinema, Argentina
236. Achille Mbembe , University of the Witwatersrand, Cameroon/South Africa
237. Alberto Medina, Professor, Columbia University, United States
238. Monika Mehta, Binghamton University, United States
239. Natalie Melas, Cornell University, United States
240. Bjørn Melhus, Kunsthochschule Kassel, Germany
241. Constanza Mendoza Sutherland, artist and researcher, Germany, Germany
242. Dilip Menon, University of Witwatersrand , South Africa
243. Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
244. Lena Merhej, Samandal collective, France
245. Brinkley Messick, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, United States
246. Soumaya Mestiri, Professor of political and social philosophy, University of Tunis, Tunisia
247. Birgit Meyer, Utrecht University, Netherlands
248. Faranak Miraftab, Professor, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, United States
249. Nicholas Mirzoeff, New York University, United States
250. Timothy Mitchell, Columbia University, United States
251. Tariq Modood, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
252. Raul Mondragon , Comunicador, Músico , Perú
253. Célestin Monga, Economist, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, USA
254. Pete Moore, Case Western Reserve University, United States
255. Marissa J. Moorman, Associate Professor, Indiana University, United States
256. Annelies Moors, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
257. Clément Mouhot, Professor of mathematics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
258. Franz Müller, film director, Germany
259. Abdul-Karim Mustapha, Writer/ Multitudes Journal , United States
260. Charles NACH, Generation 90 Think Tank, Malaysia
261. Lubna Nadvi, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
262. Sina Najafi, Editor-in-Chief, Cabinet Magazine, Germany & United States
263. Arlette-Louise Ndakoze, Philosopher, writer, curator, Germany
264. Bonaventure Ndikung, SAVVY Contemporary (Director), Germany
265. Basile Ndjio, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study/university of Douala, Cameroon, the Netherlands
266. Mary Jane Nealon, Writer, United States
267. Michael Neocosmos, Emeritus Professor in Humanities Rhodes University , South Africa
268. Christopher Newfield, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
269. Alf Nilsen, University of Pretoria, South Africa
270. Onur Suzan Nobrega, Institute of Sociology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, Germany
271. Anne Norton, University of Pennsylvania, United States
272. John Oakes, OR Books, publisher, United States
273. Adi Ophir, Tel Aviv University, Israel
274. Elsa Oréal, CNRS, France
275. Juan Orrantia, Photographer, South Africa
276. Pablo Oyarzun, Professor, University of Chile, Chile
277. Rose Parfitt, Kent Law School, United Kingdom
278. Hadas Pe’ery, Tel Aviv University, Israel
279. Peter Pelbart, Professor in Catholic Pontifical University in São Paulo, Brasil
280. Nicola Perugini, University of Edinburgh , United Kingdom
281. Gregory Pflugfelder, Associate Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University, United States
282. Edgar Pieterse, African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town, South Africa
283. Charles Piot, Duke University, United States
284. Alexandra Pirici , Artist, Romania
285. Sheldon Pollock, Raghunathan Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies, Columbia University, United States
286. Megan Povey, Professor of Food Physics, United Kingdom
287. Anjali Prabhu, Wellesley College, United States
288. Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
289. Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor of Architecture, MIT, United States
290. Anandi Ramamurthy, Sheffield Hallam University , United Kingdom
291. Norma Rantisi, Professor, Canada
292. Roshdi Rashed, CNRS, Paris, France
293. Marwan Rashed, Professor of Philosophy, Sorbonne University, France
294. Carina Ray, African and African American Studies, Brandeis University, United States
295. Bruce Robbins, Columbia University, United States
296. François Robinet, Paris-Saclay University, France
297. Steven Robins, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
298. Shira Robinson, The George Washington University, United States
299. Mariela Rodríguez , Universidad de Buenos Aires- CONICET, Argentina
300. Noa Roei, Assistant Professor, Department of Literary and Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
301. Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
302. Andrew Ross, New York University, United States
303. Michael Rothberg, 1939 Society Samuel Goetz Chair in Holocaust Studies, UCLA, United States
304. E. Natalie Rothman, University of Toronto, Associate Professor of History, Canada
305. Catherine Rottenberg, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
306. Renée Roukens, Creative producer, Nederland
307. Mario Rufer, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico, Mexico
308. Teemu Ruskola, Emory University, United States
309. Marie-Noëlle Ryan, Professor of Philosophy, Université de Moncton, Canada
310. Vladimir Safatle, Professor, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil
311. Dana Sajdi, Associate Professor of History, Boston College, United States
312. Maréme Samb Malong, Fondation MAM , Cameroun
313. Katya Sander, Professor, Nordland School for Art & Film, Germany
314. Peter Santos, Sociologist, Brazil
315. Felwine Sarr, Professor of Economics, University Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis, Sénégal
316. S. Sayyid, Professor, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
317. James Schamus, Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia University, United States
318. Pierre Schapira, Professor emeritus, Sorbonne University, France
319. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, University of California, Berkeley, United States
320. Willem Schinkel, Professor of Social Theory, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
321. Joan W. Scott, Professor Emerita, Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton NJ), United States
322. Richard Seaford, Professor, United Kingdom
323. Karen Seeley, Columbia University, United States
324. Michel Seymour, Université de Montréal, Canada
325. Andrée Sfeir-Semler, Gallery Owner, Germany
326. Dr. Andrée Sfeir-Semler, Sfeir-Semler Gallery Owner, Germany & Lebanon
327. Nishant Shah, ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands
328. Sa’diyya Shaikh, Associate Professor, University of Cape Town, South Africa
329. Kamila Shamsie, Writer, United Kingdom
330. Wendy Shaw, Free University, Berlin/ Professor, Germany
331. Dr. Simon Sheikh, Programme Director, MFA CUarting, Goldsmiths, University of London, Germany
332. Todd Shepard, Johns Hopkins University, United States
333. Marc Siegel, Scholar, Berlin, Germany
334. Shelly Silver, Associate Professor, Columbia University, United States
335. Adam Sitze, Amherst College, United States
336. Eyal Sivan, Filmmaker and Professor, Head of Research in Cinema, Amsterdam University of the Arts, Netherlands
337. Leila Slimani, Writer, France
338. John Smith, Artist filmmaker, United Kingdom
339. George Smith, Professor emeritus of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri; Nobel laureate in Chemistry 2018, United States
340. Rasha Soliman, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
341. Ania Soliman, Artist, France
342. Sylvain Sorin, Professor of mathematics, France
343. Michael Sorkin, Urbanist, Distinghished Professor, CUNY, United States
344. Ahdaf Soueif, Writer, Egypt
345. Sid Ahmed Soussi, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
346. Chantal Spitz, Tahitian writer, French Polynesia
347. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, United States
348. Bettina Steinbrügge, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Director, Germany
349. Raid M. Suleiman, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, United States
350. Zohreh T. Sullivan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States
351. Kaushik Sunder Rajan, University of Chicago, United States
352. Leslie Swartz, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
353. Simona Taliani, University of Turin, Dep. of Cultures, Politics and Society, Italy
354. Michael Thaddeus, Columbia University, United States
355. Madeleine Thien, Writer, Canada
356. Lembe Tiky, University of Connecticut , United States
357. Anya Topolski, Nijmegen University, The Netherlands
358. Maryse Tripier, Sociologist, University of Paris Diderot, France
359. Lou Turner, Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States
360. Gray Tuttle, Leila Hadley Luce Professor of Modern Tibet, Columbia University, United States
361. Beata Umubyeyi, Writer, France
362. Eli Valley, Comic Artist, United States
363. Salim Vally, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
364. Peter Van Der Veer, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany
365. Rogier van Reekum, Assistant Professor, The Netherlands
366. Pierre Vanhove, Physicist, Commissariat à l’énergie Atomique, France
367. Zachary Vaupen, artist and writer, United States
368. Françoise Vergès, Writer, Antiracist Decolonial Feminist, France
369. Claude Vergès, Professor of Medical Ethics University of Panama, Panama
370. Guido Veronese, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
371. Tonje Vold, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norge
372. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Stockton University, USA
373. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University, United States
374. Hans von Sponeck, UN Assistant Secretary-General (ret.), Germany
375. Dror Warschawski, Biophysics, UQAM, Montréal, Canada, Canada
376. Joanna Warsza, Curator / Konstfack University of Arts , Germany
377. Silja Weber, Germanic Languages, Columbia University, United States
378. Lisa Wedeen, Professor, The University of Chicago, United States
379. Eyal Weizman, Professor, Goldsmith’s, University of London, United Kingdom
380. Robert Wintemute, Professor of Human Rights Law, King’s College London, England, United Kingdom
381. Nicole Wolf, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom/Germany
382. Natalie Zemon Davis, Professor of History, University of Toronto, Canada
383. Linda M. G. Zerilli, Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, USA
384. Lew Zipin, University of South Australia, Australia