from: Now! to: twong@umbc.edu, wblake@umbc.edu, tinga@umbc.edu, salem.abozaid@umbc.edu, nance@umbc.edu, jmather@umbc.edu, asclem@umbc.edu, mcdonoug@umbc.edu, abguenet@umbc.edu, majeski@umbc.edu, ssauro@umbc.edu, menyuk@umbc.edu, MollyAyn@gmail.com, ritschel@umbc.edu, sfouts@umbc.edu, miruali@umbc.edu, todd.pittman@umbc.edu, efick1@umbc.edu, nkusmaul@umbc.edu, sullivan@umbc.edu, akalfogl@umbc.edu, rgoings@umbc.edu, lyoon@umbc.edu, rlambert@umbc.edu, wzhu@umbc.edu, omland@umbc.edu, muruhan@umbc.edu, studdsc@umbc.edu, loren@umbc.edu, philipma@umbc.edu, trobinso@umbc.edu, mariaca@umbc.edu, f117@umbc.edu, foadhamidi@umbc.edu, jliebman@umbc.edu, drabinsk@umbc.edu, president@umbc.edu, dauwalder@umbc.edu date: Nov 7, 2023, 11:37 AM subject: Where do you stand? Dear UMBC Senator, On Saturday October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza-Israel border and butchered hundreds of men, women and children. Women were raped next to the dead bodies of their friends. More than 200 people, including infants and elderly have been kidnapped to Gaza. Among the captives is Kfir - a 9 months old baby whose picture is attached with this email. Together with many in the world the UMBC campus did not remain idle. The national organization of Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated these heinous acts as "a historic win for the Palestinian resistance". On October 12 "Free Palestine" slogan appeared in front of the UMBC University Center. The same day President Sheares Ashby expressed feelings of "sympathy and compassion for the people of that region"-sympathy and compassion for the little Kfir and his kidnappers. On October 16 UMBC CHABAD and UMBC Hillel held a vigil honoring the victims of Hamas's terror and praying for peace, and the safe return of those captured. On October 25 UMBC students demonstrated inside The Commons loudly chanting "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free" - a call to genocide, and for annihilation of the State of Israel. Needless to say students are not the only ones responding to the barbaric crimes committed by Hamas on October 7. The next day Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad noticed "the scenes witnessed by millions of jubilant Arabs who spent the day watching the news, of Palestinian fighters from Gaza", the very same "fighters" who murdered in cold blood more than 1400 Israelis, and kidnapped the baby Kfir. The Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds took a different stand - their web site displays: "WE STAND WITH ISRAEL. We saddened and horrified by the heinous acts occurring in the State of Israel." The diverse views, and the UMBC students' actions are protected by free speech. Young people are often in the forefront of change and fight for social justice. The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the Deutsche Studentenschaft (German Student Union). I conclude by a quote from a letter of Israel Association of University Heads to their colleagues around the world (attached with this email for your convenience). "As the guardians of higher education and academia, actively pursuing knowledge for the benefit of humanity, as role models for and teachers of the leadership of tomorrow, we all share the responsibility to educate our communities." You, a member of the Senate, are protected by free speech no less than your students are. So far the Faculty Senate remained silent. The time to rise to the occasion, speak up, educate the students, and let them know what you and your department stand for is long overdue. History will remember those who remained silent - act now. With best regards, Jacob Kogan