By SHANNON O. WELLS and SUSAN JONES
From protests to seminars to emotional acknowledgements, the Pitt community is responding in a variety of ways to the horrors of the past two weeks in the Middle East.
Chancellor Joan Gabel sent out two community-wide emails in response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas that left 1,400 dead, and the subsequent Israeli counterattack that has killed more than 3,400 in Gaza.
She highlighted the resources available for those hurting and grieving, including Pitt Global, the University Counseling Center for students, and LifeSolutions for faculty and staff. More resources will be shared as they become available, Gabel added.
Two rallies on Oct. 19 brought supporters of Israel and Palestine to different locations in Oakland. The Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh led a rally on Flagstaff Hill, where religious leaders and government officials denounced Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel and offered support to the local Jewish community, the Post-Gazette reported. A pro-Palestinian gathering near the Cathedral of Learning drew hundreds with signs that read “Free Palestine” and “End the Occupation.”
The Pitt News reported today that Pitt’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine released a letter to Chancellor Gabel this week demanding that the University “unequivocally recognize and name the suffering of the Palestinian people.” The letter said that in her emails to the Pitt community, Gabel did not “mention the word Palestine, let alone acknowledge the unimaginable suffering that the Palestinian people have incurred as a result of decades of illegal occupation. The email you shared to the entire Pitt community lacked a clear distinction between innocent Palestinians and the terrorist group, subjecting Arabs of all faith backgrounds to Islamophobia and racist rhetoric.”
Teachable moments
Senate President Robin Kear noted at the Oct. 12 Senate Council meeting that the attacks this month bring back memories of the Tree of Life massacre in Squirrel Hill that happened almost five years ago — Oct. 28, 2018.
“As we quickly approach the five-year anniversary of that terrible day,” she said, “I fear that for many here in our community in the years to come, those thoughts will intertwine with the impact of the atrocities committed by the terroristic group Hamas on the state of Israel. We can condemn those atrocities, want to hold those responsible parties accountable, and fear the further destruction of war, fear for those who are held hostage and fear for each and every life that is taken and each family that is destroyed.
“We can also support our community members deeply affected by these atrocities. We can help them stand up and hold on just as we have done and continue to do for other tragedies that are closer to home and in other countries,” Kear continued.
“We can continue our educational mission of understanding and empathy for others within our spaces, our classrooms and our libraries, even as we strive to understand the roots of conflict and attempt to avoid it. We can hold hope and fear together, and it can give us clarity on what is important and who we want to be.”
At Senate Council meeting, Gabel said, “If you or your colleagues are planning to do something that creates, broadly speaking, a teachable moment that you think others would benefit from having access to, or you receive information from one of your colleagues from your alma mater, whatever, that they’re making something available online that you think would be helpful, we’re going to continue to put information out.
“I’m sure, unfortunately, that we are not at the end of the need to communicate about this,” she added.
Pitt hosted an online discussion on Oct. 16, featuring two experts on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: Mira Sucharov, a political scientist at Carleton University, and Omar Dajani, a professor of law at the University of the Pacific. Gabel also said Pitt is convening a panel of faculty members through Pitt Global to understand the war through the framework of international human rights and the international rule of law.
Pitt Community United in Compassion
In response to the events in the Middle East, a Jewish and a Muslim professor are joining together to plan a “Community United in Compassion” event on Oct. 26, “to highlight the importance of empathy, compassion, and solidarity as guiding principles in our commitment to making the world a better place for all.”
The event is co-sponsored by the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences, along with the Center for Governance and Markets, the University Center for International Studies, Pitt Global, the Student Affairs’ Office of Inclusion and Belonging, and the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
“As a compassionate community, we cannot remain indifferent to the current events unfolding in the Middle East, where innocent civilians, including children, have tragically lost their lives,” Abdesalam Soudi, a faculty member in linguistics and one of the organizers of the event, said in an email to colleagues. “In times like these, our collective compassion emerges as our most precious resource. It is our shared humanity that unites us and empowers us to reach out and support one another. What greater calling can there be in a world-class university?”
Soudi noted that on Sept. 14, “we witnessed the power of our community when we came together at Pitt Global to provide support to each other in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Morocco,” the country where he was raised. The Pitt community also came together after the Tree of Life shootings for a “Pitt Stronger than Hate” event.
The event’s other organizer, Jennifer Murtazashvili, founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets, said: “We witnessed the incredible way the community came together after the Tree of Life massacre here in Pittsburgh. All of us are affected by what has happened and may have strong views and emotions about what has taken place over the past two weeks. It is important for us to come together as a community to recognize our common humanity.
“As two faculty members — one Jewish and one Muslim — we are united in our desire to strengthen our community and focus what unites us at a time when so much can tear us apart. We are professors of everyone regardless of their backgrounds, beliefs or identity. As a Jewish faculty member, it is an honor for me to work alongside my dear friend and colleague Abdesalam Soudi, who is a champion of building bridges across groups and getting us all out of our echo chamber.”
Soudi said that the events in the Middle East, “prompt a myriad of emotions within us all, regardless of who we are. At the heart of it, we are all deeply affected by the loss of innocent lives.”
The compassion event will be from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 26, in the William Pitt Union ballroom. It will consider questions like “What do compassion and unity mean to you?” and “How can we foster compassion in our community beyond the current event?”
A vegetarian lunch will be served and an RSVP is required by Oct. 25 to HinH@pitt.edu. Look for more details about the event next week in the University calendar.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042. Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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