Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, Mrs. Françoise Djerejian, and Ambassador David M. Satterfield,

As a unified body of students, faculty, staff, and alumni at Rice University and the University of Houston and members of the broader Houston community, we reject the glorification of Israel’s apartheid and colonization of Palestine on our campuses and unanimously call for the immediate cancellation of the Rice University Baker Institute of Public Policy’s “Israel at 75” conference.

The “Israel at 75” conference, which marks the 75th anniversary of Israel’s colonization of Palestine, glorifies al-Nakba, or The Catastrophe, in which 400 Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed and over 1,000,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced from their homeland in order to create the state of Israel. For over 75 years, the Palestinian people have resisted the most barbaric forms of Israel’s violence — from daily home demolitions, to mass arrest of Palestinian youth, to illegal military blockades that deny Palestinians freedom of movement on their own land.

As named by Palestinians for decades and recently affirmed by several human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Israel’s apartheid policies of segregation and dispossession deprive Palestinians of their ability to live and continue the decades-long violence against the Palestinian people. In 2023 alone, Israel has already murdered over 100 Palestinians. During the current holy month of Ramadan, Israeli occupation forces have intensified their attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, storming the holy site and brutally beating worshippers, tear gassing them, and conducting mass arrests.

As the Palestinian people continue to fight against Israel’s brutality, Rice University’s Baker Institute is platforming major Israeli war criminals — including former prime minister Ehud Barak, current president Isaac Herzog, and former military strategist Michael Herzog — whose political careers are defined by bombings on Gaza, mass imprisonment of youth, and the state-sanctioned murder of Palestinians.

While Rice University claims to engage in “contribution to the betterment of our world,” its actions prove otherwise. As students, alumni, and community members who contribute to the rich fabric of the university and its programming, we reject the institutional expenditure of social, economic, and political capital on programming that undermines the agency and freedom struggle of the Palestinian people. We refuse to allow Rice University to engage in normalization of Israeli aggression and demand that Rice University:

1. Immediately cancel the “Israel at 75” conference

2. Release a statement in conjunction with the Baker Institute reaffirming the university’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion by supporting Palestinian academic and organizing initiatives on campus and in Houston more broadly

As students, faculty, staff, and alumni at Rice University and the University of Houston, as well as members of the broader Houston community, we reject Rice University’s condonation of Israel’s colonization and brutalization of Palestine and its resilient people in our name and affirm our unrelenting support for Palestinian liberation and self-determination.

Sincerely,

Rice University Students for Justice in Palestine

Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston

Palestinian Youth Movement Houston

Jewish Voice for Peace Houston