Appeal to save Iraq's academics

URGENT APPEAL TO SAVE IRAQ'S ACADEMICS. Sign the petition online A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic liquidation of the country's academics. Even according to conservative estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many hundreds more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country in fear for their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain, the secular middle class - which has refused to be co-opted by the US occupation - is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences for the future of Iraq. Already on July 14, 2004, veteran correspondent Robert Fisk reported from Iraq that: "University staff suspect that there is a campaign to strip Iraq of its academics, to complete the destruction of Iraq's cultural identity which began when the American army entered Baghdad." The wave of assassinations appears non-partisan and non-sectarian, targeting women as well as men, and is countrywide. It is indiscriminate of expertise: professors of geography, history and Arabic literature as well as science are among the dead. Not one individual has been apprehended in connection with these assassinations. According to the United Nations University, some 84 per cent of Iraq's institutions of higher education have already been burnt, looted or destroyed. Iraq's educational system used to be among the best in the region; one of the country's most important assets was its well-educated people. This situation is a mirror of the occupation as a whole: a catastrophe of staggering proportions unfolding in a climate of criminal disregard. As an occupying power, and under international humanitarian law, final responsibility for protecting Iraqi citizens, including academics, lies with the United States. With this petition we want to break the silence. 1. We appeal to organisations which work to enforce or defend international humanitarian law to put these crimes on the agenda. 2. We request that an independent international investigation be launched immediately to probe these extrajudicial killings. This investigation should also examine the issue of responsibility to clearly identify who is accountable for this state of affairs. We appeal to the special rapporteur on summary executions at UNHCHR in Geneva. You can sign this petition online? or write to infobrusselstribunal.org if you want to support the campaign. This petition was launched by the BRussells Tribunal and is already endorsed by CEOSI (Spain), the Portuguese hearing of the WTI, Iraktribunal.de (Germany), the Swedish Antiwar committee, the IAC (USA), the International Association of Middle East Studies (IAMES), the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) and the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES), and several personalities, like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Tony Benn, Harold Pinter, Eduardo Galeano, John Pilger and Michael Parenti. See the list of principal endorsers. See also the call for action underneath and more information on www.brusselstribunal.orgAcademics.htm Other languages: Dutch - Arabic - Spanish - Portuguese - Japanese: Read the petition Call for action to save Iraq's Academics? 1. We call upon all people, especially academics and students, to help end the silence that surrounds the ongoing crime of the assassination of Iraqi academics and the destruction of Iraqi's educational infrastructure, and support Iraqi academics' right and hope to live in an independent, democratic Iraq, free of foreign occupation and hegemony. 2. We urge that academic institutions and organisations declare solidarity with their Iraqi colleagues. 3. We urge that academics forge links between Iraqi educators, both in exile and in Iraq, and universities worldwide. 4. We urge that student organisations link with Iraqi student organisations. 5. We urge that educators mobilise colleagues and concerned citizens to take up the cause of the salvation of Iraq's intellectual wealth, by organising seminars, teach-ins and forums on the plight of Iraq's academics. The world's academics and intellectuals must act now to save the lives of their colleagues in Iraq. [The BRussells Tribunal, in cooperation with other organisations, has started to build a network of contacts and raise public awareness and can provide information and support to individuals and groups who wish to mobilise on this issue. We are able to act as a depository and hub for this campaign] http:www.brusselstribunal.orgAcademics.htm Other languages: NL - Spanish - Arabic - Japanese - Portuguese: Read the petition Provisional list of endorsers Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Philosophy of Language, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics Philosophy, USA Tony Benn, President of the STOP THE WAR COALITION, Former MP, Cabinet Minister and Chairman of the British Labour Party, UK John M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize in Literature 2003, South Africa Harold Pinter, Nobel Prize in Literature 2005, UK Eduardo Galeano, essayist, journalist, historian, and activist, Uruguay. Denis J. Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary-General 1994-98 Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary General, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq 1998-2000, Germany Howard Zinn, professor, writer, educator, and leader in nonviolent social protest, USA John Pilger, journalist and documentary film-maker, UKAustralia Michael Parenti, author, USA Antonio Negri, moral and political philosopher, Italy Robert A. Dahl, Political Theorist, Yale University Curtis F.J. Doebbler, Dr., International Human Rights Lawyer. Françs Houtart, Prof. Em., Director of the Tricontinental Center ? Cetri, Belgium, member executive committee BRussells Tribunal. Samir Amin, author, director of the Third World Forum in Dakar - Senegal Egypt Immanuel Wallerstein, Prof. Yale University, USA. Richard Falk, Prof. Em. of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Chair of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, recipient of the UNESCO Peace Education Prize, USA Craig Calhoun, president of the Social Science Research Council and university professor of social sciences, New York University, USA Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist and author, Canada Susan George, author of A Fate Worse Than Debt and Another World Is Possible If ..., France Bianca Jagger, Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador and member of the Executive Director's Leadership Council of Amnesty International, USA Gabriel Kolko, author and historian. Dennis Brutus, professor emeritus dept of africana studies univ of pittsburgh, USA Norman Paech, Prof. Dr., Professor fentliches Recht an der Hochschule ftschaft und Politik, member Deutscher Bundestag, Germany Juan R. I. Cole, Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the History Department of the University of Michigan, USA Michael Mann, Professor of Sociology, UCLA, USA Jean Bricmont, scientist, Prof. specialist in theoretical physics, U.C. Louvain-La-Neuve, author of Imperialisme Humanitaire and Intellectual Imposters, executive committee BRussells Tribunal, Belgium Richard J. Bernstein, professor of philosophy, New School University Lieven De Cauter, philosopher, Prof. Dr. K.U. Leuven Rits, initiator of the BRussells Tribunal Pierre Klein, Professor International Law, U.L. Bruxelles, Belgium Paul Kennedy, professor of history, Yale University, author of The Rise and Decline of Great Powers, USA Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, The University of Chicago, USA Tareq Ismael, Prof. of Political Science, University of Calgary. Mohammed Aref, Science writer based in Surrey, UK Former advisor to Arab Science and Technology Foundation in United Arab Emirates (2000-2003) and science editor for Al Hayat newspaper in London (1988-2000). Raymond William Baker, President of IAMES (International Association of Middle East Studies) and President of the Administrative Board of a transnational initiative to build an international university in Iraq, Global Partners for the International University of Iraq GP-IUI). Guenter Meyer, Prof. Dr., Centre for Research on the Arab World (CERAW), University of Mainz, Germany Helen Caldicott, president, Nuclear Policy Research Institute Francis A. Boyle, professor of law, University of Illinois Mark Lewis Taylor, Professor of Theology Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA David Cromwell, editor Medialens, researcher University of Southampton UK Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa, director Centre for Research on Globalization, Canada Jean Leca, Professor (emeritus) at the Institut d' Etudes Politiques de Paris Anthony Arnove, editor, writer, USA Jim Harding, Dr., Past Director and retired Professor, School of Human Justice, University of Regina, Canada Saadalla Al Fathi, former head of the Energy Studies' Department at the OPEC secretariat John Saxe-Fernández, Professor, National Autonomous University of México Azmi Ashour, managing editor of Al Ahram Al Democratia magazine in Egypt Michael J. Shapiro, political theorist, University of Hawai'i, USA Paul Patton, professor of philosophy, University of New South Wales Korkut Boratav, Professor, President, Turkish Social Science Association Stephen Eric Bronner, professor of political science, Rutgers University Raymond Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, New Zealand Ian Douglas, Dr., Visiting Professor Political Science Department An-Najah National University Nablus, Palestine Abdul Ilah Al-Bayaty (Writer - Iraq France) Leslie Sklair, emeritus professor of sociology, London School of Economics, UK Olle Josephson, Professor in Scandinavian Languages, Director of Swedish language Council, Co-editor of the Swedish socialist quarterly ClartéSPAN Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Ph.D., Prof. Dr., Institute of Political Science, Philipps-University, MarburgGermany Herman De Ley, Prof. Em. Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Belgium Salah Almukhtar, Author , journalist and Chairman Of friendship, peace and solidarity Organisation, Iraq Mohammed Al-Obaidi, Prof. U.K., Spokesman and Deputy General Secretary, The People's Struggle Movement - IRAQ Mousa Al-Hussaini, Dr., Journalist and Writer, Iraq Abdulkarim Hani, Physician, Arab National Current Movement, IRAQ Fouad Elhage, Dr., Editor in Chief, Al-Moharer Haifa Zangana (Novelist - Iraq UK) Sabah Al-Mukhtar (President of the Arab Lawyers Association - Iraq UK) Mujbil Al-Marsumi, University professor, IRAQ, Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan Imad Khadduri (Nuclear scientist - Iraq Canada) Sami Ramadani (Senior lecturer in sociology at London Metropolitan University - Iraq UK) Truth Teller, Doctor, Directorate of health, Ninevah, Iraq N.D.Kharrufa, Physician, Ministry of health, Iraq Talat al Mukhtar, academic doctor, Baghdad University College of Medicine, Iraq Mundher Al-Adhami (Research Fellow at Kings College London - Iraq UK) Amir Al Ani (Sociologist - Iraq France) Ghali Hassan (Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University - Perth, Australia) Niloufer Bhagwat (Vice President of Indian Lawyers Association - Mumbai India) Karen Parker (Attorney , Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, partners of the BRussells Tribunal - USA) Thomas McCarthy, professor of philosophy, Northwestern University, USA Haideh Moghissi, Ph.D, Professor, Director, MCRI Diaspora, Islam, Gender Project, Atkinson Faculty, York University, UK Jan Fermon (Lawyer of Court case against General Tommy Franks in Brussels, Progress Lawyers Network - Belgium) Amy Bartholomew (Law professor - Canada) James C. Faris, Prof., Director Emeritus, University of Connecticut Program in Middle East Languages and Area Studies, USA Ayse Gul Altinay , Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Sabanci University, Turkey Dr Martha Mundy, Reader in Anthropology, London School of Economics Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature, Duke University, USA, co-author of Empire Arturo Escobar, Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, USA Thomas Fasy, Associate Professor of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA William E. Connolly, Political Theorist and Krieger-Eisenhower Professor, Johns Hopkins University, USA Diana Judit Milstein . Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Argentina Habib Ajroud, University of Manouba, Tunesia Gabriele Zamparini (independent filmmaker - ItalyUK) Paola Pisi, professor religious sciences, Italy Jeffrey Blankfort (Former editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin and currently hosts radio programs - USA) Jeff ArcherMalcom Lagauche (Journalist - USA) Corinne Kumar (Secretary General of El Taller International - Tunesia India) Dahr Jamail, independent journalist, USA. Lindsey German, Stop The War Coalition, chair, UK Andrew Murray, chair of the Stop the War Coalition and author, UK Carlos Varea (coordinator of SCOSI - Spanish Campaign against Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq - Spain) Joachim Guilliard (Journalist, Anti-war movement - Germany) Sigyn Meder (Anti-war movement - Sweden) Manuel Raposo (Anti-war movement - Portugal) John Catalinotto (International Action Center - USA) Charles Jenks (Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager, Traprock Peace Center, USA) Dahlia Wasfi M.D. (Anti-war activist, speaker, Global Exchange, Iraq USA) Larry Everest (Author Journalist - USA) Patrick Deboosere, demographer, VUB, Belgium Hana Al Bayaty, filmmaker journalist - Iraq Egypt France Dirk Adriaensens, coordinator SOS Iraq, executive committee BRussells Tribunal Anne Provoost, writer, Belgium Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, artist - dancer, Belgium Anne Morelli, professeur de critique historique à 'ULB, Belgium Inge Van De Merlen, BRussells Tribunal, Belgium Bernard Genet (Comaguer, Anti-war Committee Marseille - France) Bert De Belder M.D. (Coordinator Intal ? Medical Aid For The Third World - Belgium) Pol De Vos (Stop USA - Belgium) Ludo De Brabander (Vrede - Belgium) Dr. Nada M. Shabout, Assistant Professor of Art History, School of Visual Arts, University of North Texas, USA Paola Manduca, Prof. Genetics, University of Genua, Italy Ayse Berktay, World Tribunal Organiser, Turkey Ibrahim Ebeid, Co-Editor , Al-Moharer Hani Shukrallah, Research Consultant, Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Egypt Amir Alfarge, president of l'Association of Iraqi of France Lori R. Price, journalist and managing editor, Citizens For Legitimate Government, USA Hashim Al-Tawil, Ph.D. Art History, Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, MI, USA Andy Griggs, Board Member, United Teachers Los Angeles; Steering Committee Member, US Labor Against the War; Executive Ctte Member, National Education, Association Peace and Justice Caucus, USA Dan Kaplan, Executive Secretary San Mateo (CA) Community College Federation of Teachers, USA Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D., Lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies, CLG (legitgov.org) Founder and Chair, USA Natasa Tucev, PhD candidate, English Department, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Nis, Serbia, Yugoslavia Garbis Altinoglu, writer and activist, Turkey Yildiz Aydin, Prof. Dr., Turkey Analia Diana Matas Lic. en Ciencias de la Educació Docente Universitaria Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Argentina Chana Bloch, Professor Emerita, poet and translator Mills College USA Karen Brodkin, Professor UCLA USA Michael McKinley, Senior Lecturer, International Relations and Strategy,? Australian National University, Australia Dr Ismail Jalili, Consultant Surgeon, Chairman National Association of British Arabs, Past President British Arab Medical Association UK Sherna Berger Gluck, Professor Emerita, USA Daizo Kutsuzawa, secretary general ICTI (Internatiomal Criminal Tribunal for Iraq), Japan May Muzaffar, poet-writer, Iraq S. Subramanian, Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, India Ruth Laila Schmidt, Professor, University of Oslo, Norway Radwa Ashour, Writer and Academic, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt Egyptian Association against Torture, Egyptian NGO, Egypt El Nadim Center, Egyptian NGO, Egypt Aida Seif El Dawla, Professor of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Egypt Thora Reynolds, Artist, Academic Activist, National Writer's Union (USA) Daniel J Guilfoil, professor of philosophy-emeritus, USA Sami Rasouli, Muslim Peacemaker Team, Najaf, Iraq Carol Adler, President Dandelion Books, LLC, Arizona, USA Alessandro Duranti, Professor Dept of Anthropology, UCLA, USA www.countercurrents.org supports this campaign Rashad Salim, Artist, cultural researcherwriter, iNCiA International Network of Contemporary Iraqi Artists, UK Dr. Adrienne Kochman, Asst. Professor of Art History, Dept. of Fine Arts, Indiana University Northwest, USA Bruce S. Cooper, professor, Fordham University, Graduate School of Education, USA Rosalyn Baxandall, Distinguished Teaching Prof at SUNY Old Westbury, American Studies, Chair, USA C. M. Naim, Professor Emeritus of South Asian Languages Literatures, University of Chicago, USA Marc Vandepitte, philosopher and author, Belgium Paresh Chattopadhyay, Professor of Political Economy, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada Baskin Oran, Prof. International Relations, Faculty of Political Sciences Ankara Ilhan Berktay, Prof. Civil Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul Nadje Al-Ali, Dr. Social Anthropology, University of Exeter, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, UK Paul Vanden Baviè (former journalist De Standaard, publicist and editor of webzine Uitpers - Belgium) Sister Anne Montgomery RSCJ, Christian Peacemakers Teams Paul Rabinow, professor of anthropology,?University of California, Berkeley Miel Van Campenhout, em. teacher philosophy St.Lukas Hogeschool Brussels Vittorio Marletto, Resp. Ricerca e Sviluppo, Agrometeorologia e Telerilevamento, Italy Eric Corijn, Prof. Dr., Centre for Urban Research COSMOPOLIS - City, Culture Society, VUB, Belgium Arif Dirlik, Knight Professor of History and Cultural Anthropology, Director, Center for Critical Theory and Transnational Studies, USA Anberiya Hanifa, Coordinator Muslim Womens Research and Action Forum, Sri Lanka Steve Roberts, English teacher and teacher trainer, Barcelona, Spain Angelo Baracca, Professor of Physics, University of Florence, Italy Alex Callinicos, Professor of European Studies, French Department, King's College London M. Dhont, Prof., Dept ObGyn, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium Moshe Lewin, professor Emeritus of History,University of Pennsylvania, USA? Stephen Gill, distinguished research professor, York University, Canada Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Chairperson Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Heidi Toelle, professeur de litterature arabe, Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris Elmar Altvater, Dr. oec. publ.,? Professor f?itikwissenschaft an der FU-Berlin, Redaktionsmitglied der PROKLA, Germany Said Zulfica, Vice-President, Patrimoine sans Frontiès, Paris? (Heritage without Borders) Aldo Bernardini, Professor Ordinario di Diritto internazionale, Università di Teramo, Italy Guido De Schrijver, Europees Netwerk van Oscar Romero Committees, Belgium Sahba Abdul Wahid, England, Master degree in physical chemistry Astridur Palsdottir, D.Phil., Molecular Biology Laboratory, Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland Jacques Bidet, professeur à l'Université de Paris-X Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India Ramanujam Sooriamoorthy, Education Officer (French English), Mauritius David Ludden, Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania, USA Mary Jacobus, Professor, University of Cambridge, UK, Director, CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities) Mushirul Hasan, Professor, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India Tim Mitchell, Professor of Politics, New York University, USA Electa Arenal (Professor emerita), Ph.D. Program in Hispanic Luso-Brazilian Literatures Women's Studies Certificate Program, former director of the Senter for humanististk forskning (Center for Feminist Studies in the Humanities) at the University of Bergen, Norway and of the Center for the Study of Women and Society at the Graduate Center of CUNY (City University of New York). Ibrahim Habib, Economic Consultant, Chairman of Iraqi Community Club - London Wafaa' Al-Natheema, Activist, Journalist, Art Researcher and Promoter, Iraqi-American translatorinterpreter Beverly J. Silver, Professor, Department of Sociology, The Johns Hopkins University, USA Pablo Ortellado, Professor of Public Policy, University of Sã Paulo, Brasil Kolya Abramsky, State University New York, Binghamton, USA Dieter Christensen, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, New York David Graeber, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, USA Ernst-Peter Rhopf, mathematician, Erlangen, Germany, Siegrun Dewald-Rhopf, Erlangen, Germany. Joe Emersberger - Engineer, Windsor, Canada Sarah Meyer, researcher, Sussex, UK Dana White, Minneapolis, MN, USA Herman Vanvinckenroye, Chief Designer, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium Marianne Van Lindt, Styliste, retired, Belgium Abe Hayeem - Architect UK Mary Farrar, Inverary, Ontario, Canada Eva Manez, periodista, Spain Barzan Ali A. Aziz, Senior Process Engineer, UAE Patty Margaret, SEIU Local Field Representative, Organizer, USA Adam Breasley, Melbourne, Australia Domenico Jervolino and Alternative (Italy) Claudio Katz? (economist, argentina) Wouter Sinaeve, Educatief medewerker Stedelijke Musea Ieper, In Flanders Fields, Belgium Pamela Martens, Civil Rights Activist, USA Marjorie Ramphal? 17310 Quaker Lane C 29? Sandy Spring, MD, USA Petros Constantinou, coordinator Campaign Genoa 2001, Greece