The Executive Board of the Association for Jewish Studies strongly condemns the violent attack against the United States Capitol and actions by President Trump and other elected officials that incited this attack.
The individual and institutional members of the Association for Jewish Studies, a learned society dedicated to the advancement of research and teaching in Jewish Studies, rely on our democratic system and a public culture free of violence and intimidation to ensure the academic and intellectual freedom at the heart of our profession.
Recent baseless attempts to delegitimize the election results, combined with incitement to violence by elected officials, endanger the foundations of American public and political culture as well as the pursuits of scholars and educators committed to fact-based research and critical inquiry.
We take particular note of the explicit anti-Semitic signs and symbols, as part of the even broader presence of hateful rhetoric toward communities that have historically been subject to violent acts, during this insurrection. As scholars of Jewish Studies, we cannot remain silent in the face of these alarming and explicit calls for further violence and oppression, especially when they are being fomented by members of the government.
We call on our elected officials to hold those who incited or committed violence against the government accountable for their actions; to work to strengthen our democratic institutions; and to protect our constitutional rights as individuals and scholars.
