Dear EASP members,

We have been approached by several members and colleagues regarding our position on the current escalation of violence in the Middle East, including an open letter addressed to the EASP Executive Committee. We have carefully read and discussed all letters and messages.

In our original statement, we explained our policy not to take a political position in conflicts, since we do not have the mandate to do so. It is also the case that within the Executive Committee, our political positions are not always the same, making it difficult to make unanimous political statements.

This is not an easy discussion but we always try our best to listen to, and support, our members. Some members have noted an inconsistency when comparing our statement to the previous Executive Committee’s statement regarding the Russian attack on Ukraine. We do acknowledge this inconsistency. Each elected Executive Committee has its own discussions and makes its own decisions, subject to EASP’s Articles and Standing Orders.

Despite our decision to refrain from making a political statement in this current crisis, we unequivocally condemn all violations of human rights and of the international humanitarian law, as we are sadly witnessing in the Middle East. We acknowledge that many of us are experiencing high levels of moral outrage. We deem it not only appropriate but also psychologically and socially healthy to express it and translate it into civic engagement and action.

We have been asked to re-activate our scholars-at-risk programmes for academics affected by the crisis. We wholeheartedly support this request. However, embarking on this programme following the Russian attack on Ukraine did not lead to any concrete outcomes (i.e., no colleagues from Ukraine applied for support). We thus invite all our members to help us generate and realise ideas on how to best support colleagues affected by the current crisis. Anyone with a vision and concrete ideas is invited to contact us via office@easp.eu. We will discuss with our members how we as an association can offer support, connect parties, and design activities to support our colleagues. We are fortunate in EASP to have a very large network of academics, many of whom will be in a position to assist us in this endeavour.

Thank you all for supporting EASP. We wish you all the best for 2024 and we look forward to working with you.

With our warmest wishes,

The EASP Executive Committee