From the Society of Biblical Literature:
The following statement has been approved by majority vote of the Society of Biblical Literature’s Council.The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) vigorously condemns the terrorist attacks in Israel initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The slaughter of innocents, taking of hostages, wanton destruction, and the ongoing atrocities against civilian non-combatants are horrific and opposed to the values we espouse as human beings and as a professional society dedicated to the advancement of scholarship on the Bible. We are concerned by the subsequent upsurge in anti-Semitic violence in the United States and globally, and encourage each one of you, our scholarly community, to stand firm against such actions in your own academic institutions. As a professional organization, we stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and wish to support all impacted by these tragic events, especially our members and their families. SBL resolves to develop appropriate educational media, publications, and conferences challenging the use of biblical and other authoritative texts to justify hatred and intolerance in any form. As SBL’s governing board, we pledge our support and send strength to members of our organization in Israel whose family members are missing or held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, and we mourn with our colleagues impacted by these tragic events and all other innocent victims of the conflict.
It is my understanding that before sending this the organization of which I am a member ineptly sent something to Israeli members saying they would not be able to get refunds for the upcoming conference. My sharing and commenting on the official statement in no way says anything about any other email they sent which I did not receive and have not seen. What I do want to say is that, when they issued this official statement, they found a great way of putting things that is quite balanced. I say that having been struggling for words in recent days, and preferring to remain silent than say something that could be taken the wrong way or hurt even when the intention is to help. In volatile situations even words of support can miss their mark. I’ve recirculated things others have written, but even then it has often been with some hesitation. Why? Because I don’t want anyone to think that my unqualified denunciation of Hamas and their recent atrocities means that I am opposed to justice for Palestinians. I don’t want anything I say that indicates my concern for Palestinian civilians and the people as whole to be twisted to imply that I do not condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas.
I have struggled with how to speak about this even in the past when we were not in the midst of violence and in the aftermath of atrocities. When I’ve taken student groups to the Holy Land, among them have been Palestinian-Americans who accompanied me on their first-ever visit to the land their parents were forced to flee. I also took them to the Holocaust Museum where they were confronted with a perspective they hadn’t encountered previously. I also had the privilege of taking a Jewish student who had been to Israel before on her first visit to the West Bank. I’ve never been to Gaza, and it is fascinating to look at ancient maps that label much that same stretch of land as “Philistia.” That has absolutely no bearing on the contemporary situation, since neither the Arab population there now nor Israelis are the heirs of the ancient Philistines who were of European extraction and invaded from the Mediterranean islands. No one today is where they were two thousand years ago, yet both Arabs and Israelis in the region genetically show their connection to the ancient Canaanite inhabitants of the land (as well as the links of the Canaanites with Anatolia). We cannot settle matters by asking “who was here first?” We can only stand against atrocities, and stand for justice.
Hence my appreciation for the SBL statement. Like SBL I stand unequivocally with the people of Israel. I stand with the people. In the broad sense, being of Jewish descent on my maternal line I am part of that people, but I am not a citizen of the modern nation state, and siding with the people does not stand with a party in power or a national policy any more than my being a U. S. citizen means I align with a political party, a president, or a policy. I stand with victims of violence whose only desire is to live freely and in peace with justice for themselves and others. I stand with those who have had their lives cheapened by the ideologies and politics of others. I stand thus with people wherever they are found, and in my home country as well.
I am under no illusion that the SBL statement is perfect, or that my own words are adequate or appropriate. Statements are like justice. The work of human beings is never perfect. But we must never allow our inability to be perfect to keep us from trying our best to do and to say what is right.
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