Why we signed a petition asking for Israel to be suspended from the astronomy Olympiad

Last month, we both signed a petition addressed to the president of the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Aniket Sule, drawing attention to Israel’s flagrant violations of international law, the systematic destruction of Gaza’s educational infrastructure and the killing of many tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children.

The petition requested that the board adopt a resolution to suspend Israel from the IOAA – an annual international competition for high school students on astronomy and astrophysics – until it complies with international law. This resolution was discussed and adopted by the international board of the IOAA with an overwhelming majority; Israeli students will now still be allowed to participate in the competition, not under their flag, but as individuals.

Hundreds of scientists across the globe supported this petition.

The international body of the IOAA is a group of astronomers and astrophysicists from countries all over the globe. The conclusions it reaches cannot, on the face of it, have any significant impact on geopolitics. This is almost always true – but not this time.

We are witnessing something unprecedented: a long-suffering people corralled in a small strip of land, deprived of humanitarian aid and sequestered from the press, are being systematically exterminated. Medics and journalists have been targeted. Schools, universities, and hospitals have been razed. And for the better part of nearly two years, the international community – barring a few – has contented itself with abstract debates on the use of violence and the appropriateness of the term “genocide”.

Most states, including India, have had an unmoored, hysterical response to demonstrations and appeals to put an end to the violence perpetrated by Israel. A fear of extending solidarity and helping those in dire circumstances – something fundamental to us as a species – has now engulfed the Earth.

In this environment, it is important to remember that this petition was never guaranteed to succeed – indeed, one of the initial signatories, the mathematician Ahmed Abbes, has been valiantly fighting a campaign to get a similar resolution passed in the International Mathematical Olympiad, with no success.

In other, smaller conferences with less visibility, those of us sympathetic to the Palestinian cause have made efforts to get similar resolutions passed, once again with no success. We fully intend to continue in this course of action until the genocide stops and the state of Israel abides by international law.

Why do we persist? We do this because we believe that it is our responsibility to extend solidarity and support to those facing violence and dispossession in whatever way we can. The successful petition to suspend Israel from the IOAA is a small step in that direction.

It is our earnest hope that more scientists and citizens will shed their fears of reprisal and raise their voice in a chorus of sympathy for the Palestinian people and that if enough well-meaning groups do this, it will force Israel to withdraw from Gaza and the Occupied Territories, stop the routine harassment, kidnapping, and torture of Palestinians, and comply with international law. There is no doubt that we have a long way to go.

To imagine, however, against the backdrop of an ongoing and live-streamed genocide, that our concern should principally be to avoid any “embarassment” Indian state might face on account of a petition addressed to an independent international body, is a willful and unconscionable misdirection. The real embarrassment here is the continued support Israel enjoys on the world stage, despite its deliberate, horrific, and unforgivable actions.

There are those who argue that as scientists, we should focus on our research and teaching and not on politics. To this, we respond that our passion for science stems from our humanity and that a crucial part of this humanity is a concern for the well-being of life. Our humanity is not negotiable. A continued silence on our part would be an abdication of our responsibility as intellectuals and custodians of knowledge and as human beings.

There is an effort underway to isolate some of the signatories and point to them as ring-leaders of a network of supposed troublemakers. This conspiratorial framing may suit the agendas of a few, but nothing could be further from the truth. We have seen injustice and we have spoken out against it, that is all.

We stand firmly by what we said, and we stand with our fellow signatories.

Above all, we stand with the people of Gaza.

Madhusudhan Raman teaches physics at the University of Delhi. Aditi Dudeja is a computer scientist working at the University of Salzburg.