Peace Can’t Be Built on Occupation:
Stop UC Law’s Normalization Event
UC College of Law is hosting an event titled “Dialogues for Peace” on Monday, October 20th, featuring faculty from the University of Haifa, an institution operating on occupied Palestinian land and complicit in normalizing apartheid and displacement.
The event is being promoted as a “consensus-building” discussion about genocide. We must Make clear the people of Cincinnati have come to a consensus that those complicit in genocide belong in The Hague and not on platforms in our city. This event amplifies voices tied to institutions that uphold systemic violence against Palestinians while excluding Palestinian perspectives entirely.
We’re urging community members, students, and alumni to email UC Law demanding that this event and the International Peace and Security Initiative be halted and reevaluated. UC should not provide legitimacy to institutions or individuals who participate in the erasure and dehumanization of Palestinians.
Call Script
“Hello, my name is [Name], and I’m a [student/community member/concerned individual] calling about an upcoming event at UC College of Law. I’m calling because I’m deeply concerned about the event titled “Dialogues for Peace” scheduled for Monday, October 20, under the International Peace and Security Initiative.
This event claims to promote peace, but it is actually platforming individuals and institutions that are complicit in ongoing violence against Palestinians. In particular, inviting faculty from the University of Haifa—an institution located on occupied Palestinian land and tied to systems of apartheid and displacement—is not a neutral gesture.
This is not dialogue. It is normalization and erasure.
By hosting this event, UC Law is legitimizing narratives that obscure the realities of occupation and genocide. It creates an unsafe and alienating environment for Palestinian students, Arab and Muslim students, and their allies.
I’m urging UC Law to:
Immediately halt the “Dialogues for Peace” event, and
Suspend the International Peace and Security Initiative’s programming related to Palestine until there’s a transparent review and accountability process.
This is a necessary step to ensure UC Law’s platforms aren’t used to sanitize oppression or silence the voices of the oppressed.
UC has an opportunity to act with integrity and stand on the right side of history. Our communities are paying attention — and we will remember.
Can I count on the administration to take immediate action and halt this event?
(Allow them to respond.)
Thank you for your time. I hope UC Law will choose to listen to its community and uphold its values of justice and equity.”
Contacts
Haider Ala Hamoudi, Dean of the UC College of Law
Julie Leftwitch, Director of International Peace and Security Initiatives, Member of Urban Morgan Human Rights Institute at UC College of Law
Rudy Trejo, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Community Engagement & Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the College of Law, College of Law
trejorg@ucmail.uc.edu | 513.556.5126
Email Template
Subject: Urgent: UC Law Must Halt the “Dialogues for Peace” Event and Related Programming
Dear UC College of Law faculty,
It has come to my attention that the UC College of Law plans to host an event titled “Dialogues for Peace” on Monday, October 20th, under the International Peace and Security Initiative. As a concerned member of the Cincinnati community, I am deeply disturbed by this event and what it represents.
This initiative, particularly as it relates to Palestine, cannot in good faith be described as promoting peace when it actively platforms individuals and institutions complicit in the ongoing violence against Palestinians. Inviting faculty from the University of Haifa, an institution located on occupied Palestinian land and directly tied to systems that uphold apartheid and displacement, is not a gesture toward dialogue—it is an endorsement of normalization and erasure.
UC Law should not lend legitimacy to narratives that obscure the realities of occupation and genocide, nor provide a platform to those who enable or justify them. Doing so betrays the university’s commitment to justice, equity, and truth, and creates an unsafe and alienating environment for Palestinian students, Arab and Muslim students, and all who stand in solidarity with them.
I urge the administration to immediately halt the “Dialogues for Peace” event and to suspend the International Peace and Security Initiative’s programming related to Palestine until a transparent review and accountability process can be undertaken. This is a necessary first step toward ensuring UC Law’s public platforms are not used to sanitize oppression or silence the voices of the oppressed.
The University of Cincinnati has an opportunity to act with integrity—to listen to its students and community and to stand on the right side of history. Our communities will remember and refuse to donate, amplify, or attend this institution if you follow through with this event.
Respecfully,
[Your Name]
Concerned Community Member/Student/Alumni
