Statement condemns OSU Hillel event
We the undersigned organizations, condemn OSU Hillel’s November 4th panel featuring Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib and Nadav Eyal titled: “What Comes Next? Gaza, Israel, & the Future of the Middle East.”
It is abhorrent that OSU Hillel continues to host events geared toward denying genocide in Gaza while whitewashing Israel’s grotesque record of human rights abuses against Palestinians. OSU Hillel’s positions and actions as an organization contradict findings by Amnesty International and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry, which conclude that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Make no mistake: Genocide persists through the continued denial of conditions necessary for survival, including functioning healthcare and lifesaving treatment. It is time for OSU Hillel to accept this fact.
We condemn OSU Hillels platforming of Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. He weaponizes his Palestinian identity to deny the Gaza genocide whilst attempting to sanitize Israel's falling image. Ahmad claims to be an independent thinker, however his career his been bankrolled by pro Israel think tank Atlantic Council, whose hidden purpose is to promote Zionist ideology in the mainstream. Alkhatib has publicly rejected calling Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide, stating In a video shared through his own account, he answered that characterization by stating, “My personal opinion is no, I don’t think so.” Alkhatib, a native of Gaza himself, engages in genocide denialism while his own people suffer from the very crimes he denies.
We also object to OSU Hillel’s platforming of Nadav Eyal. His public record includes dismissive remarks about the UN genocide investigation, rejection of earlier starvation warnings as unsupported, sweeping defenses of Israeli soldiers’ intentions, and praise for Israel’s deadly pager attack in Lebanon despite its civilian toll. These positions undermine his credibility in a discussion that should center Palestinian rights, civilian protection, and accountability.
the question “What Comes Next?” risks treating genocide as a closed chapter while the destruction of Palestinian life continues. OSU Hillel’s framing and speaker selection is a gross attempt to ignore the facts on the ground. It also seeks to set the stage for proposed “normalization”- presenting the relationship between an occupying power and an occupied people as a disagreement that can be resolved through conversation without confronting occupation, dispossession, and unequal power.
Such programming is counterproductive when it offers the appearance of reconciliation while marginalizing Palestinians’ demands for justice. Palestinians deserve a future shaped by freedom, dignity, and the ability to remain in and rebuild their homeland. That future requires ending the ongoing destruction and holding those responsible accountable. There can be no “what comes next” without acknowledging and ending what is happening now.
In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine- Columbus
Faculty staff for Justice in Palestine- Osu
Students for Justice and Palestine- Osu
CAIR OH, Central & Southern Ohio.
Young United Souls for Revolutionary Action
Cincinnati Palestine solidarity coalition