On the censoring of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb

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On the censoring of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb
Srividya Ramasubramanian & Ahlam Muhtaseb
To cite this article: Srividya Ramasubramanian & Ahlam Muhtaseb (2024) On the
censoring of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, Communication Monographs, 91:1, 1-6, DOI:
10.1080/03637751.2024.2304530
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2024.2304530
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EDITORIAL
On the censoring of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb
Editors’Collective
1
12 December 2023
On Saturday, 18 November 2023, at the National Communication Association conference’s
awards and presidential address, Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, an award-winning filmmaker,
researcher, scholar, educator, and public servant as well as our colleague from California
State University, San Bernardino was prevented by NCA staffleadership from making the
speech that appears below. Dr. Muhtaseb planned to make a statement referencing genocide
in Gaza. In essence, she was censored because of her speech’s topic, even though she is an
expert in our field on this subject. Other invited performers partaking in the presidential
address, as well as many conference attendees present, walked out in protest. We are high-
lighting the speech here to uphold the values of academic freedom, to recognize the loss of
life across the region particularly in Gaza, and to call attention to the ongoing and long-stand-
ing genocide
2
against Palestinians and the crisis facing those elsewhere around the world
within the Palestinian diaspora.
3
We also acknowledge and abhor the violence of those
killed, injured, and taken hostage in Israel on 7 October 2023.
The events unfolded as described in the National Communication Association Executive
Committee’s statement issued on Friday, 1 December 2023: “President Walid Afifi invited
member voices to join in a collective performance as the 2023 Presidential Address. These
voices, along with President Afifi, included: Sarah Amira de la Garza, Robert Gutierrez-
Perez, Lore LeMaster/The Cacophiliacs (Ana Isabel Terminel Iberri, Tyler S. Rife, Megan Ste-
phenson, Angela Labador, Liahnna Stanley), Ahlam Muhtaseb, Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock,
Bryan J. McCann, and Lionnell ‘Badu’Smith. Their collective voices were prepared to
portray a critical [re]imagining of the possibilities for NCA and the Communication disci-
pline and was entitled, ‘Let Us Imagine Our Future Together.’”
4
As the editors of Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Communication Teacher,
Communication and Democracy, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication,
Text and Performance Quarterly, Communication Monographs, Quarterly Journal of Speech,
Communication and Race, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Rhetoric, Politics,
and Culture, we promote academic freedom and denounce the censorship that Dr. Muhtaseb
faced. We wish to promote open discussion that recognizes the continued suffering of Pales-
tinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and the Palestinian diaspora. We also express solidarity with
Palestinians who are unable to express themselves freely and find safe spaces to reside in the
face of significant humanitarian challenges, genocide, displacement, famine, and oppression.
In reflecting on both the catastrophe in Gaza and this example of censorship related to
public speech about Gaza and the acute crisis facing Palestinians more broadly (e.g., in the
West Bank and the global diaspora), it is clear that we as communication scholars can do
more. Speaking out matters. Communication matters. Media framing matters. Words
matter. Stories matter. Visuals matter. Labels like hostages/prisoners, activists/terrorists,
© 2024 National Communication Association
COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS
2024, VOL. 91, NO. 1, 1–6
https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2024.2304530

refugees/victims, and war/genocide matter. We hope that in emphasizing this speech, the dis-
cipline/field of communication can take up the charge for free expression and democratic
principles, and join the call for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Pales-
tinian territories. More on this matter in particular and contemporary forms of censorship, in
general, will be forthcoming in the pages of the journals represented here.
An accounting from Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb
I, Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, Professor of Media Studies at California State University, San Ber-
nardino, was prohibited from delivering a portion of the presidential address at the
National Communication Association (NCA) Convention on 18 November 2023 at 5
p.m. The event, hosted by the largest association for communication studies scholars in
the U.S., was also intended to recognize me with a presidential citation for “Leadership
in Creating a More Community- and Culturally-Centered Discipline.”In September, Dr.
Walid Afifi, the elected president of NCA, asked several communication studies scholars
to contribute parts of his presidential address, aiming to envision the future of the disci-
pline in an innovative manner. He specifically selected scholars advocating for various
social justice issues, with me focusing on Palestine in my contribution, and delivering
the speech in Arabic.
My understanding is that multiple individuals from the national office of NCA, including
the executive director and the senior director of strategic communications, were involved in
preventing me from delivering my portion of the President’s Address at the NCA annual con-
ference against the will of the president. This decision, which was conveyed to me and the
other speakers just half an hour before we were supposed to go on stage, ultimately resulted
in the cancelation of the entire Presidential Address of Dr. Walid Afifi, the first Palestinian
President in the association’s history, which also silenced the voices of Black, Latinx, Indigen-
ous, differently abled, trans, and queer NCA members who were supposed to deliver the
address with me. Dr. Afifi was told that the speeches naming colonial violences would cast
the NCA in a negative light “from which NCA might never recover.”
When I pushed for more answers, I was told that my speech was singled out for removal
because of my references to genocide and “free Palestine”in the speech. These concerns were
raised with Dr. Afifi only an hour before the start of the event, even though the speech was
translated and shared with NCA five days earlier, without any prior objections. All speakers,
including me, then refused to present their parts of the address. During the award presen-
tation, when my name was called for the presidential citation, I briefly stood with duct
tape over my mouth before leaving the stage. Dr. Afifi mentioned that I rejected the
award. Another speaker who was supposed to receive an award also decided to reject their
award in solidarity with me. Immediately following the awards ceremony and before the Pre-
sidential Address, around a hundred scholars stood up, with some placing duct tape over their
mouths in solidarity, and they all walked out of the ballroom.
Upon the decision to censor my speech, we suggested protesting by going onto the stage in
defiance of the cancelation decision, but we were cautioned that we might face removal by
security hired by NCA. To defuse the situation, we opted to exit the ceremony and
perform our speeches and spoken words outside. We started our speeches and performances
as planned in the atrium of the hotel. Hotel security prevented us from using a megaphone in
the hotel atrium. They instructed us to go back inside the ballroom, but once we gave up the
megaphone, we were prevented from entering. Accordingly, we continued our presentations
outside the ballroom before relocating to an adjacent room to complete our speeches as
initially planned. What follows is the speech I had planned to give.
2EDITORIAL

English translation of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb’s speech intended to be delivered as a part of
the 2023 NCA Presidential Address in Arabic
Salam and Marhaba everyone! What an absurd coincidence that I address the NCA Con-
vention assembly under the theme of “Freedom”at a time when it has perhaps been more
evident than ever before that my home country of Palestine is not free! How absurd it is
that I am expected today to envision with you all a future of freedom when we are witnessing
genocide unfolding in front of our very own eyes and with our own money in Palestine! How
can I envision a future where we are all equal when Palestinians are dehumanized and invisi-
blized everyday in this country by both our government and our media, or when epistemic
violence is used against us in academia and to silence our voices every day? When there is
a deafening silence in our discipline as we detach from the genocide happening in Palestine,
especially by those “decolonial scholars”who wear their decoloniality as a meaningless badge?
Decoloniality is a verb: it is an action and it is rooted in praxis. Also, when our realities are
invisibilized from our disciplinary publications; by one count, in the entire history of all jour-
nals published by the NCA, twelve articles are the sum total of knowledge that included at
least some centering of the Palestinian experience. I wonder, would a Palestinian voice be
on this stage today had we not had a Palestinian president of our association? Past history
tells us no. When it comes to invisibility, would we have been able to consider the humanity
of Vietnamese people without the pictures of Nick Ut? How can I envision a community-cen-
tered approach to our discipline when my Palestinian community is being expelled from the
realm of justice and humanity?
In spite of all of that and in spite of my pain, I will share my vision for our discipline: it is a
vision that is based on decolonial approaches to knowledge production. Imagine if our scho-
larly tools allowed us to understand Gaza and its humanity, to understand people’s culture, life,
laughter, and resilience outside the realm of violence and destruction. My former Gazan
student and I attempted this when we tried to reclaim part of our narrative in the United
States, as we have learned from the works of the father of post-colonial school of thought,
the late Edward Said. Using immersive technologies last year, we managed to document life
in Gaza beyond the images of destruction, death, and violence. We wanted to capture the
multi-dimensional and multi-faceted life in Gaza, showing people’s resistance to the brutal
Israeli occupation and siege and their resilience through their daily transactions. We succeeded
in capturing hundreds of happy moments of life in Gaza, which we took and put in virtual
spaces in Mozilla Hubs. We preserved places and faces that no longer exist; they are well
hidden in virtual eternity. Take the Orthodox Church that no longer exists in the geography
of Gaza but will forever live in our virtual heart. We also wanted to imagine a liberated Gaza in
digital spaces as the liberation/freedom reality did/does not seem real. This imagination is
further and closer than ever before; it is the intangible/unthinkable/un-accessed truth.
The Chronicle of Higher Education published a piece by Jeffery Flier on October 13 titled
“Now is the Time for Administrators to Embrace Neutrality.”In it, Flier was the furthest
from neutrality. To not take a side against genocide, is indeed to take a side. Raz Segal
clearly stated in Jewish Currents that what is happening in Gaza is “A Textbook Case of Gen-
ocide,”but are we, people of color in general and Palestinians in particular, allowed the same
freedom to describe our genocide or Nakba? Can the subaltern speak, as Gayatri Spivak
inquires? Spivak exclaims: How can we touch the consciousness of the people, even as we inves-
tigate their politics? With what voice-consciousness can the subaltern speak?
Look at me here performing today in a way to be “accepted”by you all and to get my word
across,butinfact,allIwanttodoistoscream“stop the genocide in Gaza now and free Palestine.”
Arabic version of Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb’s speech intended to be delivered as a part of the
2023 NCA Presidential Address
COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS 3

ﻛﻢﻫﻮﻋﺠﻴﺐﺃﻥﺃﻟﻘﻲﺧﻄﺎﺑﻲﺃﻣﺎﻡﺍﻟﺠﻤﻌﻴﺔﺍﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔﻟﻌﻠﻮﻡﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﺻﻞﺗﺤﺖﻣﻮﺿﻮﻉ“ﺍﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ”ﻓﻲﻭﻗﺖﻗﺪﻳﻜﻮﻥﻓﻴﻪ
ﻭﺍﺿﺤ
ً
ﺎﺃﻛﺜﺮﻣﻦﺃﻱﻭﻗﺖﻣﻀﻰﺃﻥﺑﻠﺪﻱﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻦﻟﻴﺴﺖﺣﺮﺓ!ﻛﻢﻫﻮﻣﺜﻴﺮﺍﻟﻠﺴﺨﺮﻳﺔﺃﻥﻳ
ُ
ﺘﻮﻗﻊﻣﻨﻲﺍﻟﻴﻮﻡﺃﻥﺃﺗﺼﻮ
ّ
ﺭ
ﻣﻌﻜﻢﺟﻤﻴﻌ
ً
ﺎﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻼ
ً
ﺣﺮ
ً
ﺍﻭﻧﺤﻦﻧﺸﺎﻫﺪﺇﺑﺎﺩﺓﺟﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔﺃﻣﺎﻡﺃﻋﻴﻨﻨﺎﻣﻤﻮﻟﺔﻣﻦﺟﻴﻮﺑﻨﺎﻓﻲﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨ!ﻛﻴﻒﻳﻤﻜﻨﻨﻲﺗﺼﻮ
ّ
ﺭ
ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻞﻳﻜﻮﻥﻓﻴﻪﺍﻟﺠﻤﻴﻊﻣﺘﺴﺎﻭﻳﻦﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﻳﺘﻌﺮﺽﺍﻟﻔﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻴﻮﻥﻟﻼﻗﺼﺎﺀﻭﺍﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﺔﻣﻦﺍﻧﺴﺎﻧﻴﺘﻬﻢﻛﻞﻳﻮﻡﻓﻲﻫﺬﺍﺍﻟﺒﻠﺪ
ﻋﻠﻰﻳﺪﺣﻜﻮﻣﺘﻨﺎﻭﻭﺳﺎﺋﻞﺍﻹﻋﻼﻣ!ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﻳﺘﻢﺍﺳﺘﺨﺪﺍﻡﺍﻟﻌﻨﻒﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﻲﺿﺪﻧﺎﻓﻲﺍﻟﺤﻴﺎﺓﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﻳﻤﻴﺔﻭﻳﺘﻢﺍﺳﻜﺎﺗﻨﺎﻋﻦﺍﻟﺒﻮﺡ
ﺑﺎﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ!ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﻳﻜﻮﻥﻫﻨﺎﻙﺻﻤﺖﻣ
ُ
ﻄﺒﻖﻓﻲﻣﺠﺎﻟﻨﺎﺍﻟﺘﺪﺭﻳﺴﻲﻭﻧﻨﻔﺼﻞﻋﻦﺍﻹﺑﺎﺩﺓﺍﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔﺍﻟﺘﻲﺗﺤﺪﺙﻓﻲﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻦ،
ﺧﺎﺻﺔﻣﻦﻗ
ِ
ﺒ
َ
ﻞﺍﻟﺒﺎﺣﺜﻴﻦﺍﻟﻤﺨﺘﺼﻴﻦﻓﻲﺩﺭﺍﺳﺔﻣﺠﺎﺑﻬﺔﺍﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎﺭ؛ﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦﻳﺴﺘﺨﺪﻣﻮﻥﺩﺭﺍﺳﺎﺗﻬﻢﻛﺸﻌﺎﺭﻻﺃﻛﺜﺮ.
ﺍﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎﺭﻟﻴﺲﻣﺠﺮﺩﻣﺼﻄﻠﺢ،ﺑﻞﻫﻮﻓﻌﻞ...ﺇﻧﻪﻋﻤﻞﻣﺘﺠﺬﺭﺑﺎﻟﺘﻄﺒﻴﻘ.ﺃﻳﻀﺎ،ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﺗ
ُ
ﻤﺤﻰﺣﻘﺎﺋﻘﻨﺎﻣﻦﺍﻧﺘﺎﺟﺎﺗﻨﺎ
ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺜﻴﺔ؛ﻓﺒﺎﻟﻨﻈﺮﻟﻠﻤﻨﺸﻮﺭﺍﺕﺍﻟﻌﻠﻤﻴﺔﻟﻠﺠﻤﻌﻴﺔﺍﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔ،ﻧﺠﺪﺍﻧﻪﺗﻢﻧﺸﺮ١٢ﻣﻘﺎﻝﻋﻠﻤﻲﻓﻘﻂﺣﻮﻝﺍﻟﻘﻀﻴﺔﺍﻟﻔﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻴﺔ.
ﺃﺗﺴﺎﺀﻝ،ﻫﻞﻛﻨﺖﺳﺎﻛﻮﻥﻋﻠﻰﻫﺬﺍﺍﻟﻤﺴﺮﺡﺃﺗﺤﺪﺙﺍﻟﻴﻜﻢﺍﻟﻴﻮﻡﺍﺫﺍﻟﻢﻳﻜﻦﺭﺋﻴﺲﺟﻤﻌﻴﺘﻨﺎﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻲ؟!ﻳﻘﻮﻝﻟﻨﺎﺍﻟﺘﺎﺭﻳﺦ
ﺍﻟﺴﺎﺑﻖﻻ.ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﻳﺘﻌﻠﻖﺍﻷﻣﺮﺑﻄﻤﺲﺍﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ،ﻫﻞﻛﻨﺎﺳﻨﻜﻮﻥﻗﺎﺩﺭﻳﻦﻋﻠﻰﺭﺅﻳﺔﺇﻧﺴﺎﻧﻴﺔﺍﻟﺸﻌﺐﺍﻟﻔﻴﺘﻨﺎﻣﻲﺑﺪﻭﻥﺻﻮﺭ
ﻧﻴﻚﺁﻭﺕ؟ﻛﻴﻒﻳﻤﻜﻨﻨﻲﺃﻥﺃﺗﺼﻮ
ّ
ﺭﻧﻬﺠﴼﻣ
ُ
ﺮ
َ
ﻛ
َّ
ﺰﴽﻋﻠﻰﺍﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊﻓﻲﺗﺨﺼﺼﻨﺎﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎﻳﺘﻢﻃﺮﺩﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲﺍﻟﻔﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻲﻣﻦ
ﻣﻴﺪﺍﻥﺍﻟﻌﺪﺍﻟﺔﻭﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻧﻴﺔ.
ﻋﻠﻰﺍﻟﺮﻏﻢﻣﻦﻛﻞﺫﻟﻚﻭﺭﻏﻢﺃﻟﻤﻲ،ﺳﺄﺷﺎﺭﻙﺭﺅﻳﺘﻲﻟﺘﺨﺼﺼﻨﺎ:ﺇﻧﻬﺎﺭﺅﻳﺔﺗﺴﺘﻨﺪﺇﻟﻰﻧﻬﺞﻣﺠﺎﺑﻪﻟﻼﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎﺭﻓﻲﺇﻧﺘﺎﺝ
ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ.ﺗﺨﻴﻞﻟﻮﺃﻥﺃﺩﻭﺍﺗﻨﺎﺍﻟﻌﻠﻤﻴﺔﺳﻤﺤﺖﻟﻨﺎﺑﻔﻬﻢﻏﺰﺓﻭﺇﻧﺴﺎﻧﻴﺘﻬﺎ...ﺃﻥﻧﻔﻬﻢﺛﻘﺎﻓﺔﺍﻟﻨﺎﺱﻭﺣﻴﺎﺗﻬﻢﻭﺿﺤﻜﻬﻢﻭﺻﻤﻮﺩﻫﻢ
ﺧﺎﺭﺝﻧﻄﺎﻕﺍﻟﻌﻨﻒﻭﺍﻟﺪﻣﺎﺭ؟ﺣﻴﻦﺣﺎﻭﻟﺖﺍﻧﺎﻭﻃﺎﻟﺒﻲﺍﻟﺴﺎﺑﻖﻣﻦﻏﺰﺓﺍﻋﺎﺩﺓﺟﺰﺀ
ً
ﺍﻣﻦﺳﺮﺩﻧﺎﻓﻲﺍﻟﻮﻻﻳﺎﺕﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ،
ﺍﺳﺘﻨﺎﺩ
ً
ﺍﺇﻟﻰﺃﻋﻤﺎﻝﺍﻟﺮﺍﺣﻞﺇﺩﻭﺍﺭﺩﺳﻌﻴﺪﺻﺎﺣﺐﻧﻈﺮﻳﺔﺍﻻﺳﺘﺸﺮﺍﻕ،ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪﺍﻡﺗﻘﻨﻴﺎﺕﺍﻟﻮﺍﻗﻊﺍﻟﻤﻌﺰﺯﺍﻟﻌﺎﻡﺍﻟﻤﺎﺿﻲ،
ﻧﺠﺤﻨﺎﻓﻲﺗﻮﺛﻴﻖﺣﻴﺎﺓﻏﺰﺓﺧﺎﺭﺝﺍﻟﺼﻮﺭﺍﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔﺑﺎﻟﺪﻣﺎﺭﻭﺍﻟﻤﻮﺕﻭﺍﻟﻌﻨﻔ.ﺃﺭﺩﻧﺎﺍﻟﺘﻘﺎﻁﺣﻴﺎﺓﻣﺘﻌﺪﺩﺓﺍﻷﺑﻌﺎﺩﻭﻣﺘﻨﻮﻋﺔ
ﺍﻟﺠﻮﺍﻧﺐﻓﻲﻏﺰﺓ،ﻣﻈﻬﺮﻳﻦﺻﻤﻮﺩﺍﻟﻨﺎﺱﺃﻣﺎﻡﺍﻻﺣﺘﻼﻝﺍﻹﺳﺮﺍﺋﻴﻠﻲﺍﻟﻮﺣﺸﻲﻭﺍﻟﺤﺼﺎﺭﻣﻦﺧﻼﻝﻣﻌﺎﻣﻼﺗﻬﻢﺍﻟﻴﻮﻣﻴﺔ.
ﻧﺠﺤﻨﺎﻓﻲﺍﻟﺘﻘﺎﻁﻣﯫﺕﺍﻟﻠﺤﻈﺎﺕﺍﻟﺴﻌﻴﺪﺓﻓﻲﺣﻴﺎﺓﻏﺰﺓﺑﺘﻘﻨﻴﺔﺍﻟﺘﺼﻮﻳﺮ٣٦٠ﺩﺭﺟﺔ،ﻭﺿﻌﻨﺎﻫﺎﻓﻲﻓﻀﺎﺀﺍﺕﺍﻓﺘﺮﺍﺿﻴﺔﻓﻲ
Mozilla Hubs.ﺣﺎﻓﻈﻨﺎﻋﻠﻰﺃﻣﺎﻛﻦﻭﻭﺟﻮﻩﻻﺗﻌﻮﺩﻣﻮﺟﻮﺩﺓ...ﺇﻧﻬﺎﻣﺨﺘﺒﺌﺔﺟﻴﺪ
ً
ﺍﻓﻲﺍﻟﺨﻠﻮﺩﺍﻻﻓﺘﺮﺍﺿﻴ.ﻋﻠﻰﺳﺒﻴﻞ
ﺍﻟﻤﺜﺎﻝ…ﺍﻟﻜﻨﻴﺴﺔﺍﻷﺭﺛﻮﺫﻛﺴﻴﺔﺍﻟﺘﻲﻟﻢﺗﻌﺪﻣﻮﺟﻮﺩﺓﻓﻲﺟﻐﺮﺍﻓﻴﺎﻏﺰﺓﻭﻟﻜﻦﺳﺘﻌﻴﺶﺇﻟﻰﺍﻷﺑﺪﻓﻲﻗﻠﺒﻨﺎﺍﻻﻓﺘﺮﺍﺿﻴ.ﺃﺭﺩﻧﺎ
ﺃﻳﻀ
ً
ﺎﺗﺨﻴ
ّ
ﻞﻏﺰﺓﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﺭﺓﻓﻲﺍﻟﻔﻀﺎﺀﺍﺕﺍﻟﺮﻗﻤﻴﺔﺣﻴﺚﻻﺗﺒﺪﻭﺍﻟﻮﺍﻗﻌﻴﺔﻓﻲﺍﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮﻭﺍﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔﺣﻘﻴﻘﻴﺔ.ﻫﺬﺍﺍﻟﺘﺨﻴﻞﻫﻮﺃﺑﻌﺪ
ﻭﺃﻗﺮﺏﻣﻦﺃﻱﻭﻗﺖﻣﻀﻰ؛ﺇﻧﻬﺎﺍﻟﺤﻘﻴﻘﺔﺍﻟﻼﻣﻠﻤﻮﺳﺔ/ﺍﻟﻐﻴﺮﻗﺎﺑﻠﺔﻟﻠﺘﺨﻴﻠ/ﺍﻟﻐﻴﺮﻣﺘﺎﺣﺔ.
ﻓﻲ13ﺃﻛﺘﻮﺑﺮ،ﻧﺸﺮﺕ “The Chronicle of Higher Education”ﻣﻘﺎﻻ
ً
ﻟﺠﻴﻔﺮﻱﻓﻠﻴﺮﺯﺑﻌﻨﻮﺍﻥ“ﺍﻵﻥﺣﺎﻥﺍﻟﻮﻗﺖ
ﻟﺘﺒﻨﻲﺍﻟﺤﻴﺎﺩﻣﻦﻗﺒﻞﺍﻟﻤﺴﺆﻭﻟﻴﻦ”.ﻓﻴﻪﻛﺎﻥﻓﻠﻴﺮﺯﺃﺑﻌﺪﻣﺎﻳﻜﻮﻥﻋﻦﺍﻟﺤﻴﺎﺩ.ﻋﺪﻡﺍﺗﺨﺎﺫﻣﻮﻗﻒﺿﺪﺍﻹﺑﺎﺩﺓﻫﻮﺑﺎﻟﻔﻌﻞﺍﺗﺨﺎﺫﻣﻮﻗﻒ
.ﺃﻛﺪﺭﺍﺯﺳﻴﺠﺎﻝﺑﻮﺿﻮﺡﻓﻲ“Jewish Currents”ﺃﻥﻣﺎﻳﺤﺪﺙﻓﻲﻏﺰﺓﻫﻮ“ﺍﺑﺎﺩﺓﺟﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔﺑﺎﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰﺍﻟﺤﺮﻓﻲﻓﻲﻛﺘﺐ
ﺍﻟﺘﺪﺭﻳﺲ”)https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide(،ﻭﻟﻜﻦﻫﻞﻟﻨﺎ،ﻛﺸﻌﻮﺏﻣﺴﺤﻮﻗﺔ
ﺑﺸﻜﻞﻋﺎﻡﻭﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻴﻴﻦﺑﺸﻜﻞﺧﺎﺹ،ﺍﻻﺫﻥﺑﻮﺻﻒﺇﺑﺎﺩﺗﻨﺎﺃﻭﻧﻜﺒﺘﻨﺎ؟ﻫﻞﻳﻤﻜﻦﻟﻠﻤﺴﺤﻮﻕﺃﻥﻳﺘﻜﻠﻢ،ﻛﻤﺎﺗﺴﺘﻔﺴﺮﺳﺒﻴﻔﺎﻙ؟
ﺳﺒﻴﻔﺎﻙﺗﺘﺴﺎﺋﻞ:ﻛﻴﻒﻳﻤﻜﻨﻨﺎﻟﻤﺲﻭﻋﻲﺍﻟﻨﺎﺱﻭﻧﺤﻦﻧﺪﺭﺱﻣﻮﺍﻗﻔﻬﻢﺍﻟﺴﻴﺎﺳﻴﺔ؟ﺑﺄﻱﻭﻋﻲﻳﻤﻜﻦﻟﻠﻤﺴﺤﻮﻕﺃﻥﻳﺘﻜﻠﻢ؟!
ﺍﻧﻈﺮﻭﺇﻟﻲ
ّ
ﻫﻨﺎ،ﺃﺗﺤﺪﺙﺍﻟﻴﻜﻢﺍﻟﻴﻮﻡﺑﻄﺮﻳﻘﺔﺗﺴﺘﺠﺪﻱﺍﻧﺘﺒﺎﻫﻜﻢ،ﻭﻟﻜﻦﻓﻲﺍﻟﻮﺍﻗﻊ،ﻛﻞﻣﺎﺃﺭﻳﺪﻓﻌﻠﻪﻫﻮﺃﻥﺃﺻﺮﺥ“ﺍﻭﻗﻔﻮﺍﻫﺬﻩ
ﺍﻹﺑﺎﺩﺓﺍﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔﻓﻲﻏﺰﺓﻭﺗﻌﻴﺶﻓﻠﺴﻄﻴﻦﺣﺮﺓﻋﺮﺑﻴﺔ!”
4EDITORIAL

Notes
1. Editors’Collective (listed alphabetically): Robin Boylorn (she/her), Brandi Lawless (she/
her), Bryan J. McCann (he/him), Billie Murray (she/her), Ersula J. Ore (she/her), Mahuya
Pal (she/her), Kimberlee Pérez (editor-elect, she/her), Srividya Ramasubramanian (she/
her), Stacey K. Sowards (she/her), Armond Towns (he/him), and Heather M. Zoller (she/
her).
2. We chose the term genocide with caution, recognizing that some differ on how this term
should be used and whether or not it applies in this context. For more on this term,
please see: Raz Segal, “A Textbook Case of Genocide,”Jewish Currents, October 13, 2023,
accessed December 11, 2023, https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide;
COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS 5

Center for Constitutional Rights, “Israel’s Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian
People & U.S. Failure to Prevent and Complicity in Genocide,”October 18, 2023, accessed
December 11, 2023, https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2023/10/Israels-
Unfolding-Crime_ww.pdf. This open letter by genocide and Holocaust experts calls for
the prevention of genocide in Gaza and the West Bank: “Statement of Scholars in Holocaust
and Genocide Studies,”December 9, 2023, accessed December 11, 2023, https://
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-currents/statement-of-scholars-7-october/.
3. We focus here on Palestinians because of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza since October 7,
2023 and because of the censorship Dr. Muhtaseb faced at the NCA conference. While some
have claimed that Palestinians have received more attention to their suffering than others in
the region, the current crisis calls for such. See Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, “The Pitfalls of
Palestinian Exceptionalism,”Endowment for Middle East Truth, July 8, 2021, accessed
December 11, 2023, https://emetonline.org/the-pitfalls-of-palestinian-exceptionalism/.
4. Walid A. Afifi, Vinita Agarwal, Jim Cherney, Roseann Mandziuk, Jimmie Manning, Raquel
Moreira, Marnel Niles Goins, Shaunak Sastry, Jeanetta Sims, Candice Thomas-Maddox, and
Richard West (National Communication Association Executive Committee), “An Open
Letter to the Membership of the National Communication Association from the NCA
Executive Committee,”December 1, 2023.
Srividya Ramasubramanian
Department of Communications, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse
University, Syracuse, NY, USA
cmeditor@syr.edu http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2140-8008
Ahlam Muhtaseb
California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA
amuhtase@csusb.edu
6EDITORIAL