Statement by rector Universidad ORT Uruguay, Dr. Jorge Grünberg.
October 7. One year later.
October 7 marked one year since the terrorist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, declared war on Israel. Thousands of armed terrorists crossed the border in the early hours of the morning and killed the few soldiers in the area, as well as a large number of civilians. Most of the victims were women, children, and the elderly living on farms near the border, and young people dancing at a music festival. The murders, torture, and rapes were filmed and disseminated by the killers themselves.
In addition to killing more than 1,200 people, the terrorists have kidnapped hundreds whom they are holding hostage. Among those killed and kidnapped are Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, and people of other faiths from more than 20 countries. The hostages range in age from one-year-old children to 90-year-old grandparents. Many of these hostages were sexually abused during their captivity, and several dozen were murdered in cold blood. Those who still survive do so under subhuman conditions in tunnels without adequate food or even the most basic medical care; not even the International Red Cross has been able to visit them. Some of them were operated on by veterinarians so they could continue to be used as human shields.
This war, started by Hamas, is still ongoing and has caused death and suffering for many. Hamas took refuge in tunnels and left its own citizens out in the open. The people killed in Israel did not deserve to die, and neither did the Gazans. Hamas did not ask them if they wanted to go to war against Israel and be left helpless and exposed, while those who started the war occupied the shelters.
This war is a tragedy for all peoples who wish to live in peace. We hope it will end as soon as possible. We hope that the 101 hostages can return to their families as soon as possible. As long as these people remain missing, we are all hostages. We hope that all this suffering will lead to the defeat of the harbingers of death and that everyone living in the region can devote themselves to what all humans desire: a peaceful and prosperous life for ourselves and our children.
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, was a tragedy that led to armed conflict, but it also triggered a moral collapse in some societies. A distorted world where some feminist groups defend rapists, human rights organizations support kidnappers, progressive young people tear down posters of child hostages but scrupulously protect posters of abandoned dogs, and defenders of academic freedom exclude professors for being Zionists (read: Jews).
We will all pay dearly for this return to a world of obscurantism, racial prejudice, and witch hunts if we do not act in time. Racism and prejudice supplant intelligence and steer the human spirit away from scientific advances and artistic achievements. The human spirit is consumed by conspiracy theories, atavistic fears, and false knowledge. In the long run, reservoirs of hatred overflow, and the impulse toward trust and collaboration that distinguishes us as humans collapses.
As a college student, my greatest disappointment was realizing that education was not the cure for racism and hatred, as we had believed. Seeing how some of the world’s most elite universities tolerated the harassment of Jewish students and public support for terrorism shattered my expectation that education would serve as the foundation for the moral progress that would accompany technological advancement.
What we witnessed over the course of months was the antithesis of academic thinking: groupthink and herd behavior. Rhetoric that reveals a profound ignorance of the region’s history of conflicts between these peoples—a history that seems to obsess them, even though there are dozens of ethnic and religious conflicts currently raging. We witnessed a pernicious form of selective morality in which a single conflict among all those in the world monopolizes the outrage of certain groups.
As educators, we must reflect deeply on this moral collapse, which should fill us with shame and lead us to rethink our ethical obligation to contribute to a society free from prejudice and persecution. The legitimacy of universities is not based solely on the quality of their research and teaching. We must also serve as a moral compass. Respect for others and the rational discussion of conflicts are also integral parts of the university’s responsibility. And some of the world’s most prestigious universities have failed miserably in this mission.
We thought that every human being’s right to a dignified life free from persecution was self-evident and universally accepted in democratic countries. October 7 set us back in that moral progress. We will have to regain the ground we have lost. We will have to choose between a world that upholds the sanctity of life and one that glorifies death. Universities have much to contribute, if we have the conviction and the will.