Statement by Dr. Jorge Grünberg, Rector Universidad ORT Uruguay.
A year has passed since the terrorist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, declared war on Israel. On October 7, 2023, thousands of armed terrorists crossed the border in the early morning and killed several soldiers who were in the area, as well as a large number of civilians. Most of the victims were women, children, and elderly people living on farms near the border, and young people who were dancing at a music festival. The murders, torture, and rapes were filmed and broadcast by the killers themselves.
In addition to killing more than 1,200 people, the terrorists kidnapped hundreds, whom they still hold hostage. Among those murdered and kidnapped are Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and atheists from over 20 nationalities. The kidnapped range from children as young as one year old to 90-year-old grandparents. Many of these hostages were sexually abused while in captivity, and several dozen were murdered in cold blood. Those who are still alive are surviving in inhumane conditions in tunnels without adequate food or even the most basic medication; some of them have been operated on without anesthesia by veterinarians so they can continue to be used as human shields.
This war, started by Hamas, is still ongoing and has caused the deaths and suffering of many. Hamas took refuge in tunnels, leaving its own civilians exposed. 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 to fend for themselves, while those who started the war took shelter.
This war is a tragedy for everyone who wishes to live in peace. We hope it ends as soon as possible. We hope that after all this suffering, the harbingers of death will be defeated, and everyone living in the region can focus on what all people want: a peaceful and prosperous life for ourselves and our children.
The attack on October 7, 2023, was a tragedy that sparked an armed conflict, but it also led to a moral collapse in some societies. A distorted world where feminist groups defend rapists, human rights organizations support kidnappers, progressive youth tear down posters of hostage children while carefully protecting posters of abandoned dogs, and defenders of academic freedom exclude professors for being Zionists (i.e., 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 divert the human spirit away from scientific advances and artistic achievements. The human spirit becomes consumed by conspiracy theories, primal fears, and false knowledge. In the long run, reservoirs of hatred overflow, eroding the trust and collaboration that set us apart as humans from other species.
As an academic, my greatest disappointment was realizing that education was not the cure for racism and discrimination that we once thought it would or should be. Witnessing how some of the world’s most elite universities tolerated harassment of Jewish students and publicly supported terrorism shattered my belief that education would ensure that reason, dialogue, and openness to other cultures would form the basis for moral progress.
What we witnessed for months was the antithesis of academic thought: groupthink and herd behavior. We were bombarded with speeches that reveal a profound ignorance of the people they claim to defend, the region they claim to care about, and the history of their conflicts. We have witnessed a pernicious form of selective morality, in which a single conflict in the world monopolizes the outrage of certain groups, who seem obsessed with Israel, even though there are dozens of ethnic and religious conflicts around the world.
As educators, we must reflect deeply on this moral collapse and ensure that we fulfill our ethical obligation to contribute to a society free of prejudice and persecution. The legitimacy of universities does not rest solely on the quality of their research and teaching. They must also serve as a moral compass. Respect for others and the rational discussion of disagreements 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 believed 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 this moral progress. We will have to make up for lost ground. 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 to do so.