Dear ACS Members,

As many of you are aware, a petition was circulated during the Crossroads Conference

in Istanbul, declaring solidarity with our Lebanese and Palestinian colleagues who were unable attend the conference due to the current situation. Approximately 350 signatures were gathered. Attached please find a copy of the petition.

Please help us circulate this as widely as possible. In an effort to enact Cultural Studies' commitment to praxis we ask you to send this petition to your media contacts as well as to your professional and personal email lists (some suggestions: university wide, unions, other professional organizations of which you are a member, tradejournals, local radio, independent media, etc). You may also want to send a version of this in your own words to your local papers. If you agree with this statement and have yet to sign, feel free to add your signature as well.

As discussed in a special conference session devoted to the crises in Lebanon and Palestine, this constitutes just one of many actions we as Cultural Studies practitioners can engage in. Other suggestions offered were making professional contacts with our colleagues in the region, sharing reading lists and resources with our colleagues in the network, helping to organize public protest in our localities, and anything else your imagination leads you to to help raise awareness of this dire situation as well as working toward an end to the violence.

This is a matter of some urgency as it is imperative to break the silences surrounding these tragic events.

Thank you,

Ad hoc petition committee

Alisa Lebow (at EARTHLINK dot NET)