The journal Israeli Sociology, published by the Israeli Sociological Society and affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University, released a controversial call for papers this week inviting researchers to write “real-time essays” on what it describes as “Israel’s transformation into a society enabling systematic destruction.”
The call, openly published by the journal’s editorial board, levels severe accusations against Israel, including daily killing of innocents, ethnic cleansing, and deliberate starvation of civilians—language reminiscent of antisemitic blood libels and harsh anti-Israel propaganda, now emerging from within an Israeli university.
An email sent to academics stated: “In light of Israel’s ongoing inhumane actions in Gaza—including daily killing of innocents, systematic destruction of homes and infrastructure, starvation, and denial of basic life services to a civilian population—our ability to maintain the narrative of a necessary response to October 7 is eroding. *Israeli Sociology* is launching a special online section for short real-time essays on how Israeli society has come to enable systematic destruction and avert its gaze from the horrors committed in its name.”
The initiative drew sharp criticism from academic, political, and public figures, many of whom accuse Tel Aviv University of long becoming a stronghold of radical anti-Zionism under the guise of academia. “This is propaganda against the State of Israel during wartime, not academic research,” said a senior academic figure. “The fact that this is being published from within an Israeli university is a national disgrace.”
The invited essays are set to address topics such as “the social causes enabling the continued policy in Gaza” and “the boundary between victimizer and victim”—formulations that appear to blur the line between Hamas terrorists who launched the brutal October massacre and a democratic state defending its citizens while adhering to moral values.
In their letter, the journal’s editors admit their goal is “to present insights not found in other sources”—in effect, offering an alternative to the mainstream Israeli media, grounded in an explicitly anti-Israel worldview.
Tel Aviv University responded: *Israeli Sociology* is an independent journal. Its content does not reflect the views of Tel Aviv University in any way.