For more than half a century, in the Palestinian lands where the first qibla of Muslims, Al-Aqsa Mosque, is located, under the occupation and oppression of Israel; a new human tragedy is being experienced where all innocents, regardless of women, children, or the elderly, are being mercilessly massacred. The Gaza lands, which have been turned into an open-air prison, are under attack from the air, land, and sea, their life sources have been cut off, and the oppressed people have been left to die.
We see and find it unacceptable that the world remains silent in the face of this oppression and drama, which targets civilians, hospitals, schools, and places of worship, and occurs contrary to the ethics and laws of war, and even legitimizes this oppression with a hypocritical attitude. Knowing that remaining neutral in the face of oppression is cruelty, our University Senate has almost remembered Akif's following words and decided to publish a public statement:
Kanayan bir yara gördüm mü yanar ta ciğerim,
Onu dindirmek için kamçı yerim, çifte yerim,
Adam aldırmada geç git, diyemem aldırırım,
Çiğnerim, çiğnenirim, hakkı tutar kaldırırım,
Zalimin hasmıyım amma severim mazlumu.
We condemn the occupiers who turn the homes of small children into graves, turn the Gaza lands into an open-air prison, and resort to all kinds of inhumane actions; we invite all nations, countries, and unions to be water to the fire of the oppressor and to establish peace.
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Senate