Dear ESERA members,
We’ve been following the horrific acts of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories with deep sorrow and despair and we are enormously concerned about all our members affected by the ongoing conflict in different ways.
The purpose of this message is to address the requests that we’ve received recently from our membership, with a commitment to transparent communication.
On October 25, we received a letter from the Israeli community of science education with a call to: acknowledge and condemn the crimes against humanity executed by the Hamas terror organization on Israeli citizens and citizens of other countries and to support the release of the hostages. Subsequently, we have received numerous messages from our members, each expressing different perspectives and requests.
We have discussed each message received through various channels, taking also into account input from members in current and past leadership roles, such as SIGs coordinators, conference and summer school organisers etc. Our aim has been to ensure that this message reflects the views of our membership.
Our position is that ESERA should remain focused to its main goals. Related to conflicts, we view ESERA’s role as one of advancing science education research that could contribute to understanding geo-socio-political conflicts, rather than taking a political position. While we do not adopt a political position, we take a clear moral position: we unequivocally condemn all forms of violence and injustice, irrespective of location and motivation.
We firmly believe that it is crucial for ESERA, as a diverse and pluralistic community, to remain a safe and inclusive space for all our members regardless of their background, culture, religion, political beliefs, etc. We are committed to this goal as we explore practical ways to support members affected by the conflict, and we call for unity and action in order to rekindle hope in humanity through science education research.
With hope for peace and justice, on behalf of the ESERA Executive Board,
Lucy Avraamidou
