The National Academy of Education expresses its deep shock and sorrow at the mass slaughter and other atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel last week. This attack is the largest massacre of Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust, with many more people injured, unaccounted for, and taken hostage.

We are particularly grieved by Hamas’s brutality inflicted upon children and youth as the full scope of horror is revealed in the aftermath of last week’s terrorist attacks. We will also continue to grieve the loss of children and all civilians, killed and injured in this ongoing conflict, including the loss of life and brutal injuries of civilians in the Gaza Strip. We also hope and pray for the well-being and safe return of all hostages.

Many of our members and fellows, as well as their families and communities, are personally and professionally affected by these tragedies, and in the ongoing conflict in the region. We express our deep condolences for their personal and collective pain and loss. But one need not be a member of either of the affected communities to be shaken to one’s core over the atrocities and suffering that result from this terrorism. As a community, we share deep concern regarding the continued violence in the Middle East region and the acts of anti-semitism and anti-muslim hatred and violence we are witnessing here in the United States, including on our college campuses. We must support one another and our diverse student populations during this tragedy. We also hope that through ongoing discourse, we can work together toward peaceful co-existence in our local, regional, and global communities.

Board of Directors, National Academy of Education