Palestinian Childhoods: Academic Responsibility in the Face of Genocide

What is the role of the academy in general, and childhood and decolonial scholars in particular, in the face of genocide and the often-violent ways in which racially marginalised children are dispossessed and rendered disposable? In this presentation we focus on questions of academic solidarity and responsibility in response to what experts are calling a “textbook case of genocide” in Gaza, where over 16,000 Palestinian children have been killed with many more injured, starved, and displaced over the past twelve months. We highlight how and why children and childhood are key targets of social, political, and physical violence in settler colonial and ethno-national states arguing that even in the midst of such destruction it is important to attend to the complexities of Palestinian children’s lives– their struggles, joys, resistances, and dreams. We conclude by making a case for the importance of international solidarity in the face of genocide, including from academics, and share one such effort: Letters for Palestinian Childhoods. Launched in November 2023, this is an online and internationally travelling exhibition of letters, poems, and artwork dedicated to the children of Palestine which aims to stand in solidarity with the children of Palestine by attending to their names, stories, experiences, dreams, and struggles, and the conditions which are so violently shaping their lives.