An anonymous letter from the "Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine" at the University of Washington was released in the wake of Antifa and pro-Hamas activists causing over $1 million in property damage to UW's Interdisciplinary Engineering Building. Defending the radicals' actions and ignoring the violence demonstrates just how cowardly these staff members are, and at the same time, why the school was ranked one of the most antisemitic in the US.

It is not just the content of the letter that should concern UW alums and the Seattle community, but the craven manner in which it was delivered—unsigned and anonymous. Faculty members who are quick to accuse others of moral failing have chosen to obscure their identities. This is not courage. It is not justice. It is a dodge—an abdication of responsibility by those who seek to agitate without being held accountable. It is no different than the cowards they teach, who also cover their faces with the symbols of a mass murderer and demonize those who reveal their identities.

Nowhere in their letter do these professors acknowledge the destruction, disruption, or violence that unfolded on May 5. Nowhere do they recognize the rights of the rest of the campus community—students trying to finish their academic year, researchers working late hours, custodians and staff whose safety was endangered. They fail to condemn violent antisemitism and instead claim they are fighting "fascism," without realizing they are using the same tactics actual fascists, from the Nazis to Hamas, used to subjugate Jews. Instead, they romanticize vandalism as "civil disobedience" and call on the university not to punish those responsible. The hate at UW is not a bug; it's a feature.

This is moral blindness wrapped in activist rhetoric.

The authors vilify Boeing's relationship with the university while refusing to engage in honest debate about Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas, a terrorist organization that, on October 7, 2023, murdered over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 250 more, in one of the worst pogroms in modern Jewish history. Instead, they decry "genocidal warfare," a claim detached from both the reality of international law and the actual aims of the Israel Defense Forces, which is to dismantle Hamas, that places civilians in harm's way by using them as human shields.

Their argument, like their tactics, is one-sided. They ask for due process for student activists but show no such interest in accountability for the destruction those students caused. They want the university to sever ties with Boeing, ignoring the tens of thousands of Washingtonians whose jobs rely on the aerospace sector and the millions of dollars the company has donated to education, which the faculty falsely claim to value. They frame the UW's efforts to maintain safety and order as "autocratic," yet defend the seizure of public property and disruption of campus life as righteous.

Let's be clear: civil disobedience, in its noble form, entails both a willingness to break unjust laws and to accept the consequences. The protesters arrested and suspended were not silenced—they acted, and the university responded, lawfully and within its rights. But these professors want protest without consequence, disobedience without accountability, and destruction without discipline.

What's worse, by releasing their message anonymously, they've shirked the most fundamental duty of educators: to lead by example. Free speech requires courage, especially in contentious times. But what they've chosen is not free speech—it's academic arson masked as conscience. It is the cowardly example their students have emulated.

It's easy to chant slogans and demonize institutions. It's harder to grapple with complexity: a company like Boeing can simultaneously contribute to national defense, offer high-paying union jobs, fund cutting-edge research, and provide weapons to foreign countries. That's the debate we could be having—but the letter's authors aren't interested in debate. They want the university to adopt their radical, terrorist-supporting worldview wholesale and punish anyone who dissents.

After 18 months of unrest and violence, President Ana Mari Cauce finally decided to protect the campus, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the learning environment for all students. Though it might be too late after allowing lawlessness for almost two years, her actions deserve support, not condemnation.

To the anonymous professors who signed nothing but their ideology: I dare you to come forward and engage in honest dialogue. You can take ownership of your words. Until then, you do not speak for justice, but for cowards.