BUZZ
Claims ‘country on the verge of martial law‘
An upcoming international math conference should be moved outside of the United States of America due to Trump’s “unbridled hatred of immigrants” and because the “country [is] on the verge of martial law,” professors say.
A petition, which reportedly has more than 2,300 signatures from more than 75 countries, demands the International Congress of Mathematicians relocate its planned July conference in Philadelphia. The petition says there is precedent for the action, since the 2022 conference in Russia was relocated due to the war.
The petition paints a dire picture of what the United States supposedly looks like now and where it is headed.
The heavily hyperlinked statement reads in part:
The US supreme court recently ruled that government agents can stop and question civilians about their immigration status based solely on racial appearance or what language they speak. There are numerous cases all around the country of American citizens being caught up in this dragnet, and released only after experiencing terrible brutality and extended detainment. The highly publicized murders of US citizens by border patrol and ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis and Los Angeles have not stopped or even slowed the brutality.
Foreign scholars could be harassed by Immigration and Customs Agents as well, the petition suggests.
“And even if mathematicians from the 75 countries for which the current US administration has suspended visa processing are able to obtain conference visas, how can we expect such mathematicians to safely visit Philadelphia and engage fruitfully in the conference without fear of harm and unlawful detention,” the signers asked. “The [International Mathematical Union] is irresponsible in its promotion of such risky behavior amongst the world’s mathematicians, especially when over 40 countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens when traveling to and from the US.”
The mathematicians continue on to cite grievances they have, including “aiding and abetting the ongoing genocide in Palestine, including pushing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza to make room for luxury real estate.”
Writing in bold, the professors declare: “For the sake of the safety of our community and in the name of genuine unity amongst mathematical scientists across the globe, we the undersigned commit not to participate in the ICM if it is to be held in the United States.“
Organizers include University of Toronto professor Ila Varma and Haverford College professor Tarik Aougab.
This is not Aougab’s (pictured) first foray into politics – in February, he wrote a “defense of de-platforming Zionists on college campuses,” for Mondoweiss.
