There are no words that can adequately convey our grief, outrage, and sorrow. The barbaric crimes committed against Israeli civilians this week have shocked us all. As we continue to uncover the brutality of the attacks perpetrated by Hamas, including more than 1,300 murders, untold numbers of those abducted and violated, and the many more who have been traumatized by these crimes, we are deeply concerned for our friends and relatives in danger. Our hearts break for the families who fear for the safety of loved ones, and we grieve alongside those who have experienced unspeakable loss.

For more than a year, tensions and fighting in and on the border of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) have grown in intensity. In part the result of the nature of the region’s creation under the Soviets in the 1920s, this has had a disastrous effect on the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who call Nagorno-Karabakh home.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you with profound sorrow. The murderous attack that occurred in Israel was an act of antisemitism in its most depraved form by a genocidal regime in Gaza sponsored by Iran, a country that repeatedly calls for the destruction of Israel. There can be no moral equivalence. “From the river to the sea” has only one meaning–the elimination of Israel. This was a massacre of people for only one reason—they were Jews.

Over the past several days, I have been in touch with many members of the Trojan Family who voiced their pain and despair in the wake of the unprecedented terrorist attacks in Israel. We mourn the shocking loss of life. We condemn the terrorist attacks by Hamas and their brutal threats to execute kidnapped civilians and commit other atrocities.

USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education invites applications from graduate students from any university for the 2024-2025 USC Shoah Foundation Robert J. Katz Research Fellowship in Antisemitism Studies.