Academics say their names appeared as signatories to an open letter about Gaza without their consent.

The letter, distributed by the group Scholars for Truth About Genocide, claimed that accusations that a genocide is occurring in Gaza are being used for “ideological ends.”

One academic, Nathan Kalman-Lamb, associate professor in sociology at the University of Brunswick in Canada, has since been removed from the list of signatories but said he has not received an explanation as to how his name came to be included.

Another scholar, Ted McCormick, professor of British history at the University of Pennsylvania, has claimed on social media that his name had also been incorrectly added.

The letter, which has more than 500 signatures and been widely reported by the Israeli media, says legal standards of genocide are being “diluted” for “ideological ends” and argues that Hamas is “the only party to legally meet the requirements of the elements of the crime of genocide.”

It denounces a separate resolution by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), considered the world’s leading association of scholars on the subject, which claims that the Israeli government is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and calls on governments to ensure that its obligations to international law are being upheld.

It is estimated that 66,700 people have been killed in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which saw Hamas militants kill almost 1,200 Israeli citizens.

“To be honest with you, I was horrified,” Kalman-Lamb told Times Higher Education. “It was profoundly disgusting to me that my name has been tarnished by being included on this letter,” added the researcher, who has been vocal about his opposition to the Israeli government.

While he was “grateful” that his name had since been removed, he said he would be “looking into [his] options” and “it would be the absolute minimum requirement in this situation to receive a formal apology.”

“It is the responsibility of the organizers of these letters to make sure that every single person whose name is on the letter consents to it,” he said, adding that there can be “no faith whatsoever” in the validity of the 500 other signatories included on the letter.

Elliot Malin, founder and president of Alpine Strategies, who authored the letter, explained that to be added to the list, individuals must submit their institution name and email, “so it is likely that someone added [Kalman-Lamb] without his consent via the form.”

“It cannot be a perfect process, but it is fundamentally better than the process of allowing people to register as ‘Adolf Hitler,’” he told THE, referencing an incident that forced the IAGS to halt its membership after an account was registered in this name. He said he was “sorry” that this had happened but “we have well over 400 signatures of very real experts.”

While many of the signatories on the list profess to be scholars of genocide and Holocaust studies, other signatories include pianists, technology workers and playwrights, and not all appear to be academics or teachers, despite the group’s name.

Miriam Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, which published the letter, said, “It is unfortunate that such an important public effort like this would face any kind of sabotage attempts to discredit it.

“AEN has made every effort to vet the hundreds of signatures that the letter has received, and the name that was submitted in error has been removed. We cannot lose sight of the real issue here—prominent genocide scholars and experts are coming out in droves to condemn the IAGS’ resolution and call for a retraction. This is what we should be focusing on.”

AEN did not respond to a request for comment on how it has sought to verify the legitimacy of the remaining signatories.