Member-only story
Free Speech and Palestinian Liberation
Fighting Crackdowns on Palestine Solidarity
Since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, Palestinian students in Israel have come under brutal attack. On 28 October, thirty Palestinian students were locked in their rooms in Israel’s Netanya College, while their dormitories were stormed by Israeli students chanting “Death to Arabs.” Since then, over 74 students at 25 academic institutions across Israel have faced disciplinary action merely for liking tweets and authoring posts expressing sympathy for family members in Gaza.
At the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, eminent professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian faces the termination of her employment after signing a petition stating that “there is no moral justification whatsoever for continuing” the brutal war on Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire.
In a letter that was published online on 28 October, the president and rector of Hebrew University reprimanded her. “It is most appropriate that you consider leaving your job,” he told her and threatened her with termination if she did not. The university president then took the extraordinary step of releasing the letter to the Israeli press.
The result was predictable: death threats against Shalhoub-Kevorkian and her family, and fear, not just for her livelihood but for her…
