Israeli Academia, Police Wage War on Palestinian Students and Faculty
In this newsletter, Adalah releases a new infographic data report on “The Persecution of Palestinian Students by Israeli Academic Institutions during the War on Gaza”. We also highlight the shocking political arrest and series of police interrogations of prominent Palestinian Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kervokian.
The Persecution of Palestinian
Students by Israeli Academic Institutions
Since the beginning of the war, Israeli universities and colleges initiated a severe crackdown on the freedom of expression rights of Palestinian students seeking to suspend or even expel them for their posts on social media platforms. Adalah has represented 95 Palestinian students from 34 Israeli academic institutions in disciplinary proceedings prompted by complaints by far-right Jewish Israeli student groups and individuals.
The academic institutions’ actions occur amid an organized campaign of incitement against Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI) as a whole, which aims to criminalize any opposition to the war. Several universities even referred complaints against the Palestinian students to the Israeli police, resulting in their arrest and/or indictment. Violent rhetoric directed toward Palestinians has been largely ignored, and Israeli academic institutions did not take any disciplinary measures nor did they report Jewish Israeli students who incited against their Palestinian peers to the police, despite the prevalence of vengeful, inciting, hate speech.
The students’ posts that triggered disciplinary measures and even arrests vary widely, ranging from expressions of solidarity with the people of Gaza, to Quranic verses, to scathingly critical views of the Israeli military’s actions, to seemingly arbitrary content unrelated to Hamas or to the war.
Case Example:
A Palestinian woman student at an Israeli college posted an Instagram story on 7 October 2023 showing cakes at a restaurant. Her Jewish Israeli classmates attacked her for “celebrating” Hamas's attacks and the college initiated disciplinary proceedings against her although the post had no connection to the war or any political connotation. Although she was ultimately acquitted, she faced challenges in obtaining the necessary training posts for her medical studies.
Case Example:
A Palestinian woman student received an abrupt notice of suspension for her social media post depicting a Palestinian man sitting amidst the rubble in Gaza, accompanied by a broken heart emoji. Upon Adalah's objection, the college summoned the student to a disciplinary hearing, where a committee member remarked, “While there's a war outside, when you see someone from the [Arab] sector [posting] a photo identifying with Gaza, it is jarring”. Despite Adalah's objections, she was ultimately found guilty. The Committee imposed a penalty of a one-year suspension, coupled with the revocation of a scholarship, casting a dark shadow over the student's academic future. Adalah's appeal against this decision was rejected, and the student decided to transfer to another college.
Outcomes of Cases to Date:
The war waged by Israeli universities against Palestinian students has created a hostile environment on campuses, creating a chilling effect marked by students’ suppressing their opinions. This self-censorship fundamentally undermines the purpose of higher education, as students seek to avoid severe sanctions in a culture of repression.
Israeli Police Arrest Prominent Palestinian
Scholar Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Prof.Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian arrives at a court hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, 19 April 2024. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90
On 18 April 2024, the Israeli police entered the home of Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian in the Old City of Jerusalem and detained her because of comments that she made over a month earlier on the Makdisi Street podcast, particularly for her remarks calling to abolish Zionism and to end the genocide in Gaza. Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian is a Palestinian citizen of Israel and an internationally renowned academic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Global Chair in Law- Queen Mary University of London. During her interrogation, the police strip-searched, tightly handcuffed and denied Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian access to food, water, and medication for several hours. Further, she was held in a cold cell without adequate clothing or blankets. The next day, 19 April 2024 the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court and the District Court, after a subsequent appeal by the state, ordered her release on bail.
After her release, the police summoned Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian for additional three interrogations to date. Following these notices, the legal team, led by Adalah, sent two letters to the State Attorney’s (SA) office and the Israeli police. In the first letter, the legal team demanded that the police stop its illegal questioning of Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian, as it violated her freedom of expression rights and her academic freedom, and constituted an act of political persecution and harassment by the authorities. In the second letter, the legal team stressed that the police’s actions amount to an abuse of the criminal process for the purpose of intimidation and that legal action would be considered if she is summoned for further interrogation.
This marks the first instance of the police detaining a professor for scrutiny regarding her scholarly writing. During her interrogation, the police primarily focused on questioning her about her previously published academic papers.
Academics locally and from around the world support Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian against her prior recent suspension and subsequent reinstatement by the Hebrew University, and her later arrest by the Israeli police:
