There is a particularly thick thread running through the case of Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian at Hebrew University to that of Prof. Yuli Tamir at Beit Berl College, who said that the Israeli war slogan, "Together we shall prevail," hurts the feelings of Arab students.
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The thickness of this thread teaches us that these are not isolated cases, but rather a well-established reality in which Israeli academia has long been a precarious space for those who hold a Zionist worldview, especially if they dare to enter its gates with opposing views.
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Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian denies the events of October 7
(Photo: OPIS Zagreb / Shutterstock)
Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian declared during a lecture that Jews "need to be afraid because criminals always fear." Without pausing to consider for a moment that as the powerful figure in the lecture hall, the students sitting across from her who served in the IDF are supposed to understand from her words that they have committed murder, and are expected to remain silent and afraid.
Regarding her claim about the horrendous acts of rape committed on October 7, "They started with babies, they continued with rape, and they will continue with a million other lies. We stopped believing them, I hope the world stops believing them" - how are students supposed to feel, those who were traumatized by those same terrible hate crimes, when their professor, who specializes in gender-based violence, does not believe them? And all this without even presenting a single valid research study to support her claims, of course. What kind of educator instills fear and silences their students and colleagues in such circumstances? And then, she has the gall to argue that she is the one being silenced and terrorized.
This also arises from the case of Prof. Yuli Tamir, who boasted that "when everyone wrote 'together we shall prevail,' we realized that for Arab members of the college, this is not an inclusive slogan, so we changed it to 'together we shall grow.'"
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Students at Hebrew University protest against Prof. Nadera Shalhoub- Kevorkian
(Photo: Roni Green Shaulov)
Indeed, there is impressive sensitivity to some Arab members of the college, who, for some reason, were offended by the desire to defeat the Hamas terrorists who raped, abused and butchered Arabs as well. But what about sensitivity toward other members? For example, Jews and Druze? It's not merely a choice between neutral alternatives, but a change of a slogan that Tamir herself admits has become nationalistic and embraced by all.
It was clear that the change itself would hurt them. Where is the sensitivity toward them? For them, should the college not be a "melting pot"? Prof. Tamir is well aware that Israeli multiculturalism sadly includes not only different cultures but also very much hostility toward each other - and in the unique circumstances of the current war, changing "together we shall prevail" is hurting those who will still bear the brunt of that cursed Simchat Torah morning.
These incidents are reminiscent of another incident that occurred at Hebrew University a few years back. During a lecture by Dr. Carola Hilfrich, a student and IDF soldier felt humiliated when silenced by a Palestinian student. Instead of showing empathy for her distress, the lecturer rebuked her, saying "You are a soldier in the IDF, and you will be treated accordingly." Again, how are IDF soldiers supposed to feel - those who are supposed to hide their identity as they enter a university whose gate is adorned with the words "From the Zionist aspirations of the Jewish people, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was established in 1925"?
In the current academic landscape, important terms like "inclusion," "sensitivity" and "tolerance" are simply devoid of any meaning when it comes to anything smacking of proud Zionism. Perhaps this stems from a bias against the group that addresses academia overseas, or perhaps it stems from a desire to provide a soothing experience for Arabs and Palestinians who are silenced in Israeli public discourse outside the halls of academia.
However, injustice cannot be corrected with more injustice, and academia should operate differently: basing statements on proven facts rather than prejudices and hypocrisy, and providing a safe and tolerant space for all who enter our gates: even those who disagree with us, and even those who are staunch Zionists.