Twelve Arab Palestinian students, among them Hadash activists, are facing possible expulsion from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University for participating in an “illegal” political protest. In the past, the university only took steps against particular student groups. Now, it’s switching gears and targeting individual students.
According to Rami Younis in +972 website “near the end of September, 12 Palestinian students received a notice from the Hebrew University administration, stating that Dean of Students Udi Shavit had lodged a complaint against them over their participation in an “unauthorized demonstration that goes against regulations,” which took place on July 10, 2014. The notice said that the administration was waiting for a response from the students before it decides whether they will face a disciplinary committee. The students were then given seven days to respond to the claims, despite the fact that the contents of the complaint were never made clear to them. Should they be asked to stand before the committee, they would face possible suspension or expulsion from the university.”
The event took place against the backdrop of the Palestinian prisoner hunger strike. At the time, many events and protests took place across the country and the world. The aforementioned event did not include a demonstration. A small number of students gathered spontaneously outside the “Forum” area of the Mont Scopus campus, and expressed support for the hunger strikers. According to the students, they did not know that the event was unauthorized or that it violated university regulations.
Demonstration for right to speech in Haifa University during a demonstration in support for the Palestinian hunger strikers (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Riham Nassra, a 24 year-old law student and Hadash activist who is also facing possible expulsion, has no doubts: “We’re seeing a new strategy of individual complaints submitted by the dean. Until now, the complaints were submitted against Palestinian student groups, which lead to them being temporarily suspended. Balad was suspended, Hadash were harassed and threatened several times, and Palestinian students continued with their political activities in the student groups.”
What’s the difference between complaints against political student groups and individual complaints against students?
“There’s a big difference. The university saw that the student groups continue to function, while the students continued to demonstrate, so it simply moved toward personal deterrence. It is known that the consequences of facing a disciplinary committee can be disastrous for a student. In many cases it can end in suspension, probation or even expulsion. When you go after a student group, the harm is collective rather than personal. They probably think that personal targeting will serve as a more effective deterrence.”
What is really surprising about this entire story is both how exactly the university knew to identify those same students who were present at the gathering, and how it began taking action against them. Nassra has a feeling that the university is using new methods of harassment.
“They probably came prepared. They let us stay there, and allowed other passersby to join. Then they started implementing methods reminiscent of intelligence services, which do not show respect for an academic institute, in order to identify us.”
“And you know what? Out of the 16 or 17 students that were there on that day, 12 complaints were lodged against university students. That’s a majority of the people who were there. Most of the other students were likely not from the university, which means the university could not target them. This can definitely be seen as an attempt to cause innocent students to fall into a trap. The university takes no steps against the ‘Im Tirzu’ student group, which has been recognized as a racist group by an Israeli court, and whose members chant racist chants during protests against Arab student groups.” The students have yet to receive dates for their disciplinary committees.
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