Academia for Equality published a call to Israeli scholars to reject US President Donald Trump’s attacks on students and academic freedom under the false pretense of “combatting antisemitism.” Academia for Equality is an organization with 800 Jewish and Arab academics in Israel members organization working to promote democratization, equality, inclusion, representation, and access to higher education for all communities living in Israel and Palestine.
Academy for Equality’s vigil at Tel-Aviv University against war and massacre in Gaza, March 23, 2025 (Photo: Academy for Equality)
The call said: “We, Israeli professors, educators, researchers, graduate students, and members of academia, hailing from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, possessing diverse political views, living in and outside Israel, are deeply concerned about the recent actions undertaken by the US Administration against Columbia University and other US universities. We are alarmed by the persecution of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students and faculty, including the illegal arrests and threats to deport activists without any specific charges or due process, at times in clear violation of court orders, especially under the pretext of combating antisemitism.
“As Israeli citizens and academics who have devoted our careers to teaching and research in the spirit of free inquiry and free exchange of diverse ideas, we consider these steps to be profoundly unjust, dangerous, and in violation of civil rights and principles of academic freedom. Such draconian moves do not protect us! We strongly denounce the cynical use of ‘combating antisemitism’ as a pretext for these measures. While antisemitism is a dangerous phenomenon that should be combated, it should be addressed alongside other types of ethnic and racial hatred such as white supremacy, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian sentiments. The current acts of the Administration do not keep Jewish people (or anyone) more protected or safe. Quite the opposite: by singling out Jews as a homogeneous group to be protected at the expense of other marginalized groups and minorities, the Administration is in fact fostering anti-Jewish sentiments, easily lending itself to chauvinistic, exclusivist, and racist tropes.
“The movement activists supporting Palestinian rights in US universities and beyond them act as human rights defenders, providing much needed moral clarity and courageous leadership in condemning and demanding an end to the unprecedented and ongoing atrocities against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Many Jewish students and faculty members are part of this movement. Peaceful protests are and should be protected as political speech. While the safety and inclusion of Jewish students and faculty is vital, so is the safety and inclusion of all communities, including Muslim and Palestinian students, who are actively targeted by the Administration. We condemn the weaponization of Jewish students’ safety as grounds to silence, harass, suspend, punish, or deport pro-Palestinian members of US academia.
“As Israelis who also witness similar oppression in Israeli universities, we know that silencing campus protests, free research, and exchange of ideas, does not make us safer. On the contrary, it threatens key academic values like freedom of speech and free association, which are the basis for Jewish and other minorities’ rights. We stand in solidarity with our US-based colleagues—whether they are US citizens, permanent residents, or academic visa holders. We consider the US Administration’s invocations of antisemitism to be disingenuous, thinly veiled attacks against Muslims, Palestinians, pro-Palestinian, and international students, serving as a pretext for the violent suppression of protected speech and the abolition of the university as a space for free inquiry.”
Among signatories: Dorit Naaman, Queen’s University; Tamar Berger, Bezalel Academy of Art; Arie M. Dubnov, The George Washington University; Menachem Klein, Bar Ilan University; Preston Werner, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Efraim Davidi, Tel-Aviv University; Raphael Greenberg, Tel Aviv University; Anat Matar, Tel Aviv University; Ayelet Ben-Yishai, University of Haifa; Mical Raz, University of Rochester; Yael Berda, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Hilla Dayan, Amsterdam University College; Outi Bat-El Foux, Tel Aviv University; Naftali Kaminski, Yale University; Lee Mordechai, MIT;
Akiva Leibowitz, Harvard Medical School; Ofra Rechter, Tel Aviv University; Isaac Nevo, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Orly Benjamin, Bar Ilan University; Louise Bethlehem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Erella Grassiani, University of Amsterdam; Orian Zakai, George Washington University; Noga Rotem, University of Washington; Itamar Shachar, Hasselt University; Matan Kaminer, Queen Mary University London; Karin Loevy, New York University; Maya Herman, New School for Social Research; Amit Shilo, University of California, Santa Barbara; Oren Yiftachel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Moshe Behar, University of Manchester; Nufar Shimony, Open University; Revital Madar, European University Institute; Itamar Haritan, Cornell University; Avner Ben-Amos, Tel Aviv University; Roni Tzoreff, Independent Scholar; Lin Chalozin Dovrat, Tel Aviv University
David Katzin, Wageningen University and Research; Nomi Shir, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Assaf Oron, University of Washington; Naveh Frumer, Tel Aviv University; Tamar Schneider, The Open University of Israel; Nira Yuval-Davis, University of East London; Nitzan Lebovic, Lehigh University; Smadar Ben-Natan, University of Oregon; Noa Roei, University of Amsterdam; Shlomi Segall, The Hebrew University; Roy Wagner, ETH Zurich; Nir Gov, Weizmann Institute; Gadi Algazi, Tel Aviv University; Yigal Bronner, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ofer Aharony, Weizmann Institute; Daniel Behar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Naomi Friedman-Sokuler, Bar Ilan University; Nitzan Tal, Bar Ilan University; Yiftah Elazar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Abigail Jacobson, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ariel Handel, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design; Avi Rubin, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Yael Sela, Goethe University Frankfurt; Haggai Ram, Ben Gurion University; Juliet Floyd, Boston University; Arnon Levy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; David Stern, University of Iowa; Oded Goldreich, Weizmann Institute of Science; Hagar Kotef, University of London; Yohai Hakak, Brunel University of London; Ronit Matar, Queen Mary University London ; Ron Mordechai Makleff, Middlebury College; Anat Rimon Or, Beit Berl College; Lia Tarachansky, York University; Ilana Hairston, Tel Hai Academic College; Lee Mordechai, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Tamar Hager, Tel Hai College; Miriam Eliav-Feldon, Tel Aviv University; Zeev Rosenhek, Open University of Israel; Tamir Sorek, Penn State University; Nitza Berkovitch, Ben-Gurion University; Adam Weilet Gur Arye, Tel Hai College; Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv University; Tamar Megiddo, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Tamar Barkay, Tel Hai College; Rona Mashiach, University of Haifa; Gil Sagi, University of Haifa; Yair Lorberbaum, Bar Ilan University; Nimrod Ben Zeev, Tel Aviv University; Gadi Perets, University of Lyon; Beata Sheyhatovitch, Tel Aviv University; Ruth Weintrsub, Tel Aviv university; Yael Dekel, The Open University of Israel; Amos Laor, Columbia University; David Meyers, Main Maritime Academy; Alon Marcus, The Open University of Israel; Assaf David, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ronen Eidelman, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Ran Shauli, Bar Ilan University; Dana Ron, Tel Aviv University; Noam Shoresh, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Tomer Cooks, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Yonathan Shapir, University of Rochester; Jenn Lewin, University of Haifa; Shula Gilad, Harvard University; Ruth Ben-Artzi, Providence College; Keren Cohen, David Yellin College of Education; Karen Ross, University of Massachusetts Boston; Sigal Barnir, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design; Lior Yom Tov, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Illan Gonen, Columbia University; Rajmil Fischman, Keele University; Noa Levin, Università della Svizzera Italiana and Sahar Bostock, Columbia University.
Full call:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIg-BpaAvD09c5SV789vg5b-EBoAH_T6AIpwupZ44M1LQTYw/viewform
