academic freedom

A Palestinian photographer standing during a minute of silence commemorating the Nakba, as part of a ceremony that was held by Palestinian and Israeli students in the entrance to the Tel Aviv University, May 13, 2013. A right wing demonstration was held against the ceremony, as the protesters were shouting slogans against the participants, under police surveillance. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Is academia the last bastion of progressive thought in Israel?

Israeli universities have long been viewed as a bulwark against extremism. A new database, compiled by a group of Israeli dissident academics, reveals how the academy works in concert with the state. It’s no secret that the Israeli government’s crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years has extended into the academy. Through far-right student groups such as…

By Edo Konrad January 23, 2018

Education Minister Naftali Bennett speaks to students at Bar Ilan University on January 01, 2013. (Flash90)

Is it ‘unethical’ to oppose the occupation in academia?

A new ‘code of ethics’ commissioned by Israel’s education minister seems to target left-wing politics in universities. The Israeli Education Ministry, headed by far-right politician Naftali Bennett, recently commissioned an ethical code for political conduct in higher education in Israel. The resulting document (Hebrew) is a highly invasive set of political thought controls portrayed as…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 12, 2017

Palestinian and right-wing Israeli students demonstrate at Hebrew University during Operation Protective Edge. (Kobi Gidon/Flash90)

Hebrew U. cancels conference on Palestinian prisoners, following pressure

Hebrew University canceled the conference after a student group associated with Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party penned an open letter to the university president. ‘The very existence of this conference lends legitimacy to terror.’ By Eli Bitan Hebrew University announced it is canceling an academic conference on the topic of Palestinian prisoners, which was slated to take place…

By +972 Magazine May 14, 2017

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Delegation of Israeli academics visiting Kadoorie University (photo: Haggai Matar

For first time in years, Israeli academics pay solidarity visit to Palestinian university

An Israeli delegation of academics visits Kadoorie University in the West Bank city of Tulkarm to show support following a string of IDF raids on the campus. For the first time in many years, a delegation of Israeli academics made an official visit to a Palestinian university. The first, small delegation arrived a month ago,…

By Haggai Matar May 13, 2016

A Palestinian man from Gaza walks down an open air corridor at the Erez Crossing terminal, the northern checkpoint leading from the Gaza Strip to Israel, in the area of Beit Hanun, February 14, 2012. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Israel’s truthiness on Palestinian academic freedom

In denying that Israel limits academic freedom in Palestine, the Israeli embassy in Washington seems to forget about the Palestinian students and academics whose movement it restricts. By Sari Bashi The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. recently decried as baseless “the accusation that Israel arbitrarily limits the entry of foreign nationals who seek to lecture,…

By +972 Magazine January 13, 2015

Steven Salaita day of action (Photo: Filckr/JeffreyPutney CC by 2.0)

A professor’s freedom to tweet: The Steven Salaita affair

A Palestinian American professor’s withering tweets against Israel’s offensive in Gaza cost him his job. If his freedom of speech isn’t protected, it could be me or you next. By Shachar Pinsker In 2013, the American-Indian Studies Program at The University of Illinois decided to hire Steven Salaita, who then held a tenured position at…

By +972 Magazine October 7, 2014

Clampdown on campus politics in Israel feeds social apathy

By Issa Edward Boursheh Let me start by making a few essential points: I believe that academic work should not be politically influenced, pressured or manipulated, and any argument that is discussed in class must be supported by methods, terms, tools and criticism that fit the world of research methods. I am against professors promoting…

By +972 Magazine December 25, 2011

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Op-ed in Israeli newspaper against academic freedom

The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli English-language newspaper, has published an op-ed by British History professor Geoffery Alderman. In this op-ed, Alderman argues that academics in Israel should not be free to criticize the government’s policy, because the country is at war: In peacetime, an academic should indeed be free to criticize, castigate, chastise and/or condemn…

By Roi Maor May 7, 2011

Academic Freedom Under Attack? Interview with Prof. Neve Gordon

"the student doesn’t understand his or her role in the university, and sees him or herself as an uncritical agent of the state... Ultimately the criticism is internalized, and many professors think twice or fear to speak their opinions."

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 19, 2011