Mada Al-Carmel, the Arab Center for Applied Social Research, sent a letter on 21 March 2024 to the President of the Hebrew University and its Rector, denouncing the decision to suspend Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian from her teaching position at the university. The letter stated as follows:
We are writing to you on behalf of Mada al-Carmel, The Arab Center for Applied Social Research, to express our dismay at the suspension of Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian from her teaching position at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is imperative to emphasize, moreover, that her suspension bears testament to the university’s complicity in upholding and advancing the Zionist project, as manifested in the prolonged Israeli occupation and apartheid regime imposed on Palestinians.
The university’s decision was preceded by a harsh and widespread campaign of persecution initiated by all Israeli universities and institutions of higher education against the Palestinian academic community in Israel, teaching staff and students alike. As part of a crackdown on free expression, the latter have endured a barrage of personal attacks, censorship, arbitrary arrests, and punitive measures. Shockingly, over 100 students throughout the country have faced expulsion or suspension as a result. Of these, “52 Palestinian students faced suspension prior to a hearing, while eight were expelled without a hearing, and an additional three were expelled from their dormitories without prior notice or the opportunity for a hearing” (source).
Given Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s well-documented record of scholarly achievement, as one of a group of Palestinian scholars dedicated to dissecting colonial violence and advocating for de-colonial practices, Mada al-Carmel is compelled to question whether the university perceives Palestinians solely as passive observers of history, and not active agents within it. Is history merely a process that unfolds around us, as Palestinians, or are we able to shape it through our collective actions? Does the university regard our scholarly pursuits as mere commodities to be exploited to enhance its global reputation and promote a sanitized image of the State of Israel, despite the figurative and literal toll it takes on us?
How can Palestinian intellectuals whose research delves into issues of justice, liberation, and colonization remain silent in the face of a genocidal war being waged before their very eyes, within proximity of their homes, and targeting their own people? Adding another layer to the myriad forms of oppression and violence we endure, this epistemic violence compels us to bear witness to the atrocities while being coerced into silence.
The university’s explicit alignment with Zionism, as conveyed in the letter the Hebrew University addressed to Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian, lays bare that the current apocalyptic scale of the violence perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza is intrinsic to the Zionist project. If her moral position against massacres and other crimes is deemed anti-Zionist, then the university and the world must come to terms with what Zionism is.
Amidst the ongoing turmoil, the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s educational infrastructure continues unremittingly. All 12 universities in Gaza have been decimated, approximately 378 schools have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardment, and, most tragically, 4,327 students, 231 teachers, and 94 professors have lost their lives. Despite these devastating losses, the university has maintained silence in the face of the annihilation of the Palestinian academy in Gaza.
Against the harrowing backdrop of relentless massacres, the incitement against Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian provides stark confirmation of the longstanding complicity of this university, and of Israeli academia at large, in advancing the Zionist agenda: while the machinery of militarization seeks to erase our very existence, the Israeli academy endeavors to erase our voices, history and narrative.
The campaign targeting Palestinians in Israeli universities is backed by a broader global initiative to stifle anti-Zionist discourse within academic circles and on campuses, among both Palestinians and Jews—communities with which we deeply identify—in the United States, Britain and other European nations. These efforts are designed to silence those who advocate for a humane, equitable future for this land, one that is inclusive of all its inhabitants, regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religion, a future that is envisaged beyond the constraints of Zionism.
A reversal of the decision to suspend Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian in response to mounting international pressure would not erase or undo the harm caused by your actions. It remains clear that you see it as your mission to silence dissent and eliminate Palestinian and humanist narratives about the war. Our demands are now directed towards academic communities and institutions around the world, which we call on to hold Israeli academic institutions accountable for their support of gross violations of international law and cease any academic cooperation with them as long as they fall in line behind the illegal occupation and apartheid regime imposed on Palestinians.
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