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Another free speech crisis in the universities in Israel

Brian Leiter

Hebrew University in Jerusalem has suspended (with pay) a professor who gave an interview denouncing Zionism and raising doubts about the October 7 atrocities.  In the U.S., her speech would be protected (in principle) under the AAUP "academic freedom" rubric, which includes extramural speech on matters of political interet under its protection–but American academic freedom law is an outlier in this regard.  In Israel, as I understand it, this is a pure "free speech" issue.   I welcome more information about this case, and the law of free speech and academic freedom in Israel, in the comments; I do not welcome off-topic comments about Israel generally, Gaza etc.

(Thanks to David Enoch for calling this case to my attention.)

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2 responses to “Another free speech crisis in the universities in Israel”

  1. Ross Hyman

    Here is the link to the statement from the Israeli academic organization "Academia for Equality" https://en.academia4equality.com/post/with-the-suspension-of-prof-shalhoub-kevorkian-israeli-academia-is-entering-the-abyss
    I think the arguments of their statement can be boiled down to the following five sentences from the statement:
    1.Israeli law and university by-laws include measures which enable prosecution and disciplinary action against supporters of terrorism and racism.
    2.The law and by-laws have not been used in the countless cases in which Jewish academics and students have incited genocide in the Gaza Strip and violence against members of the academic community.
    3.Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s remarks do not comprise incitement, threat, support for terrorism or racism, or denial of the October 7th massacre . Rather, they represent a critical perspective on Israel’s actions during the current war.
    4.The steps taken against Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian contradict the university by-laws, which do not authorize the president or rector to suspend an instructor over speech, and the law, which does not prohibit the expression of such views.
    5.If the Hebrew University’s administration does not reverse its indefensible decision, the floodgates might open for a deluge of repression which will not spare those who feel that their acquiescence to the war effort will absolve them of the “sin” of protesting against the government prior to the war.

    Reply
  2. Dan

    Hi Brian, here's an update on the case that might be of interest for those following it:

    https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-794054

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