Prof Asher Cohen, President, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof Tamir Sheafer, Rector, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
3 November 2023
Dear Professors Cohen and Sheafer,
I am writing to you on behalf of Academics for Palestine, an affiliation of academics in Ireland who have ties to Palestine and who act in solidarity with Palestinian academics. We are deeply concerned by your openly published letter of October 29th that threatened Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian of your own university, because she signed a petition. In particular, we are shocked at your statement that “We are sorry and ashamed that the Hebrew University includes a faculty member like you. In light of your feelings, we believe that it is appropriate for you to consider leaving your position at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.”
We believe that such a statement goes beyond merely threatening Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s position and academic freedom. In light of the present situation in Israel, where right wing mobs have attacked Palestinian students in Israel and where threats and acts of violence against those who do not support the war is widespread, this statement and its wide dissemination within Israel may well be understood as incitement to violence – both verbal and physical – against a member of your own faculty. We understand that Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian has received many threats of violence, including death threats, following your letter.
The occasion for your extraordinary letter was that Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian signed a petition by childhood researchers calling for a ceasefire and an end to the mass killing of children by Israel. To date, almost 2,000 researchers and students in the field have signed this petition. You have the right to be “disgusted and deeply disappointed” as you put it, that childhood researchers want an end to the killing of children. However you also have the obligation to protect – not threaten – the academic freedom of members of your faculty, who disagrees with you about the need for a ceasefire.
You base your attack on Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian on the opinion that Israel’s actions in Gaza “do not come close to the definition of genocide”. Again, you have the right to this opinion. However, you must be aware that many scholars understand Israel to be committing genocide. For instance. the historian and expert in modern genocide, Raz Segal, has described Israel’s actions as a “textbook case of genocide”. Almost a thousand lawyers and scholars internationally have argued that a possible genocide is taking place in Gaza on the basis of the indiscriminate bombing, forcible population transfers and the deprivation of food, water, and fuel. Thus, you would be aware that the description of Israel’s actions as genocidal by the petition that Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian signed fits within a scholarly understanding of the situation, and that her freedom to express herself in this way should have been protected, not attacked.
Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian is well known and highly respected in Irish academic circles. She has visited this country several times, giving lectures and seminars in Trinity College Dublin among other institutions. As a leading expert in her field, we were highly impressed with the depth and breadth of her scholarship and find it astonishing that she has become the butt of a hate-campaign that appears to be instigated by her own university.
In consequence, we would ask you to immediately retract your statement attacking your colleague, to apologise to Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian for the immense harm you have already caused her, and to take whatever steps are needed to ensure her security and safety in the coming weeks, which your letter has endangered.
Regards
Dr David Landy
On behalf of Academics for Palestine
academicsforpalestine.org 