Israel’s arrest of a renowned Palestinian academic is a direct threat to all Arab citizens

Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who was arrested on suspicion of incitement, arrives for a court hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, 19 April 2024

Anwar Mhajne writes in Haaretz on 21 April 2024:

In 2017, I had the opportunity to attend a talk given by Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian at Columbia University. As a Palestinian citizen of Israel, then a graduate student, I was inspired to see a woman from my community, a renowned academic, achieving such prominent success.

This exceptional academic has now been humiliated by her own university in Israel – and as of last week, even arrested in an attempt to silence her.

It’s important to note her statements made about October 7 and the war in Gaza in a podcast do not pose any security threat, let alone constitute “incitement” of violence, terror, and racism as alleged. Rather, what we are seeing is an attempt to intimidate and silence the Arab community in Israel.

It’s rich that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, previously convicted for supporting terrorism and incitement to racism, would accuse Kevorkian of the same.

The arrest Thursday – she was released the following day thanks to a court order that said there was no justification for her arrest – reflects a wider campaign to stifle and intimidate critics of how Israel is waging the war in Gaza, where over 30,000 have been killed, many of them civilians.

Despite a statement opposing her arrest, the Hebrew University arguably paved the way for it by suspending Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who holds positions in both the Law School and School of Social Work. Over 100 Hebrew University faculty members signed a letter published Sunday that said they were disappointed the university did not stand by Shalhoub-Kevorkian during what they termed a “political arrest.”

The university’s decision in March to suspend her followed Shalhoub-Kevokian’s interview on a podcast in which she discussed the tragic events of October 7 and the subsequent destruction, death, and starvation in Gaza.

At issue were comments she made calling for Zionism to be abolished and casting doubt on some Hamas atrocities that took place on October 7, including incidents of sexual assaults.

The public outrage ignored her comments, for example, that conveyed sympathy for October 7 victims, like this one: “My reaction to the stories on October 7 was horrified… I will never allow anybody to touch a baby, to kidnap a child, to rape a woman,” adding, “All our lives, we fought for the dignity, for life, for the wholeness of a human and not the opposite.”

In the podcast, she spoke of complex topics and described harrowing images of civilians in Gaza killed in the war. Her descriptions helped me reflect on how I have been experiencing images of death and destruction. I remember how, after seeing a video of a father placing a piece of candy in his dead child’s hand, I hugged my two kids so close that I wept.

An Arab student at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in January 2024

I have lost many nights of sleep thinking about the children of Gaza, some killed, others hungry, the ones who were buried under the rubble, who lost their limbs, who lost their families, who lost any hope for a normal childhood.  These are not easy things to hear for Jewish Israelis. They are shocking and force you to confront what’s happening. The Israeli media largely hasn’t been showing difficult images, and many Israelis prefer not to seek them out.

But as our fellow citizens look away, we Palestinians in Israel find ourselves grieving and reliving historical traumas in silence.

Our academics, our intellectuals, our doctors, and our students, who are our future, have been attacked and targeted. Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s suspension (she has since been reinstated after clarifying she did not doubt sexual assaults took place October 7) then arrest has awakened in me deep wounds.

It’s yet another reminder that no matter how hard we try, and how respected we are in our fields, we are always going to be punished for talking about our experiences with the state.

All that it takes for state institutions to reject us is to portray us as anti-Zionists. In its statement announcing Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s suspension, the Hebrew University wrote it was “proud of being an Israeli, public, and Zionist institution.”

How can we be asked not to question an ideology that was and continues to be implemented on our bodies, that denies our suffering, history, and experiences?  My parents, myself, my children, we don’t know a life where we are not Israeli citizens. We work, vote, build friendships, and get educated in Israeli institutions.

Our very presence in the state is a hasbara (Israeli advocacy) talking point to showcase Israel’s diversity and counter claims of apartheid. It’s our fundamental right living in a democracy to critique the society we live in. We also get grief from the “other side.” The BDS movement has also attacked some of us; the best example of this was their call to boycott Standing Together, Israel’s largest Arab-Jewish solidarity movement.

Despite systemic discrimination as seen in the Nation-State Law, and other laws and structures that exist to marginalize us, as a first-generation Palestinian-Israeli academic, now teaching in the U.S., I owe a huge debt to my college education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

My university experience provided me with my first substantial exposure to Israeli society, not merely as distant neighbors encountered in passing at parks or shopping centers, but through meaningful relationships forged within classrooms and dormitories. It is where I had tough political conversations that affirmed and challenged my political views. I was on campus for two wars in Gaza, in 2008/9 and 2011, where I spent time in shelters with my Jewish neighbors and colleagues. It is where I made friends and crossed bridges with people from various backgrounds.

However, it was also within these university walls that I also keenly felt our marginalized status. The lack of Arabic-speaking professors and a shortage of understanding regarding our unique needs underscored the systemic hurdles we faced.

Finding a female Arab professor was particularly arduous, making encounters with individuals like Professor Nidaa Khoury profoundly impactful. Her presence instilled in me the belief that I too, could one day lead a classroom, to transcend the label of “Other” and contribute to the education of those who did not perceive me as their equal. Meeting her ignited a transformative journey from a first-generation college student to the academic I am today.

Having such role models is essential to the lives of Arab students who are not strangers to marginalization.  For these students, academia is a lifeline for economic stability and upward mobility. It’s also important to note these universities have Jewish professors who are anti-Zionists as well as professors who hold racist views against Palestinians in Israel and other Palestinians who were not suspended.

Reportedly over 100 students, most Palestinian citizens of Israel, have been referred to disciplinary committees in higher education institutions, in addition to some students have been subjected to doxing and threats of violence,

Arab students are concerned about their safety in their classes and dorms in the face of this massive incitement, some of which is happening with the cooperation of student unions and university administrations.

The temporary suspension and subsequent arrest of Shalhoub-Kevorkian has far-reaching implications for the Arab community in Israel.

What message does this send to her mentees and Arab students across Israeli universities? If such actions can be taken against an internationally renowned academic, the impact on junior Palestinian scholars and students could be devastating.

When academic freedom is upheld, it reinforces the principles of democracy by enabling and fostering the free exchange of ideas, critical thinking, and the exploration of various viewpoints. The Shalhoub-Kevorkian saga poses a significant threat to not just academic freedom, but freedom of speech, which should concern all Israeli academics – and all Israelis.

Dr. Anwar Mhajne is from Umm al-Fahm, Israel. She is is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts

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