{"id":71167,"date":"2024-06-12T10:19:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T10:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/a-palestinian-professor-spoke-out-against-the-gaza-war-israel-detained-her\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T10:19:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T10:19:07","slug":"a-palestinian-professor-spoke-out-against-the-gaza-war-israel-detained-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/a-palestinian-professor-spoke-out-against-the-gaza-war-israel-detained-her\/","title":{"rendered":"A Palestinian Professor Spoke Out Against the Gaza War. Israel Detained Her."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/05\/multimedia\/00palestinians-crackdown-01-mwjq\/00palestinians-crackdown-01-mwjq-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"A Palestinian Professor Spoke Out Against the Gaza War. Israel Detained Her.\" title=\"A Palestinian Professor Spoke Out Against the Gaza War. Israel Detained Her.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian professor at a prominent Israeli university, first waded into the debate over the Gaza war by joining academics worldwide in signing a letter that called for a cease-fire. It branded Israel\u2019s assault on the territory a \u201cgenocide\u201d and the leaders of her university responded by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/news\/379358\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">urging her to resign<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That was soon after the war began on Oct. 7. Months later, the professor drew even more scrutiny for saying it was time to \u201cabolish Zionism\u201d and accusing Israel of politicizing rape. She was briefly suspended in March by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she has taught law and social work for nearly three decades. But right-wing Israeli politicians demanded more severe punishment and in April, the police detained her overnight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have been persecuted and defamed, my academic production of knowledge flattened and my home and even my own bedroom invaded,\u201d Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 64, told The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The professor is now under investigation for incitement to terrorism \u2014 a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. And though she has not been charged, her case has prompted a profound debate inside Israel about the repression of free speech and academic freedom since the war began more than eight months ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The professor\u2019s lawyers say she is being punished for her political views. And some other Israeli professors and students worry that the country\u2019s universities \u2014 which had long defended the values of relative diversity and open-mindedness \u2014 have contributed to the suppression of dissent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While universities argue they are simply trying to keep campuses calm, critics say there is a clear double standard across Israeli society: Violent rhetoric toward Palestinians from Jewish Israelis is often brushed aside while Palestinian citizens of Israel who express support for Palestinians in Gaza or criticize the conduct of the war face discipline or even criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As of May, police records show, 162 indictments for incitement to terrorism had been filed since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Nearly every case, according to Adalah, a legal center for the rights of the Arab minority in Israel, involved Arab citizens of Israel or Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/what-know-about-arab-citizens-israel\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">mostly declined<\/a> offers of citizenship after Israel annexed the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian is among about 500 Arab-Israeli citizens who have faced police <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.il\/he\/pages\/police_01-05-24_hasata\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">investigations for incitement<\/a>. Dozens of students have also been caught up in disciplinary proceedings by universities for vague expressions of religious belief or statistics and images that counter Israel\u2019s narrative of the war, according to Adalah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian\u2019s case has drawn more attention than most because she is a globally recognized scholar under criminal investigation for statements related to subjects she has studied for decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cViolent extremism has been allowed to overtake and politicize the criminal justice and academic systems, and has reached new levels in my case,\u201d she said. \u201cThis violent extremism has served to demonize Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A Palestinian of Armenian origin, the professor was born in the Israeli city of Haifa and educated at Hebrew University, where she received her Ph.D. in law in 1994. Her work has focused on trauma, state crimes, gender violence, law and society and genocide studies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She has lectured worldwide over the past two decades, with visiting professorships at universities including Georgetown in Washington, and she tends to speak with a mix of outrage and academic jargon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Abeer Otman, who studied for her Ph.D. with Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian, said she was also the kind of professor who was quick to hold a person\u2019s hands during conversations about traumatic experiences, or line up a lawyer for someone in need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But even before Oct. 7, Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian\u2019s lectures and interviews, especially in the United States, were <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jta.org\/2023\/03\/27\/united-states\/george-washington-u-clears-professor-of-antisemitism-charges-brought-by-pro-israel-group\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a focus<\/a> for pro-Israel watchdog groups. The attention intensified when, after signing the letter mentioning genocide, she continued to speak out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cw3Y-6GqytM\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">podcast<\/a> interview recorded March 6 with American academics, she said it was time to \u201cabolish Zionism,\u201d calling it criminal. She also questioned the veracity of the Israeli government\u2019s accounts of rape during the October attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf it didn\u2019t happen,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s shame on the state to use women\u2019s bodies and sexuality to promote political agendas, to promote further dispossession of land, to promote further killing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A new report on Wednesday by a U.N. commission investigating the Oct. 7 attack documented cases indicating sexual violence against women and men during the attack and against some of those who were abducted. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After reviewing testimonies obtained by journalists and the Israeli police concerning rape, however, the commission said it had not been able to independently verify the rape allegations, \u201cdue to a lack of access to victims, witnesses and crime sites and the obstruction of its investigations by the Israeli authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The report said Israel did not cooperate with the investigation. Hamas has denied that its members sexually abused people in captivity or during the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">About a week after the podcast, a right-wing Israeli news channel edited a video version of the podcast interview in a way that cut out caveats and context and a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ishayfridman\/status\/1767500029516796278?s=46&amp;t=GBAOz76-FxJriEmQIe8AGw\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">clip<\/a> of the edit went viral in mid-March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hebrew University suspended the professor, explaining in a March 14 letter to students and faculty that \u201cone of the most important values\u200b\u200b of the social work profession is that you always believe and side with the victims so it is not possible to teach social work while declaring that rape didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian met with university leaders on March 27 and told them that as a feminist researcher, she believes all victims, and that she did not deny there were rapes on Oct. 7, she was allowed to return to teaching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In early April, right-wing members of Israel\u2019s Parliament <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/main.knesset.gov.il\/en\/news\/pressreleases\/pages\/press3424q.aspx\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">called for<\/a> her to be fired and for the police to investigate her for incitement. They urged economic sanctions against Hebrew University to increase the pressure to oust her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then on April 18, the police detained the professor at her home in East Jerusalem. Her lawyers said she was ill at the time, but had to spend the night in a cold jail cell with cockroaches even though she had not been charged with any crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The next day, the police and prosecutors asked to extend her detention, but a judge rejected the request and freed her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the next few weeks, the Israeli authorities questioned Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian for more than 17 hours in several lengthy sessions, delving into her books and views on a variety of subjects, according to her lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe police have already exceeded the authority given to them by asking her about other statements and things that are her opinions,\u201d said Mazen Masri, senior lecturer of law at City University of London and a member of the professor\u2019s legal team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Alaa Mahajna, her lead lawyer in Jerusalem, said: \u201cThe message is clear \u2014 no dissent from the Zionist consensus is allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli police and national security ministry did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Days after Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian\u2019s arrest, members of the criminology faculty at Hebrew University condemned her on television, arguing her body of work was tainted by politics. Hebrew University\u2019s leaders responded by saying that while some of her research papers and books \u201cmay appear to be fundamentally unfounded, they underwent a professional peer review process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In interviews, several Jewish Israeli professors of law and other subjects said that while they disagreed with some or all of the professor\u2019s views, they felt betrayed not just by the police, but also by the leaders of many universities for failing to come out more strongly in favor of free expression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ariel Porat, a law professor and president of Tel Aviv University, said this was the first time he could recall that a professor had been detained in Israel for speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think it was a terrible thing to arrest her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hebrew University also issued a statement the day after the professor\u2019s detention calling for her speedy release. But some faculty members said that the university has not done enough to defend free speech, and that her suspension started the cycle of persecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shlomi Segall, a political philosophy professor at Hebrew University, joined a small demonstration in late April outside a police station where Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian was being questioned. He wore a white T-shirt that said in Hebrew: \u201cThey are taking away our democracy. Are you fine with it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe see every citadel of democracy crumbling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A few days later, after Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian was called back for more interrogation, she said the case would not keep her quiet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI am a strong woman,\u201d she told The Times. \u201cWe should also remember that this horrible ordeal pales in comparison with what women, children, doctors, academics, and practically everyone in Gaza is going through,\u201d she added. \u201cWe should not lose our focus on their suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/12\/world\/australia\/palestinian-professor-israel-gaza-war.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian professor at a prominent Israeli university, first waded into the debate over the Gaza war by joining academics worldwide in signing a letter that called for a cease-fire. It branded Israel\u2019s assault on the territory a \u201cgenocide\u201d and the leaders of her university responded by urging her to resign. That was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/05\/multimedia\/00palestinians-crackdown-01-mwjq\/00palestinians-crackdown-01-mwjq-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9467,43,38,19637,18556,28396,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71169,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71167\/revisions\/71169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}