Academic Freedom? Not for Arabs in Israel

[Purveyor]

by Jonathan Cook

In the strange world of Israeli academia, an Arab college lecturer is being dismissed from his job because he refused to declare his "respect for the uniform of the Israeli army." The bizarre demand was made of Nizar Hassan, director of several award-winning films, after he criticized a Jewish student who arrived in his film studies class at Sapir College in the Negev for wearing his uniform and carrying a gun.

The incident raises disturbing questions about the freedom of Israeli academics, sheds light on the veneration of the military in Israeli public life, and exposes the close, verging on incestuous, ties between the army and Israeli academia.

Meanwhile, for many of Israel's 1.2 million Palestinian citizens, who are nearly a fifth of the country's population, Hassan's treatment confirms their fears that decades of discrimination, especially in higher education, are far from over.

Hassan has faced a storm of criticism, including claims that he is anti-Semitic, since the Israeli media mistakenly reported back in November that he had thrown out of class one of his students, Eyal Cohen, over the way he was dressed. Hassan and most of the students present say Cohen was simply warned not to attend class in future wearing his uniform.

The story soon gained a life of its own, becoming the subject of incensed talk shows and newspaper columns. A group of rightwing college staff and students lobbied for Hassan, the only Arab lecturer in the film school, to be dismissed, and the Knesset's Education Committee denounced him.

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http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/cook290208.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Two points:

(1) Israeli Arabs do indeed suffer discrimination, and are not treated with full equality. There are organizations that I support that are campaigning and working toward greater equality, e.g.

www.nif.org

www.bsst.org.uk

BUT:

(2) Jonathan Cook has a very strong bias, and should not really be taken as a source for objective information.

[pelsar]

3. missing some info....guess it doesnt fit the narrative...

the reserve soldier came to class in uniform...not a unique site in israel...the prof refused to let him participate.....

after he criticized a Jewish student who arrived in his film studies class at Sapir College in the Negev for wearing his uniform and carrying a gun.

and even in cooks article.... Cohen was simply warned not to attend class in future wearing his uniform.....so where does a prof get off warning a student he cant come to class in uniform?....seems to me the prof over stepped his authority.

[azurnoir]

4. And the gun is part of the uniform? n/t

[eyl]

5. If he doesn't have a secure storage place available

he's legally required to carry it.

Also, he claimed he had a problem with the uniform, not just the gun. According to a n article I read (Hebrew only, AFAIK) ,he says he would have refused to teach anyone in any uniform, whether "Police, soldiers, Hamas, Fatah". Note that beyond the objectionable comparison here, it is problematical in itself. A lot of police (+Prison Service, etc.) officers do degrees or courses in Israeli universities - and they are required to do so in uniform, AFAIK. Under the circumstances, I think refusing to teach them would be grounds for dismissal in itself (under the label of "biting the hand that feeds you"), especially for someone without tenure.

[Itiel]

6. Even more missing info...

Allegedly, this professor kicked a student out of class for wearing a Star of David pendant.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203605149259&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3493016,00.html