Palestinian academic arrested by Israeli police for alleged incitement to terrorism – ScheerPost

By Talia Mullin / Original to ScheerPost

Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian professor of social work and law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was suspended and arrested following her public criticism of Zionism and the recent devastating escalation in Gaza.

Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian is a globally respected scholar who taught for nearly three decades at the Hebrew University with visiting professorships at universities such as Georgetown in Washington DC. Shalhoub-Kevorkian holds a doctorate in law and has focused her work on state crimes, trauma. , law and society, gender violence and genocide studies.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian's punishment is not the first time she and other academics have faced backlash for their criticism of the Israeli state. The new development of possible legal proceedings against an internationally renowned academic for alleged crimes linked to his academic expertise has sparked a debate over academic freedom and the repression of free speech in the Middle East's “only self-proclaimed democracy”. East.”

Although she has not yet been charged, Shalhoub-Kevorkian is under investigation for the crime of inciting terrorism which could land her up to five years in prison. However, Shalhoub-Kervokian once spent a night in an Israeli prison cell due to his political positions, in the view of his lawyers, rather than concrete incitements to violence.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 64, told the New York Times:

“I was persecuted and defamed, my academic output of knowledge was reduced to nothing, and my house and even my own room were invaded. »

Police records from May 2024 show that in the six months following the October 7 attack, 167 indictments for “incitement to terrorism” were filed in Israel. According to Adalah – a legal center that defends the rights of the Arab minority in Israel – the majority of those accused are Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, many of whom refused to accept Israeli citizenship after the annexation of the area by Israel. .

Shalhoub-Kevorkian is one of more than 500 Arab Israeli citizens who have been criminally investigated for incitement. Many students, historically and today, have also faced disciplinary action for challenging the Israeli narrative of war or political dissent.

Her first “offense” occurred shortly after October 7 when she, along with many other academics from around the world, signed a letter demanding a ceasefire and calling the Israeli attack on Gaza a “genocide.”

Hebrew University President Asher Cohen and University Rector Tamir Sheafer sent the professor a letter calling for his resignation following his support and signing of the petition titled “Childhood Researchers and Students Call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

Other academics and researchers from American universities, as well as the Hebrew University, condemned the comments made by university officials and many agreed that while they disagree with some or some of his beliefs, they were concerned about the many universities that failed to stand up. more strongly in favor of freedom of expression.

A few months later, in March, Shalhoub-Kervokian appeared on the Makdisi Street podcast where she spoke with the three brothers who host the show. Their discussion focused on the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank, the increase in violence in the West Bank linked to the escalation in Gaza, the media representation of Palestinians as well as Zionism as an Israeli colonial project of colonization.

Although the interview lasted almost two hours, only a few of his comments were picked up and shared without proper context by pro-Israel groups and went viral. In the widely shared clips, Shalhoub-Kervokian described Zionism as criminal and that the time to abolish it had come.

Additionally, his skepticism about the Israeli government's certainty and propagation of the claim that mass sexual violence took place on October 7 despite a lack of evidence has come under scrutiny from the from the pro-Israeli public as well as his university officials.

The social work professor said: “If this did not happen, it would be a shame for the state to use women's bodies and sexuality to promote political agendas, to promote further dispossession of land and new murders. »

Journalists Damien Cave and Rawan Sheik Ahmad, who reported on the issue from Jerusalem and Haifa for the New York Times, wrote:

“The Hebrew University suspended the professor, explaining in a March 14 letter to students and faculty that 'one of the most important values ​​of the social work profession is to always believe and side with the victims. It is therefore not possible to teach the social. work while declaring that the rape did not take place.

After Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian met with university leaders on March 27 and told them that as a feminist scholar she believed all the victims and did not deny the October 7 rapes, she was allowed to return to teaching.

Unhappy with her short-term suspension, right-wing members of the Israeli Parliament called for her to be removed from her teaching position, for a police investigation into her allegations of incitement, and for economic sanctions. be imposed on the Hebrew University in order to increase the likelihood that it will be removed.

On April 18, Israeli police broke into Shalhoub-Kervokian's home in East Jerusalem and arrested her. According to the Guardian, she was “strip-searched, handcuffed so tightly that it caused pain, denied access to food, water and medicine for several hours, and held in a cold cell without clothing or clothing.” adequate covers”.

Detained without charge, she was forced to spend the night in uncomfortable conditions, but was allowed to return home the next day, despite efforts by the prosecutor and police to extend her detention, which were rejected by a judge. .

According to her lawyers, in the weeks that followed, the Palestinian professor was subjected to more than 17 hours of interrogation during which Israeli authorities questioned her opinions on various topics and even the books she wrote. .

Protests erupted in response to his arrest along with a professor of political philosophy at Hebrew University, Shlomi Segall, wearing a shirt that read: “They are taking away our democracy.” Are you okay with ? Segall is quoted by the New York Times as saying: “We see all the citadels of democracy crumbling. »

Shalhoub-Kevorkain's lead lawyer, Alaa Mahajna, said: “The message is clear: no dissent from the Zionist consensus is permitted. »

There is no evidence to suggest that the professor's remarks incited any form of terrorism. His criticism and dissent have been widely recognized by international organizations such as the United Nations. A UN commission concluded that it could not independently verify the allegations “due to lack of access to victims, witnesses and crime sites and obstruction of its investigations by Israeli authorities “. Additionally, the UN report said Israel refused to cooperate with the investigation and Hamas denied allegations of sexual abuse during the attack or in captivity.

Likewise, his assertion that Zionism is a colonial, and therefore criminal, enterprise has been corroborated for over a century by the architects of Zionism themselves, such as Ze'ev (Vladmir) Jabotinsky. In his 1923 essay, “The Iron Wall,” Jabotinsky wrote: “Zionist colonization must either stop or continue regardless of the indigenous population. »

Cave and Sheik Ahmad wrote: “While universities claim they are simply trying to maintain calm on campus, critics say there is clearly a double standard within Israeli society: the violent rhetoric of Israeli Jews towards Palestinians is often brushed aside while Palestinian citizens of Israel express support. for the Palestinians in Gaza or criticize the conduct of the war, expose themselves to disciplinary measures, or even a criminal investigation.

Thousands of Palestinians remain detained without charge and subjected to torture in Israeli detention centers in the West Bank. According to Shalhoub-Kevorkian, his treatment is part of a broader perception of Palestinians as savage individuals who must be feared and therefore contained:

“Violent extremism was able to take over and politicize the criminal justice and academic systems, and reached new levels in my case. This violent extremism has served to demonize Palestinians.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian stressed that while her treatment was “horrible,” it “…is nothing compared to what the women, children, doctors, academics and virtually everyone in Gaza are going through.” We must not lose sight of their suffering.

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