Hebrew University reinstates professor who made anti-Israel comments

Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian can return to teach at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after she retracted her previous anti-Israel comments, the university said on Wednesday.

The university stated that in a meeting with the rector Professor Tamir Sheafer, Shalhoub-Kevorkian “clarified that as a critical feminist researcher, she believes all the victims and does not doubt their words and that she did not deny the fact that on October 7, there were cases of rape in the Gaza border communities.”

The university further stated that upon “receiving this clarification, there is no obstacle on the part of the university for Prof. Shalhoub-Kivorkian to continue teaching at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare.”

"The university strongly condemns inciting words and threats towards students, lecturers, individuals, and groups, and calls on all members of the university community to maintain a safe and respectful study and research environment," the statement added. 

Shalhoub-Kevorkian's past comments

Earlier in March, the university announced Shalhoub-Kevorkian had been suspended from teaching at the university for inciteful comments she had made regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking in a podcast entitled Makdisi Street, the professor labeled the Jewish state as “dishonest.”

“They will use everything to kill further. It’s a killing machine, a necropolitical machine that can survive only on the erasure of Palestinians,” she said.

On October 29, 2023, the university issued a letter suggesting the professor should resign from her position. It condemned her “alignment with a petition characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal and labeling it an occupying force since 1948.”