Hebrew U., law prof. forum call for release of Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian, citing free speech

Hebrew University and the Israeli Law Professors Forum have called for the immediate release of Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who was arrested on Thursday after denying October 7 atrocities.

She was arrested on suspicion of incitement, after the lecturer had accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and also denied the sexual abuse crimes committed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre, according to Israeli media.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside her hearing Friday, to protest what protest organization Free Jerusalem called “fascist silencing of discontent.”

“People are arrested for any criticism. Especially Palestinians. Yet anti-Palestinian, genocidal calls run free. Racist system,” said the organization on X.

Free speech and academic freedom

Hebrew U. denounced the professor’s statements, but expressed concern over the arrest.

“In a democratic country there must not be arrests based on such statements, no matter how infuriating they are,” said the university.

The law forum also called for her release, saying that the arrest and investigation of Shalhoub-Kevorkian “seriously harms free speech and academic freedom.”

The forum insisted that “the professor’s published work, even if we think it contains infuriating things, is not incitement to racism or terror and is not a crime,” adding that the arrest joins “unjustified arrests of citizens who are using their right to free speech and free protest.”

The group emphasized that “this is very dangerous for Israeli democracy. Defending free speech is not a sign of weakness, but the opposite.”

Shalhoub-Kevorkian was released Friday morning under restrictive conditions. Israel Police will appeal the release, according to Israeli media.

Darcie Grunblatt contributed to this report.