The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is no longer apologizing for a recent incident in which a humanities lecturer scolded a student who attended class wearing her IDF uniform.
Hebrew University Rector Prof. Barak Medina dismissed as groundless the story which made waves on local media and sparked protests and petitions to fire the faculty member.
In a letter to all university students ahead of the end of the fall semester, Medina addressed the controversy.
Last week, Kan 11 News reported that literature professor Dr. Carola Hilfrich had scolded an IDF officer who wore her uniform to Hilfrich's class. An Arab student insulted the soldier, and an argument broke out. After the lecture, Hilfrich reportedly scolded the soldier, telling her she had to be respectful of others' priorities and feelings. The conversation was caught on camera and went viral on social media.
"The publication of the video led to several reports claiming that the faculty member insulted a uniformed soldier, and in doing so expressed an opinion insulting to anyone who serves [in the military] or attends class in uniform," Medina wrote.
Medina added that reports had also claimed that the fact that the university hadn't taken disciplinary steps against the lecturer indicated that the university had reservations about students wearing [IDF] uniforms on campus.
"These are incorrect accusations, both because it is known that this is not the university's policy and because it was not the position the lecturer expressed in the video. Unfortunately, the accusations found their way to sympathetic ears. It required us to respond, and that is what we did," Medina wrote.
"As a result of the video, the faculty member was the target of horrible insults, and various people – some of whom didn't even bother to hide their names – threatened to attack her. I and my colleagues in the university administration condemn anyone who insulted the lecturer or threatened to hurt her. We are committed to doing everything in our power to defend the faculty member, who is a wonderful researcher and teacher, from these attacks," the dean's letter read.
Medina said the scandal had led to pressure on the university from both sides of the political spectrum.
"From one end of the political map the university administration was pressured to condemn the faculty member and even fire her; from the other end we were criticized because the press release we put out did not include an explicit statement that the lecturer had done nothing wrong."
Medina wrote that the university had investigated the incident and found no grounds to take action against the lecturer, whose words or actions were not at all intended to offend the student.
Medina characterized the criticism of the lecturer as "unjustified."
"Nevertheless," he wrote, "we chose to make a public apology. Although we were convinced that the lecturer didn't intend to offend the student, the student could easily have taken the lecturer's behavior as offensive, which she did."
