Bedouin students from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba kicked up a storm Monday when they held a procession to mark Nakba Day during which they hoisted Palestinian flags and faced off Jewish students who were waving Israeli flags.
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A similar event took place at Tel Aviv University last week when Arab students raised Palestinian flags at a demonstration on campus and were met by Jewish students carrying Israeli flags.
Shai Rosengarten of the right-wing NGO Im Turtzu said at a debate chaired by the head of the Knesset Education Committee MK Sharren Haskel: "Since Operation Guardian of the Walls, we have seen a marked increase in incitement. The events of the current wave of terror are also leaving their mark on the situation. We have seen calls to hang traitors, to "liberate Palestine with blood and fire," and calls in support of the terrorists from Jenin. Unfortunately, the heads of the institutions have done nothing to root out and prevent these kinds of events. Many students have chosen to approach elements outside of the university and this shows the helplessness on the part of the academy.
"We call for a department for student rights to be established within the Council for Higher Education to protect the students and deal with the phenomenon of violence. A disciplinary code should be enforced on all heads of academic institutions to institute a prohibition on incitement and calls to violence and terrorism. We cannot leave this just to the police; academic institutions must also come out with a statement that those who incite to terror will not remain at the institutions."
Orit Eliyahu, a student at Tel Aviv University, said at the debate that: "Jewish students are afraid to come to the university. Some students living in the student dorms have returned to live with their parents. I come to this debate with a very grave feeling. We are experiencing a difficult period at the university. I live in the dorms and the situation is difficult. Jewish students are faced with a situation where they are afraid to come to the university. Some of the students that live with me have decided to return to their parents because they are afraid. Raising the enemy flag has become a matter of routine while raising the Israeli has become a provocation.
"On Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, as the siren went off, Arab students leaned out of the windows and clapped. During Nakba demonstrations, Jewish students were beaten. A few hours before the terrorist attack on Dizengoff, Arab students at the University held a demonstration where they called for an Intifada. The following day, they were sitting next to us at lectures. It isn't a pleasant thing to say, but we are afraid.
"Citizens for the Negev, which took part in a demonstration against the Nakba day protests at Ben Gurion University condemns University President Professor Daniel Haimovich. Today we were witness to another low point in the complete loss of governance in the Negev and the country. It is inconceivable that an institution funded by public money allows a demonstration with Palestinian flags and that, on the other hand, a student who raises the Israeli flag is detained for disturbing public order.
"What we saw today at a university named after David Ben-Gurion who made the desert bloom is an unparalleled disgrace. When there is a weak government that is extorted by both the Islamic movement and by representatives of the Palestinians in the Knesset, we end up with demonstrations and provocations in the capital of the Negev, Beersheba. We call on the government and all relevant parties to condemn this shameful event and place sanctions on Ben-Gurion University."
A spokesman for Ben-Gurion University said in response to the raising of Palestinian flags at protests on campus: "We checked and the legal opinion of the Attorney General is that it is permissible to raise the flags. The Attorney General leaned on the fact that the flag is the Palestinian Authority flag and the Government of Israel has signed agreements with the Palestinian Authority.
The document in question was written in 2014 as a response by then-Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri to MK Miri Regev, at the time Chair of the Knesset interior committee. Nizri's response notes that while the anti-terrorism ordinance states that raising the PLO flag prima facie constitutes a criminal offense, "in view of the changes in the relationship between the State of Israel and the PLO following the political agreements made over the years the Attorney General has already several years ago advised that under certain circumstances a person should not be charged under criminal law for raising the PLO flag." In his response, Nizri also noted cases in which the courts had accepted the opinion of the Attorney General.
However, Nizri also notes that "this does not mean that there is complete immunity and that the instruction to law enforcement officials is that in every case in which there is a concrete concern that raising the flag constitutes the offense of. identification with a terrorist organization or a show of support for a terrorist organization or whenever there is a concern at a high level of probability that raising the flag will lead to a grave disturbance of public order, then the police should act to remove the flag. "
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