President's Letter to Campus: Tension Between Jews and Arabs

Dear Campus Community,

During the past week, a number of extremely worrying events occurred on campus and its surroundings. On Sunday, there was an assembly of Arab students at Entin Square to mark Nakba Day (off-campus). This assembly rapidly turned into a violent event, wherein extremists from both sides of the political barricade took part. This event, which was under the responsibility of the police, ended with the arrest of three Arab students. These events ignited further violent behaviors. In this way, an extremist group arrived at the environs of the students' dormitories on Tuesday night, called out racist slogans against Arabs, and dispersed only after reinforced police forces arrived on site. In parallel, the social networks were flooded with expressions of hate and incitement.Tension between Jews and Arabs is, unfortunately, not rare in Israel. Far be it from acceptable to us that this tension will become commonplace on campus. We are proud of Tel Aviv University being liberal, pluralistic and tolerant. The meaning of this is that each and every student is entitled to express his or her opinions fearlessly, given that he or she do not cross the border line between permitted expressions and expressions of hate and incite. True, the absolute majority of these violent events took place off-campus and it is the responsibility of the police to attend to them. Yet, their implications gush into the University's realm, as indeed some of the activists at these events - Jews and Arabs - are our students. Therefore, the moral responsibility is also ours. We, on our part, will do all that we can to ensure freedom of speech for each and every person, yet at the same time, we will take strict measures against anyone who harms his or her fellow students or risks their safety. Our obligation is to maintain the security and safety of anyone who comes on campus, and to act decisively in order to create a sense of real belonging among all students at Tel Aviv University.During the past week we received inquiries from students who are afraid to arrive to campus or to the student dormitories. We hope that this phenomenon is limited, yet even if it is, it is very concerning. For those of us who are among the Jewish majority in Israel, we are also imposed with the special duty of protecting the minority groups who live amongst us. In a world where Anti-Semitism is rearing its head, we are the first who should warn ourselves against the harming of minority groups. In this special matter, Tel Aviv University should set a prime example, as it lies within our spirit. Look after yourselves, and look after your friends.

Prof Ariel Porat, president of TAU