19 October 2025
Yohai Hakak of Academic-BDS publishes the following statement from Hebrew University administrators and the brief response from Metanya Ben-Artzi, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics as an illustration of why we should continue to boycott Israeli universities. The point is well made.
“Dear colleagues, in case you remain indecisive about the academic boycott of Israeli academia, this letter by the senior managers of the Hebrew University to their staff, and the sharp response by an Emeritus professor of mathematics can help you in taking up the long overdue decision to cut your connections with Israeli institutions (not individuals, of course, as long as they 1. Did not commit war crimes, 2. Took a clear, explicit stand against the genocide).
In solidarity with the victims of scholasticide and genocide”
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Letter from the heads of the Hebrew University after the release of the abductees and the response of Prof. Matanya Ben-Artzi
“Members of the Hebrew University community,
After two difficult years of pain, worry and anticipation, the heart finally knows a little comfort.
We are excited when the abductees return home to their families and hope for days of healing and rehabilitation. We will continue to hope for the return of all the dead hostages.
Even on this day of joy and relief, we remember with a heavy heart the civilians and soldiers who were murdered and killed in the war, their families whose tragedy has no cure, and the thousands of people who were injured in body and soul. We honor the men and women of the security forces who lost their lives in the longest war in the history of the country, including about 8,000 of our students. Their heroism will forever be engraved in our hearts and thanks to all those who still protect us every single day.
These days, the feeling of joy is mixed with a feeling of sadness, along with a lot of hope for the future.
Even at this time, we – as the Hebrew University community – are required to look ahead and fulfill our commitment to building a better future – a future of reconciliation, of research, innovation and development, of academic cooperation in Israel and around the world, and of promoting a space that enables a better reality for future generations.
your
Prof. Tamir Sheffer, President
Prof. Oron Shagrir, Rector
Naama Kaufman-Pas, CEO”
Prof. Matanya Ben-Artzi
The letter from the heads of the university casts a heavy shadow not only on them but on our entire community – the university community. In order to avoid long writing, I will raise a few points of principle:
1) The most important of all: Although the letter has an Arabic version, it does not contain a single word of sharing the grief of the residents of the Gaza Strip, who have lost about five percent of their population, men, women and children.
2) The 8,000 of our students who enlisted in this war are proudly mentioned. In the eyes of most of the enlightened world (full disclosure: in my eyes too) this has become an act of genocide, and through the eight thousand fighters from our community we have all become partners.
3) At the very least, one would have expected the heads of the university to express their desire to help rebuild the ruins of the institutions of higher education that were rudely destroyed by us.
Regards, Matanya Ben-Artzi
