Adalah demands that Israeli academic institutions and employers retract punitive measures taken against Arab students and workers for their anti-war opinions on Gaza
Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip in early July 2014, Palestinian Arab students attending Israeli academic institutions have received warning notices that punitive measures will be taken against them for posting anti-war stances on Gaza through their social media networks. For example, Tel Aviv University and Ben Gurion University sent a warning letter to students stating that anyone who publicizes, "extreme and harsh statements on social media networks" will find him/herself facing punitive measures.
On 31 July 2014, Adalah sent a letter to the Minister of Education, Shai Peron, who also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Higher Education, asking him to issue instructions immediately to the presidents of Israeli higher education institutions to stop taking punitive measures against Arab students based on their political viewpoints, and to stop giving warnings that limit the freedom of students and faculty from expressing their opinions.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote in the letter that the universities are alerted to these students’ speech, in most cases, from Facebook groups that have been created specifically to reveal their names and views. These groups chase Palestinian Arab students, who express political opinions different from that of the majority of Jewish Israelis, who overwhelmingly support the Israeli military’s offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Adalah also released a guide for Arab students that explain students’ rights, especially in relation to freedom of expression. The guide provides details on the legal process that should be taken to defend against political prosecution in universities and colleges, and against the punitive measures imposed on students including by disciplinary committees.
Similarly, there is an increasing wave of dismissals by Israeli Jewish employers of Arab workers from their place of employment due to their anti-war political opinions. Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher also sent a letter on 31 July 2014 to the Director of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in Israel, Attorney Ziona Koeing-Yair, asking her to immediately halt this phenomenon. Adalah also asked the Commission to work directly on raising awareness among employers about the law, which prohibits discrimination between employees due to their political opinions or national belonging, and to investigate cases in which Palestinian Arab workers are being dismissed based on their political views.
It is clear from the complaints received by Adalah that employers generally know about their employees viewpoints through special pages on Facebook, which aim to chase Arab workers, and collect their statements against the Israeli military and the war, and put pressure on the employers to dismiss them. Adalah views these Facebook pages as part of an unrestrained wave of incitement against Palestinian citizens of Israel, which intensified recently due to the War on Gaza. This wave of incitement reached a point whereby Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman publicly called for a boycott of Arab businesses, and other politicians and extreme right-wing activists called for revoking the citizenship of Arab citizens, and for attacking them and even killing them.
Adalah emphasized in the letter: "We see a wave of dismissals dangerously escalating these days that target Arab workers. It seems that in most cases, these dismissals are contrary to the Equal Employment Opportunities Law (1988), which prohibits the employer from discriminating against his employees due to their political opinions or national belonging, including discrimination in working conditions, dismissal and severance pay."
