EDITORS' CORNER
Student protesters labeled economics Professor Michael Ben-Gad a ‘terrorist’
Hundreds of scholars world-wide are backing an economics professor at the University of London after a pro-Palestinian student group called for him to be fired and labeled him a “terrorist” due to his service in the Israeli military.
A petition launched Tuesday in support of Professor Michael Ben-Gad has about 1,100 signatures from professors in the United States, Canada, Chile, Australia, and other countries.
The petition opposes the “targeted harassment campaign” by the Association of Student Activism for Palestine and City Action for Palestine against the Israeli professor. Ben-Gad also has ties to the U.S. He formerly taught at the University of Houston in Texas and serves on the U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel on the Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Immigration.
“Students are demanding his sacking simply because he is an Israeli Jew who has done (mandatory) military service,” University London College Professor Alice Sullivan wrote on X Monday.
“The antisemitic harassment he is being subjected to is horrifying. I hesitate to amplify it, but British academics need to understand what is happening,” Sullivan, a sociology professor, wrote.
The petition, which Sullivan shared, states that leaders of the City St George’s University of London have been supportive of Ben-Gad. However, it notes the larger impact of such actions.
“Attacks of this kind are intimidating, particularly to Jewish students, and set a precedent under which others could be targeted in future. We wish to make clear to what appears to be a small, if very vocal, group that their mobbing tactics will not succeed,” the petition states.
Last week, the Association of Student Activism for Palestine labeled Ben-Gad a “terrorist” because of his former service in the Israeli Occupation Forces. It demanded that the university fire him in a post on Instagram. “We will not allow evil to roam free on our campus,” the group wrote.
Students also held a protest at the university, alleging the institution is complicit in “the genocide of the Palestinian & Lebanese people.” In a video of the protest posted on Instagram, the students held signs with the professor’s photo that demanded “Zionists” and “IOF” be “off campus.”
The university responded by increasing security during Ben-Gad’s classes, The Daily Mail reports.
The professor told the Mail he will not be intimidated.
“I am indeed as they claim an IDF veteran and I plan to act like one – these modern brown shirts are not going to send me into hiding,” Ben-Gad said. “I am a classical liberal. Students have a right to express their opinions even if personally, I find those views abhorrent. That even includes the production of inflammatory pamphlets about me.”
However, he said some protesters “crossed a very bright red line” by harassing and threatening him.
A university spokesperson told the Mail: “City St George’s fully supports and upholds freedom of expression within the law and is willing to engage in lawful discussion and debate across the full range of topics.
“However, unlawful and repugnant attempts to obstruct and interfere with our academic operations are another thing entirely, and the University will not tolerate the harassment of its staff and students,” the spokesperson stated.
MORE: Cornell faces call for civil rights probe after Israeli student alleges discrimination
