Rebuilding Trust in a Shared Society Jews and Arabs in Israeli Universities post-October 7th

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), Israel’s leading university, is home to a community of some 28,000 faculty, students, and staff, including Israelis, Palestinians, and faculty and students from abroad; Jews, Muslims, and Christians as well as those of other faiths; women and men, many of military age.  Among them are a sizeable number of Palestinian students from East Jerusalem.  

Hebrew University leadership believes that diversity is an essential condition for academic excellence and for reaching the human potential of Israeli society. Over the last decade, the University has made great strides toward increasing access to higher education for under-represented groups, increasing diversity in the faculty, and creating an environment where all community members can feel they belong. 

The events of October 7th and those that followed have badly shaken and traumatized Israeli society.  One of the first casualties of the violence was the already-thin fabric of relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

The personalized brutality of the October 7th massacre, the huge number of captives in Gaza, the ongoing bombing within Israel, and the high numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza are tragedies at a much grander scale than those known in recent area history. They have left many traumatized, angry, and scared. Members of the Hebrew University community have experienced deaths, injuries, captivity, as well as loss of home and livelihood for those from border areas. Thousands are fighting in reserve units. Arab students have seen members of their community barred from demonstrating or arrested for alleged inciteful remarks. Students from East Jerusalem have seen their neighborhoods heavily guarded if not blockaded. Settler vigilante violence has been rising. Even though Hamas terror and bombs affected both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, tensions are high between the communities.  

When the doors of the University finally opened this year, it was ‘business as usual.’ Many faculty and students arrived carrying the baggage of this crisis: physical and emotional scars, and distrust. How can the University help to respectfully unpack this baggage? How can it help to allay fear, anger, and distrust of ‘the Other’ in these difficult circumstances and encourage new relationships? How can HU ensure civil and open shared learning environments in which everyone feels safe and that they belong?  How can it serve as a role model for shared society at large?

As Israel’s leading university, HU students are the future leaders of Israel, and thus, what happens at the Hebrew University matters.  Their university experiences will influence their actions and perspectives in years to come, and the campus can serve as a testing ground and role model for Israeli society.

We do not yet know how long this war will last or the full extent of its repercussions on Israeli society and academia, but we do know that work will be needed to rehabilitate relationships (or, ideally, to improve upon what came before).  It is thus incumbent upon the University to plan for how to recommit to a multicultural, tolerant, and pluralistic academic community.

Hebrew University: Moving ahead

HU believes that this work must be done on many levels – from policy-making to staff preparedness & knowledge, from research to community involvement and outreach, and from the student academic experience to the campus environment.

There should be opportunities both for purposeful interaction and discussion, as well as for engaging in studies and other activities side by side. Opportunities to leverage our research strengths along with teaching and community involvement.

Here it will build upon and expand its work of the last decade in the spheres of multiculturalism, diversity, and shared society.

The plan to develop a cohesive, balanced, and shared society at the Hebrew University will include:

  • University Policy and Decision Making

  • Research & best practices from within and outside of Israel

  • Academic and Administrative Staff Training & Interventions

  • Teaching and the Student Experience

  • Culture and Community

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY SEES DIVERSITY AS A CONDITION FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE HUMAN POTENTIAL OF ISRAELI SOCIETY.

THE UNIVERSITY STRIVES TO NURTURE A COMMUNITY THAT ENABLES THE EXPRESSION OF A WIDE RANGE OF POSITIONS, PERSPECTIVES, AND CULTURES AND TO ENABLE EACH STUDENT TO FEEL WANTED, AND PROTECTED, AND TO FLOURISH ACADEMICALLY, PERSONALLY, AND SOCIALLY.  

HELP ENSURE THIS FUTURE AT ISRAEL’S LEADING ACADEMIC INSTITUTION.