SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.
Results
On April 18, 2024, Israeli police arrested Professor Nadira Shalhoub-Kevorkian, the Lawrence D. Biele Chair in Law at the Faculty of Law-Institute of Criminology and the School of Social Work and Public Welfare at Hebrew University, on suspicion of incitement ...
On March 28, 2024, Sapir Academic College denied Regev Nathansohn’s request for a paid leave of absence and instead offered him a six-month unpaid leave. Nathansohn, a professor in the college’s Department of Communications, had experienced harassment after signing a ...
On March 12, 2024, Hebrew University suspended Nadira Shalhoub-Kevorkian, the Lawrence D. Biele Chair in Law at the Faculty of Law-Institute of Criminology and the School of Social Work and Public Welfare, for making comments that expressed doubt about Hamas’s ...
On November 12, 2023, Achva Academic College dismissed Dr. Uri Horesh, a senior lecturer in Arabic linguistics and Israeli Jewish academic, in retaliation for comments that he had made on social media related to Israel’s military action in Gaza. Horesh’s dismissal ...
On October 29, 2023, the leadership of Hebrew University of Jerusalem publicly called on Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, the Lawrence D. Biele Chair in Law at the Faculty of Law-Institute of Criminology and the School of Social Work and Public Welfare, ...
On October 28, 2023, a large group of Jewish Israeli protesters trapped around 50 Palestinian students from Netanya Academic College in their dorms while chanting “Death to Arabs.” The incident occurred against the backdrop of a surprise Hamas attack on Israel ...
On October 25, 2023, David Yellin College of Education administrators suspended Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a philologist and professor of language education, because of a message she had sent in a WhatsApp group for faculty members at the college. The college claimed ...
On October 15, 2023, Kaye Academic College of Education suspended Warda Sada – an educator, longtime peace activist involved in several Jewish-Palestinian groups, and professor – and summoned her to a pre-termination hearing. Sada was dismissed from her position following ...
On October 14, 2023, media sources reported that Bezalel Academy of Art and Design had suspended at least nine Palestinian students without any investigation or prior notice. The students had reportedly posted pro-Palestinian sentiments on social media. The students’ dismissal occurred ...
On October 10, 2023, the University of Haifa suspended several students who expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments on their social media accounts. The incident occurred against the backdrop of a surprise Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that left over 1,000 Israelis ...