A group of 120 faculty members at Ben-Gurion University sent a letter to the school’s chief administrator on Sunday, calling to withdraw its disciplinary complaint against an Arab student for using the word shahids (martyrs in Arabic) at a memorial event to mark Nakba Day about two months ago.
The student, Watan Madi, used the term while quoting an article by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, after which the university summoned her for a disciplinary hearing. The quote relates specifically to the victims of the Nakba, the Arabic word meaning catastrophe that refers to the events of Israel’s War of Independence in which more than 700,000 Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes.
The university claims that because the word shahid usually refers to terrorists who have been killed, Madi’s remarks are to be interpreted as support for terrorism. The university also said that it “takes very seriously” the flying of Palestinian flags at the event.
— source Jews For Justice For Palestinians | Nati Yefet (Haaretz) | 31 Jul 2022