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A July 18 Haaretz editorial called the loyalty oath "an attempt to light a societal fuse," saying forced allegiance amounts to "tarring several large communities with disloyalty (unjustly) and opening a dangerous channel for revoking citizenship," repressively and arbitrarily, "though that may be precisely what a number of coalition lawmakers would like most."
It may also target dissident academics, Jewish ones, unwilling to pledge loyalty to lawless Israeli practices or relinquish their right to condemn them - to freely express opinions, bedrock democratic values, without fear of recrimination, including loss of citizenship.
Expressing concern, Tel Aviv University's Professor David S. Katz said "we are entering a McCarthyite phase - and I do not exaggerate....There is legislation being discussed that would limit freedom of expression in universities. The education minister has expressed satisfaction with a report that looks at the course content of professors, sniffing out 'anti-Zionist' ideology. The Knesset Education Committee (backs it). It is very bad indeed, and the universities have done little to reject this, apart from" Haifa University Rector Yossi Ben-Artzi, "who was very forthcoming."
Many academics are at risk, like Tel Aviv University's Rachel Giora for strongly supporting the Global BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement, backing Palestinian liberation, and being vocally critical of Israeli lawlessness. Others like her include Hebrew University Professor Nurit Peled-Elhannan, peace activist recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights and Freedom of Speech, and one of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine's founders.
Also Professor Jeff Halper, co-founder and Coordinating Director of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) who's organized and led nonviolent direct protests and civil disobedience against Israel's repressive occupation.
Ben-Gurion University Professor Neve Gordon got death threats for supporting BDS, more still for criticizing the Gaza Flotilla massacre, saying "When I walk on campus people ask in jest if I am wearing a bullet proof vest." Regarding loyalty, he says "the appropriate chant is not 'No citizenship without loyalty!' but rather 'Loyalty to every citizen!' "
He and many others defend speech and academic freedoms, hundreds of professors petitioning against Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar intention to punish university lecturers and institutions for freely using them, stating:
"If the higher education system in Israel wants to maintain a high quality, it must also include opinions that are not acceptable to everyone, social and political criticism, and critical and even controversial research and instruction....We have different and varied opinions about solving the difficult problems facing Israel, but there is one thing we are agree on - freedom of expression and academic freedom are the very lifeblood of the academic system."
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