Tel Aviv University students are demanding the dismissal of Dr. Anat Matar, a senior lecturer in the department of philosophy, after she posted on Facebook a heartfelt eulogy for Arab-Israeli terrorist Walid Daka, one of the murderers of soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.
"Goodbye dear and beloved friend. You were and will be an endless source of inspiration," the lecturer wrote about Daka, one of the oldest security prisoners held in an Israeli prison, who died of cancer on Sunday at the age of 62. "My heart goes out to you, Sanaa and Milad. With Asad and the whole family. With the entire Palestinian people who lost one of their greatest sons today."
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Dr. Anat Matar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University
(Photo: Wikipedia / John Hyman)
Her words provoked outrage among many students, who called on the university management to fire her and announced that they would hold a protest at Entin Square. "This is a call to everyone who agrees that the public veneration of a person known for murder on ethnic grounds is a terrible incitement that goes far beyond the limits of freedom of expression," the students wrote.
One of them, Tamar Cohen, said that she and her friends were shocked by Dr. Matar's post and that for her it was the "straw that broke the camel's back" since she had made previous statements against the State of Israel on Facebook and in interviews to international media. "As a student, it is so painful and frightening to see Dr. Anat Matar's statement. To know that the academic institution I study in, which is supposed to be enlightened and democratic, has a lecturer who openly supports a murderer, makes me feel less safe at the university."
She expressed disappointment in the conduct of the academic institution. "After Dr. Matar has already expressed herself in such ways in the past, to know that she continues to express herself in an extreme way as a faculty member, especially in this period, is infuriating and insensitive. There are a lot of students in the reserves who are fighting now so that she can continue lecturing, so that we can continue studying," the student said.
"It's not a matter of right or left, we've all been affected since October 7. Israeli citizens from all sectors, as well as foreign citizens," Cohen added. "Among the victims are university students who were murdered. I really hope that the university handles this case as soon as possible and that it doesn't end with a reprimand. I don't feel safe with a lecturer who expresses herself like that."
The right-wing organization Btsalmo said that it will file a complaint against the lecturer for violating the rules of discipline, and also a complaint to the police for violation of the terrorism law. "He who is sad that a terrorist died, his ideological and realistic place is with the terrorist," the organization said in a statement.
"After October 7, anyone who is a friend of the enemy is like an enemy and must pay a very heavy price for it. We will not remain silent in the face of any instigator even if he is mistakenly called a doctor or a professor."
Matan Jerafi from the right-wing movement Im Tirtzu also expressed outrage at the lecturer's eulogy for the terrorist. "What message exactly does the university president's silence convey in the face of this serious statement? We demand the immediate termination of Matar's employment at Tel Aviv University," he said.
Tel Aviv University responded in a statement, "Tel Aviv University strongly condemns Anat Matar's words. This is a private statement outside of the academic framework. It will be examined based on the university's policy regarding freedom of expression."
The current storm joins the one that erupted following the statements of Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a lecturer from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who was suspended after she published a petition that accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The head of the investigation and intelligence department in the Israel Police, Chief Yigal Ben Shalom, recently recommended to the prosecutor's office to approve the opening of a criminal investigation against Shalhoub-Kevorkian on suspicion of incitement.