Palestinian student in Israel punished for social media post on Gaza

Palestinian students who are also citizens of Israel have faced "an unprecedented wave" of disciplinary action from their universities and colleges since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.

That's according to Adalah, a Haifa-based independent human rights organisation and legal centre, representing Arab minority rights in Israel.

The group has found that at least 36 Israeli universities and colleges have so far initiated disciplinary proceedings against some 124 Palestinian students for posts on their private social media accounts.

Posts that expressed solidarity with Gaza residents, or included verses from the Quran or prayers for the victims of the war, have led to arrests, imprisonment and school actions.

Adalah has represented 95 students since October, and almost half of these cases resulted in the student's suspension or expulsion from the Israeli education institute.

The rights of Palestinian students studying at these places of learning have always been fragile, but none more so than today.

One Palestinian student studying for her degree in psychology and sociology at an Israeli university recently spoke to TRT World about how she was arrested, and temporarily suspended, for a post she shared on Instagram on October 7. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she shares her ordeal here and explains why she won't stop standing for Palestine.

I'm 21 years old. My family originally comes from a small village in occupied Palestine, but my grandparents were forced to move to another village during the Nakba. I live in Haifa and moved here when I became a student at the university in October 2021.

The campus isn't far from my home. I usually catch a public bus and take the 15-minute ride. The university has around 40 percent Arab students, and classes are taught in Hebrew. I have Israeli colleagues and until now I never thought much about personal safety travelling to and from classes until the incident happened.

On October 7, quite early in the day when no one was yet sure of what had happened, I reposted a picture on my private Instagram account. It was a news post from the page "Eye on Palestine." The picture showed a military jeep in Gaza with children and civilians sitting on it.

There was no specific reason for posting it; it was just a news post. Not everything I post has an intention behind it—I was sharing it on my private account, which supposedly includes only my friends.

School investigation

Two days later, on October 9, I received a suspension email from the university, claiming that I had "supported the act of terrorism that occurred on October 7 on my social media."

They provided no additional information and did not invite me to a hearing or ethics committee, which should be necessary for a fair legal procedure. After the Adalah Center submitted an appeal, the university scheduled a session for us on October 30.

During that session, university officials showed a screenshot of my post. I realised then that one of my fellow students, who is friends with me on Instagram, had taken a screenshot of the story and filed a complaint with the university. No one approached me or said anything to me directly; they went straight to the university. I never found out who it was.

It was a humiliating session—there were nine of us in total who were being investigated and judged for our "Palestinianness," but I discovered there are many more students from different universities and colleges who faced similar persecution.

The discussion focused on whether what we published actually supported the events of October 7. They did not care about what we said or what our intentions were; they were already convinced of those intentions!

Arrested

Two weeks later, things got much worse. As I waited for the ethics committee's decision, on November 12, I was arrested from my home and taken to Hasharon prison.

I had never been imprisoned before and that first night I thought it was going to be my last! It was a terrifying experience, due to the uncertainty of what was going to happen next. The idea of losing every connection to the outside world was horrifying.

That first night, I was given a very wet blanket and a mattress that couldn't even be opened, making it impossible to sleep on.

I remember the concrete grey walls, with a barred window high up, and a small toilet with a half-door inside the room. It was a room for four, with four metal-framed beds, but there were eight of us in that cramped space.

The other women were also Palestinians—from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Al Dakhail, which means the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories. They were there for similar reasons to myself; the charge was "identification with a terrorist organisation," but we didn't talk about the details of each case.

They told me that first night what the system was like, that the female guards would come every morning to strip search us and they could easily get violent. So I had to be careful about what I said and how I responded to them so they wouldn't get angry.

Released from prison

At 7am, the guards would take our blankets and mattresses, returning them at 7pm. There was a camera in the room, and as the women had told me earlier, we were subjected to strip searches in the bathrooms, which were often accompanied by physical violence and verbal abuse.

It was a very difficult and painful experience, but what I have encountered is only a taste of what Palestinian prisoners struggle with on a daily basis.

I spent the first two nights (three days) in Hasharon Prison before being transferred to Damoun, also in Haifa, for a further two nights. Here there we did not have time outside the cell, unlike in Damoun. Every prisoner should have time once a day in a shared place or yard outside of the cell itself.

On November 16, just five days after I was detained without an indictment, I was released.

I remember crying so hard in court when I heard the decision. Then I had to go back to the other prisoners - my girls - to say goodbye and it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! Although I spent so little time with them, they became like a family to me.

I remember when I came home that day, I couldn't sleep at night. It felt so strange to be sleeping in my own bed, in my room, at my parents' house. It felt like I was dreaming. Even though I was only gone for five days, it felt like years because time doesn't pass in prison.

After the prison, Adalah, the legal team representing me, reached an agreement with the university to "punish" us with 120 hours of volunteering instead of expelling us. I volunteer as a researcher at a Palestinian Feminist organisation in Haifa, and am in the process of completing my third and final year at the university.

Back on campus

In the beginning, when the decision to return us to the university was made, the same Israeli student union that incited against us and Palestinian students in general at the start of the war held protests on campus, demanding our expulsion.

They signed petitions stating that they would not accept studying with "terrorist supporters" at the university. But eventually, they got tired and stopped.

When I came back to campus after their decision, I was terrified! There were armed students walking around with guns strapped to their bodies. I didn't know who might know about me or if anyone recognised my face.

I knew that after the war started, many Israeli civilians returned to the university with their weapons, so I was really afraid for my life. I lived through this period in constant paranoia, always making sure I wasn't walking alone on campus.

I learned that the Israeli student union knows who I am and does recognise me. They just give me dirty looks whenever they see me.

Yes Arabs and Israelis study together here, but personally, I do not have Israeli friends; they are just colleagues. All of my friends are Palestinian, and I think this is the situation in general. We rarely see Arabs and Israelis being friends.

Always on guard

Palestinians have been studying at Israeli universities for decades. My father completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at an Israeli university, and my older sister also did her undergrad there.

I can't speak for them, but I know that they did not face the same challenges I had. However, being Palestinian students at an Israeli university undoubtedly made their experience more difficult.

Freedom of speech is limited, and living in such a complex environment often means you have to be cautious about discussing your identity or choosing the right words and phrases. Many Palestinians face racism and a lack of representation in Israeli universities, and they have to fight for their right to protest or commemorate events related to our history.

It is important for me to say and emphasise that the university's political persecution will not stop me from raising my voice against the injustices my people face. I will never remain silent or hide my Palestinianness.

These policies will not discourage me. Rather, they strengthen my resolve. Having been personally persecuted, I now have even more reasons to fight, in addition to being fueled by the suffering my people endure.

I didn't stop posting on social media either! Initially, I was undoubtedly scared and decided to pause my posts, but I can't remain silent. I removed "suspicious" people from my account and perhaps became more cautious about the content I share, but I have not stopped. At the very least, it is my duty to speak the truth.

Acknowledging the crimes of the occupation and genocide in Gaza, opposing the war, and showing solidarity with Gaza and our people is not a crime!

I've grown up in this society with all its complexities, I'm acutely aware of how underrated the role and the importance of mental health are in my community, and that's one of the reasons I chose to study psychology. I want to be part of the movement towards changing perceptions of mental health.

What does my future hold? I am planning to get my master's degree in clinical psychology so I can become a psychologist. I plan to live and work here. Even if I end up studying abroad, I will definitely return here.