"Perhaps someone who supported the murder, rape and massacre is sitting here with us now" • Turmoil at the University of Haifa ◄ Watch

"Dozens of university employees came to thank me for what I said" • Interview with Elad Essis, chairman of the student union at the University of Haifa

This week Israel marked 100 days in which the abductees are held captive by Hamas. One hundred days of a continuous nightmare that began on the seventh of October and led to the outbreak of the Iron Swords War.

Throughout Israel, there were many events on the subject centered on the expression of sympathy with the abductees and their families who have been experiencing an unspeakable inferno for over three months.

One of the events that took place in Haifa on the subject was the rally that took place at the university, during which the chairman of the student union, Elad Assis, spoke on the stage of the event. He said harsh and harsh words on the stage of the event, which caused a wide stir and even spread far beyond the borders of the university. A video of Assis' speech was broadcast on television and radio channels. , and of course it was uploaded again and again on social networks and received countless comments.

◄"Some hypocrisy" • Juicy at the rally for the abducted at the university • Watch

"You brought supporters of terrorism back here"

Essis stood on the stage of the conference hall at the university and said that he was unable to read the speech he had prepared in advance, in light of the hypocrisy of the university leaders, when they organized a rally in support of the abductees and their families, when only a week earlier the university management decided to return to studies on campus students who expressed support for terrorism.

While standing in front of the large crowd that filled the hall, Essis said that the students feel ashamed of being part of the institution at this time, in this he directed his words to the decision that was made only a week before, according to which the suspension of 8 students who expressed support for terrorism, on the seventh of October, would be lifted and that it would be possible for them to return to studies, that is Although the procedure in their case has not yet ended. In addition, it was decided that the discussion on the matter will be transferred from the handling of the disciplinary committee to a mediation process.

Essis also said at the event that the act of the university means betrayal of all involved: the students, the abductees, the reservists, the security forces and the victims of the war. His words received thunderous applause from the audience in the hall.

We turned to Asis to hear from him what brought him to say these harsh things at the rally in support of the abductees.

Maybe you should start with what has been happening at the university in recent weeks...

"I was invited to speak at the support rally for the families of the abductees. I wrote a speech, this is a very important event, without a doubt, but at some point I was surprised to find out that the person chosen to speak was the rector, Prof. Gur Elroy. The president of the university, Prof. Ron Rubin, was supposed to speak, and at the last minute A change will be made. As far as I'm concerned, Gur is the person who steers the ship. Most of the criticism is directed at Gur, because he was the pioneer in the university who decided to suspend students in early October. The students who published words of support for Hamas went before a disciplinary committee and no decision was made in their case. I turned to the university administration and said that it was unacceptable That these students will arrive on campus when the school year begins and then it was decided on a temporary relief for two weeks of suspending those students."

"We thought there was someone guarding"

"What happened is that during the first week of school, Gore was elected to the position of university president. In practice, he will take office in September. Two days later, the university's approach was changed and I received a message from the disciplinary officer, according to which it was decided to cancel the temporary remedy and transfer the students to a mediation process.

I felt that everyone was throwing the responsibility away and none of the management was ready to say that the decisions were theirs. A clear statement should have come from the Rector's office that there is no agreement to cancel the temporary relief and transfer to a mediation process. The rector fired the opening shot against the supporters of terrorism, and it is quite clear that we did not expect him to back down from it.

The rector gave us the feeling that there is someone who is guarding, there is someone who cares about the university. We felt proud to be students at the university. That's why I blame the rector. At a meeting of the Senate and Executive Committee, it was decided that the rector, Prof. Gur Elroy, does not have the authority in the statutes to order a suspension, but we are not on normal days. It was decided that if there is a body that can exceed its authority, it is the rector's office, because part of its job is to maintain the students' sense of security on campus."

"There is no place here for supporters of terrorism"

"The whole purpose of the struggle is to say that there is no place here for supporters of terrorism. We ask to return to a disciplinary procedure and remove the mediation procedure, and of course, demand a suspension until a decision is made - that is, to uphold the temporary relief that the university ordered in the first place, this is also why we organized the demonstration last week."

"They are treated as a collective"

"During the demonstration, we were contacted by the president's office and asked to speak with us. Six male and female students went up to the office and told him what we thought. The president promised to convene a meeting on the subject where they would form an opinion. On Friday, I spoke with both the president and the rector, and unfortunately I encountered answers that were unreasonable for me and in an attempt to describe the The situation in a different light I was completely surprised by the reasons I heard and by the fact that the decision is in her eyes.

I was told that the university decided to allocate two weeks for the mediation process and this is the only decision. Moreover, they continued with their claims that the suspension could cause harm to those students in the event that they are found not guilty.

In fact, we forwarded to the university dozens of names of students suspected of supporting terrorism, from which the university selected with tweezers the 8 students who were put before a disciplinary committee. Only those with publications that clearly show support for terrorism were selected, so the chance that they will be found not guilty is slim from the outset. Not to mention the fact that, at the same time as the procedure at the university, there is also a criminal procedure going on."

"Worried about their school year? And what about the reserves?"

"It is difficult for me to hear the claim that the suspension could harm these students in the academic year, when there are 1,000 reservists who have not even started their academic year at the university. Is their academic year more important than the academic year of the reservists?"

"Why are they treated as a collective?"

"I started my career in the student union as the coordinator of the association's advocacy system. This system protects students who have gone before disciplinary committees. I have sat on disciplinary committees of hundreds of students, never was an overall decision made regarding a group of students together. Each student was punished according to the act he did. Here too, The 8 students acted individually, they did not act together, but the university treats them as a collective, both when it was decided to suspend them all and when the decision was revoked. We feel that this was a choice made based on extraneous considerations."

"I wondered to myself, what would the abductees think?"

"I arrived at the ceremony for the abductees and found out that the president of the university was not there and the person who will fill the place is Prof. Gur Elroy. When I heard how much he praised the university for being involved and taking part in the war and the struggle, I began to shift uncomfortably in my chair. We are sitting in the ceremony when it is possible that one of the accused students In support of terrorism sits among us. I look at Gore and tell myself that it is impossible to continue with this game. I did not plan to turn this stage into something like this. It was a reaction to Gore's words, until I felt that something had to be done. I felt that this was such extreme hypocrisy in front of the abductees... I thought to myself what would they think if they knew that there are now students sitting in the university who supported the person who kidnapped, murdered and raped them?"

You said in your speech that you speak for the majority of students. How did you understand that they feel that way?

"This is a discourse that most students at the university speak. Christian, Jewish, Druze and Muslim students have come up to me and said the same statement. It is important to understand that we are a mixed university and there is a dynamic here that has succeeded in bringing us to a good foundation. Jews and Arabs who study together and all in a good spirit. There is a danger here that a small handful will destroy us, for all of us. We are also fighting here for the Arab students. We managed to create a common brotherhood and we are not ready to let it be destroyed. We do not want things to get out of control."

Weren't you afraid of the university's reaction?

"I have two hats, I am the chairman of the association and I am also a student, like everyone else at the university. I'm not afraid of harm or harassment, I'm now in my second degree, so I'm also less likely to be harmed. But even if I am harmed, I take the responsibility on myself and for me it is worth it. Especially after the event, we received an unusually broad and strong response, not only from students, but also from faculty members. Dozens of university employees contacted us to say thank you for saying what they themselves think and cannot say."

What reactions did you get, for example, after the things?

"Most of them expressed great support. The students told me that I was matter-of-fact and included everything they thought should have been said. After all, I am the chairman of an association and my job is to inform the majority of the student body. Regarding this speech, we were not far from 100% support."

Have you spoken to the university administration since the speech?

"I haven't been spoken to by the university administration since then."

what is the next step?

"Currently, we are preparing to contact the Association of Friends and present them with a true picture of the institution to which they donate money. In the US, an appeal to donors succeeded in bringing about a change, and I hope we will see this in our case as well."

The university management: "Things are distorted, tendentious and did not respect something that is much bigger"

In response, the university's administration stated that they are sorry that the chairman of the student union chose to deliberately harm the goal for which the entire state of Israel stopped on Sunday - to call for the release of all the abductees: "His words were misguided, biased and did not respect something that is much bigger than the university or the student union." , said at Haifa University.