From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Tel Aviv University students protest lecturer who lauded terrorist
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
A group of students at Tel Aviv University held a demonstration on campus today, calling for the firing of Dr. Anat Matar, a senior lecturer in the philosophy department after she lauded the convicted Palestinian terrorist Walid Daqqa, who died this week in prison of cancer.
The demonstration, which attracted dozens of participants waving Israeli flags, was quickly organized via social media. At the event, the students called for Matar to be fired, and some suggested that the university should be “shut down” until she was dismissed, Walla News reported.
“Anat Matar must be fired immediately. There is no place for supporters of terrorism on campus,” student Orit Eliyahu of the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization said at the demonstration.
**כעת באוניברסיטת תל אביב: הפגנת סטודנטים בדרישה לפיטוריה של המרצה ענת מטר, שהספידה את המחבל ׳וליד דקה׳**
•אורית אליהו סטודנטית באוניברסיטת ת"א, רכזת אם תרצו בקמפוס: ענת מטר חייבת להיות מפוטרת מיידית. אין מקום לתומכי טרור בקמפוס! pic.twitter.com/A0KKCJ6sM3
— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) April 11, 2024
According to Hebrew media reports yesterday, the Tel Aviv University administration is considering opening an investigation into Matar. In a post on Facebook this week, Matar called Daqqa a “dear and beloved friend” and “an endless source of inspiration.”
Daqqa had been serving a life sentence for killing and mutilating an IDF soldier.
