A professor at the Hebrew University: "Vacation on Tisha B'av? I'm sick"
Lecturer Amiram Goldblum protested the management's decision to close its doors on the fast day.
"Shameful submission to the religious, which fits well with the rampant racism in Israel," he wrote.
The university: "We respect the dates of the variety of religions and sectors"
Uri Sela
01/08/2022
Monday, August 01, 2022, 19:33 Updated: 21:47
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A professor at the Hebrew University today (Monday) called the management's decision to take a holiday during the 9th of Av "sickening".
The announcement about the sabbatical was distributed by the university's human resources department in an email to employees.
In a return email, which also reached the rest of the staff, Prof. Amiram Goldblum from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Materials
at the School of Pharmacy wrote "unbelievable - a shameful surrender to the religious and the Jewish religion in the State of Israel."
Goldblum added in the exchange of emails that he thought the university would "disassociate itself from religion and the rabbis who determine our actions."
"I also thought that it was a university of Jews and Arabs in Israel. I don't remember the university being closed on a Muslim or Christian holiday," said Goldblum, "so maybe it should be renamed the 'Jewish University'? It fits well with the rampant racism in Israel."
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"I thought the university would be cut off from religion and the rabbis", Goldblum (photo: screenshot, Facebook)
Another employee at the university responded to the allegations and wrote back: "For the information of the honorable Prof. Goldblum, since I arrived at the Hebrew University almost 30 years ago, the T'eb Ab fast was a Sabbath day, and I assume before that as well."
This is not the first controversial statement by Goldblum, who joined the university faculty in 1979 and was one of the founders of the "Shalom Now" movement.
In 2015, he wrote on Facebook that the settlers are "soldiers of terror" and claimed that the Jewish religion "eliminates us all".
Later he also wrote that "every settler is a terrorist by definition".
In 2020, he called the people of the If You Want organization "Nazi dogs", and added that he "undertakes to photograph every scum of 'If You Want' on the campuses where I hang out, and I will publish - as much as possible - with names. So that the teachers know who should not be admitted to advanced studies."
Following this statement we were reprimanded by the Hebrew University.
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To the full article
He called settlers "terror soldiers" and said that "Judaism is exterminating us all", Goldblum (photo: official website, Wikipedia)
Alon Schwarzer, head of the research and policy department in the Am Tiretus movement, said in response to Goldblum's words that "everything that smells to him as even the slightest hint of Judaism and Zionism brings out the most sickening reactions in him.
In the past we have already demanded and even petitioned the court against the Minister of Education and the University in order to bring Goldblum to disciplinary proceedings, but unfortunately the petition was not accepted.
The Hebrew University stated that it "respects the holidays and festivals of the variety of religions, denominations, sectors and genders.
The day of Tisha B'Av is a significant element of Jewish identity and therefore the university, throughout the years, has given special treatment to this day."
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