In a letter to the start of the academic year on Sunday, the head of the School of Computer Science, Professor Sivan Toledo, wrote to the lecturers: "Avoid coming to classrooms with a kidnapped disc or the caption 'Together we will win' because this may cause discourse about the war and harsh reactions." According to him, the disc or caption is "a kind of statement about the war" and can cause distractions for students.
Exhibit in Memory of the Murdered and Abducted at Tel Aviv University | Tomer Binstock
Gil Dickman, a relative of Carmel Gat, who was abducted in Gaza, responded on his X account (formerly Twitter): "Computers don't have a heart, but we do, and he's a prisoner in Gaza."
Computer science students? Want to show the head of the school what you think about him asking lecturers to refrain from talking about the abductees?
Contact me privately. Keeps aside snatched discs just for you.
Computers don't have a heart, but we do. And he is a prisoner in Gaza 💔 https://t.co/N4JP2albCC
— Gil Dickmann (@gildickmann) January 2, 2024
Elhanan Felheimer, chairman of the National Union of Students, responded: "Unfortunate and detached statements by the lecturer, to claim that arriving with a disc calling for the return of the abductees is a 'distraction' is simply madness. The abductees are our top priority and we will not forget them even when we sit in the classroom and start the school year."
University spokesman Tomer Valmer said the professor's goal was "to try to defuse 'tensions' from the classroom so that students could concentrate on learning – he is certainly not against the war or the abductees, especially since the campus is full of pictures of abductees and discs."
Tel Aviv University said in response: "Prof. Sivan Toledo expressed his personal opinion and recommended to his faculty members how to act, out of a desire to isolate the students from distractions and make it easier for them to concentrate on their studies."
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