Adalah to Safed College: Cancel the Suspension of Student Yassera Bakri
Today, Adalah demanded that the Disciplinary Committee of Safed College cancel the decision of the Administrative Committee to temporarily suspend Ms. Yassera Bakri from her studies at the college. Ms. Bakri, from Be'eneh village in the Galilee, has completed two years of study in Social Work and Arabic at Safed College.
In a letter dated 28 October 2002, the Head of the Disciplinary Committee of Safed College, Dr. Meir Heldsheimer, informed Ms. Bakri that on 17 September 2002, the Administrative Committee of the institution had filed a complaint and decided to temporarily suspend her from studying at the college. According to the letter, the three grounds for her suspension are:
- Ms. Bakri got off Bus 361 on 4 August 2002 with knowledge that "something bad was going to happen" on the bus (Note: A bomber blew up the bus shortly after Ms. Bakri and her friend disembarked, resulting in the deaths and injuries of passengers).
- The bad atmosphere toward Arab students, contributed to by statements made by the Rabbi of Safed, which led the Chief of the Safed police station to state that extremist groups were threatening to demonstrate and disrupt studies at the college. According to the Chief of Police, if Ms. Bakri were to return, the police would need to put forces on the campus.
- Her behavior harms the dignity of the institution and the moral values of the public.
Adalah Staff Attorney Gadeer Nicola, representing Ms. Bakri, filed an answer to the complaint and the decision today. Adalah argued that the decision to suspend Ms. Bakri should be cancelled for the following reasons:
- The Disciplinary Code of Bar Ilan University, which governs administrative practices at Safed College, provides no authority to the Administrative Committee to suspend Ms. Bakri. According to the Code, only the Disciplinary Committee has the power to make such a decision.
- The Administrative Committee did not afford Ms. Bakri a hearing prior to making its decision, despite the severity of the punishment. According to the Disciplinary Code, the Disciplinary Committee must provide students with the opportunity for a hearing, and thus, Ms. Bakri's right to due process has been violated.
- The Disciplinary Committee has no authority to hear or to decide upon the matters raised in the complaint, as the Disciplinary Code states that Safed College, and/or other institutions under the auspices of Bar Ilan University, may only adjudicate matters relating to academic infractions. The complaint filed against Ms. Bakri does not set forth any academic violations as grounds for her suspension. In addition, the grounds for suspension relied upon by the Administrative Committee are vague and ambiguous; as such, no action should have been initiated.
- The complaint and decision sets forth no facts that constitute a violation of the Disciplinary Code. A criminal case is currently pending against Ms. Bakri before the Nazareth Magistrate Court on charges of failing to report a crime, namely the bombing of Bus 361. Ms. Bakri's defense counsel in the criminal case has raised a number of preliminary arguments to dismiss the indictment. He argued that even if all of the facts as stated in the indictment are true, no crime has been committed. The Nazareth Magistrate Court has not yet ruled on these preliminary arguments. Moreover, Ms. Bakri adamantly denies the charge and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
- The reasons provided by the Chief of Police, coupled with statements made by the Rabbi of Safed and the general bad atmosphere toward Arab students on campus are irrelevant considerations. Recently, the Attorney General has directed the police to open an investigation against the Rabbi of Safed due to his racist statements against Arab students and the Arab leadership. The role of the police is to protect citizens, and the possibility of disruptive demonstrations on campus is not an appropriate reason to suspend a student.
- The Administrative Committee, in making this decision, did not afford appropriate weight to Ms. Bakri's rights to education and future employment.
For all of these reasons, Adalah demanded that Ms. Bakri's suspension from Safed College should be cancelled. Safed College, as an institution of higher education in Israel, should be a model for the protection of basic rights and the principles of a democratic system.
