Adalah: Kibbutzim College can't condition students' scholarships on participation in conference in West Bank settlement

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter on 1 June 2017 demanding the Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts in Tel Aviv cancel the conditioning of students' eligibility for scholarships to the prestigious Regev teaching program on participation in the program's upcoming annual conference in the Alon Shvut settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Adalah sent the letter to Dr. Hanna Avni-Shein, dean of students at Kibbutzim College, to Dr. Tamar Ketko, director of the Regev education program at Kibbutzim College, and to Regev national director Dr. Rama Kloyer.

According to media reports, Kibbutzim College students in the Regev teaching program were told they would lose their three-year scholarship if they do not attend the conference in the Israeli settlement.

Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts (Photo: Google Maps)

In her letter, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote that the college's policy impinges upon the freedom of expression of students who refuse to participate in a conference in an illegal settlement.

"Making the receipt of a scholarship conditional upon the forced imposition of a political perspective is both offensive and humiliating. This harms the students' constitutional right to freedom of political expression."

Adalah's letter also emphasized the fact that opposition to settlements and to the occupation of Palestinian territories is a legitimate political position in Israeli society, and students must not be penalized for holding these views.

"The issue of the settlements is a matter of public dispute since the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, and Israeli law has no unequivocal answer regarding the legality of the settlements. It is unnecessary to point out the fact that international law considers the settlements to be illegal. There is widespread public sentiment that maintains that support for West Bank settlements translates to support and legitimization of the occupation. This position is considered legitimate as it seeks to oppose the occupation via peaceful means."

Adalah demands that Kibbutzim College act immediately to cease making receipt of the Regev scholarships conditional upon participation in the Alon Shvut conference.