Adalah: Ben-Gurion University Pursues a Systematic Policy of Restricting Freedom of Expression and Political Organizing of Arab students on Campus

On 15 December 2025, Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel submitted two urgent letters to the president of Ben-Gurion University in the Negev and the chairman of its board of directors, in their capacity as members of the university’s appeals committee. The letters were sent on behalf of the Jabha and Jafra Student Movements in response to the university’s refusal to approve two theatrical events in Arabic.

Despite the students' efforts and follow-up to gain the required approval for the events, the university rejected both requests on the same pretext: that the proposed activities were considered “cultural events” and must be organized exclusively through the Student Union, not directly through the university administration. 

To read the letter submitted on behalf of the Jafra Student Movement (in Hebrew)

To read the letter submitted on behalf of the Jabha Student Movement (in Hebrew)

Adalah Attorney Lubna Touma argued in the letters that the imposition of the requirement for ‘cultural events’ to be organized through the Student Union is an arbitrary restriction with no legal basis in the university's regulations. University regulations contain no clause mandating or granting the Student Union the authority to approve or reject such activities. The letters also highlight that, over the course of weeks, the students exhausted all the channels imposed by the university. In one case, the students approached the Student Union, but the union refused to support the activity, claiming that the annual activity program was closed, in addition to citing administrative and budgetary reasons, despite the fact that the proposed activities did not include any request for funding or services from the union. This response confirms that such a requirement effectively limits student activism. In the other case, the request was rejected outright by the Dean of Student Affairs.

Adalah asserts that forcing Palestinian Arab student activists to go through the Student Union constitutes a fundamental restriction on freedom of expression and association, and opens the door wide to political and selective considerations, particularly against activists representing Arab students and other minority groups on campus. Furthermore, the Student Union does not necessarily represent all students, and many students choose, for political reasons, not to work through it. These practices violate the university's own regulations, in addition to the Student Rights Act of 2007, which explicitly guarantees freedom of expression and association, and obliges higher education institutions to ensure that these rights are exercised in practice, not just in theory.

Additionally, the timing of the two cases along with the similarity of the justifications and procedures, points to a general, non-individual policy aimed at shrinking the space for Arab student activity within the university. This policy threatens the assumption of an open space upon which the university is meant to operate, undermines student organizing— particularly that of Arab students—and prevents independent activities from being organized on campus. This exclusion is part of a broader campaign that has targeted the speech of Palestinian students over the past two years, and for which many were suspended or expelled wrongfully. 

Accordingly, Adalah demands that the university reverse these policies; allow student activities to be organized without the requirement of going through the Student Union or relying on flimsy pretexts to block Arab student groups’ activities; and put an end to restrictions on freedoms that contradict the university’s status as a public academic institution encompassing diverse segments of society.

Attorney Touma commented:

“What we are witnessing at Ben-Gurion University is not an isolated incident, but a systematic policy that empties the right to freedom of expression and association of its content by imposing procedural restrictions that have no basis in the university’s regulations or in the law. This approach has been adopted by Israeli universities since 7 October 2023, despite their declared commitment to safeguarding students’ rights—particularly the rights of Arab students—to organize their activities independently on campus, without forced mediation or selective political considerations. Adalah will continue to confront this crackdown on freedom of expression being wielded by universities against Palestinian students.”