Ono Academic College Law Students Protest Controversial Assignment
Law students at Ono Academic College, including IDF reservists, protested a final assignment containing the term settler terrorists, accusing their professor of political bias.
A storm has erupted at Ono Academic College after law students were assigned a final paper requiring them to draft a legal opinion supporting a petition filed by Palestinians, which included the term "settler terrorists." Among the students are reservists and residents of Judea and Samaria. In a sharp letter of complaint to the college administration, they accused the lecturer of political bias, silencing opposing views, and making offensive remarks against soldiers and government ministers.
The assignment, given in the "Jurisprudence" course taught by Prof. Avner Ben-Zaken, required students to assume the role of legal advisors to the Supreme Court and draft a philosophical opinion justifying the acceptance of a petition demanding that the state protect Palestinian residents and ensure their return to their homes. Students were asked to base their arguments on the philosophies of three thinkers studied during the course. However, the students argued that instead of encouraging critical thinking and open legal debate, the assignment pre-determined the conclusion they were expected to reach.
The controversy unfolds against the backdrop of growing public criticism over campaigns targeting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. For many students, the issue is deeply personal. Some serve in military reserves, others reside in Judea and Samaria, and some have lost friends in the war and terror attacks. Following the publication of the assignment, a group of students sent a stern letter of complaint to the administration, detailing grievances regarding Prof. Ben-Zaken's conduct throughout the semester.
The students claimed that the use of the term "settler terrorists" was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of a pattern of behavior that turned lectures into a platform for political and anti-Zionist indoctrination. They alleged that students attempting to present alternative views were silenced, treated with condescension, and that the lecturer made offensive remarks toward a student in IDF uniform, as well as drawing comparisons between Israeli government ministers and Nazis in Germany.
Ono Academic College responded to the complaints, stating: "This is an assignment within the jurisprudence course dealing with the analysis of a High Court of Justice petition in which Palestinian petitioners alleged violent acts by 'hilltop youth terrorists.' As part of the assignment, students were asked to engage with the petitioners' arguments, just as lawyers do in their daily work. In light of the students' inquiry, we asked the lecturer to clarify in the text that this is a direct quote from the petitioners, and that has been done."
