The University of Bar Ilan yesterday condemned Professor Hillel Weiss’ calls for the extermination of Palestinians.
After a speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the United Nations in which he accused Israel of committing genocide, Weiss wrote on Facebook: “Listen, Abu Mazen, you aren’t a people and therefore there’s no genocide. The faster you admit that you aren’t a people and don’t belong anywhere within the boundaries of the Land of Israel, the better it will be for you – the faster you voluntarily vacate this land.”
The university condemned the comments in comments made to Haaretz newspaper today in which it explained that Weiss is retired and is a volunteer. “Firstly, it’s necessary to state that the things Professor Hillel Weiss published on his Facebook page are contemptible and very grave, and any cultured person – Jewish or non-Jewish, religious or nonreligious – must condemn them,” the university’s statement said. “A call to kill people is un-Jewish and immoral.”
Orot Israel College, in which Weiss lectures, also condemned the remarks. Rabbi Neria Guttel, the president of the college, said: “That’s not academic freedom; that’s academic anarchy, and I will not accept remarks of this sort.”