HaFtoha leaders attacked the reform - and this is how ultra-Orthodox students responded

February 16, 2023   

Earlier this week, even before the demonstration in front of the Knesset, the Open University sent a letter to all students, including hundreds of other ultra-Orthodox students, in which it presents a political position on the legal reform being promoted by the government and the ultra-Orthodox parties. The letter - signed by Dorit Beinisch, former President of the Supreme Court and President of the Open University, Dr. Uri Yaron, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prof. Mimi Eisenstadt, President of the Open University, Prof. Guy Miron, Vice President of the Open University, and Ruth Shoham, CEO of the Open University - reads: "We feel a moral, institutional and national obligation to address you, to make our voices heard and to warn against the threat to Israeli democracy and Israeli academia." The letter continued: "In recent weeks, we have witnessed accelerated advancement of a legal reform that is expected to fundamentally change the system of checks and balances between the state's authorities. The change in the rules is being carried out at a rapid pace, without dialogue or any attempt to formulate broad consensus - as required by moves that reshape the democratic basis of the state and society in Israel. "Moreover, the reform is being promoted while trampling on and ignoring the academic knowledge accumulated in the fields of law, history, political science, economics and other fields. "The legal storm that is raging over us threatens to destroy the deepest foundations of Israel. The legislation will allow for constant erosion of the foundations of democracy, civil rights, justice and the integrity of government. An independent and strong legal system is also a condition for maintaining academic freedom - the basis for our ability to research, innovate, challenge conventions and criticize the systems of society and the state." The university's leaders continue to write, without presenting any facts: "The Open University is founded on a constant striving for accessibility to higher education and the aspiration to provide an equal opportunity to acquire quality higher education for everyone who desires it. We fear that the legal changes will harm human rights - and in particular the right to equality and freedom of expression - in a way that could make it particularly difficult for the Open University to fulfill its national mission. "The Open University is the academic home of senior faculty members, teaching staff, administrative staff and students, and all of us together faithfully represent all aspects of Israeli society. It is clear to us that there are also many in our community who think differently or differently from us. The university leaders further write: "We call for a respectful and tolerant discourse on every issue, especially on the issue of legal reform, with respect for the expression of any position. In the spirit of patience, equality, and openness of the Open University, we hereby call on the state's leadership to lead a process of dialogue and forging broad consensus on the fundamental legal principles that shape Israel's democratic structure." The letter aroused great anger among many students studying at the university - who drafted a 'petition' against the move: "To the honor of the Open University administration. We, the students studying at the Open University for a variety of degrees, strongly protest the letter issued by the university administration regarding the legal reform. We see this letter as a serious violation of the principle of pluralism in general, and of the principle of academic pluralism in particular, which is supposed to be a beacon for the university. "In your letter, you take sides in a political debate while completely ignoring the other side under the guise of statehood. You went even further and stated at the end of your letter that the university represents the many shades of Israeli society. We call on you to retract this shameful letter, so that the university will indeed represent the many shades of Israeli society and the many opinions of the people. If you do not do this, we will see this as an attack on us, the students of the university." So far Sign the petition 890 students. In a conversation with Haredim 10, a Haredi student who took part in the petition describes: "The university administration is biased towards a very specific political side, and it also sends me its opinions by email - I am not interested in their opinions. In addition, it is not supposed to send us political letters. "The university leaders did not present the other opinion, but only chose one side. The petition is an excellent idea, and it allows us students to voice the different and other opinions - those that support the reform.".