Teachers silence Jewish students in debate about Hamas and Israel

Professors from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) silenced Jewish students during a debate on the conflict between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel, which took place this Tuesday (10) – you can watch the video of the episode at the end of this report.

The debate was mediated by the Institute of International Relations (IRI) and had as guest debaters professors Márcio Scalércio, from PUC-Rio, Michel Gherman, from UFRJ, and Nizar Messari, from Al Akhawayn University. PUC-Rio professor, Mônica Herz, led the debate.

The event was broadcast live on the IRI YouTube channel and was running normally until a student, who identified herself as Jewish, asked for the microphone and questioned the speakers. According to the student, the Hamas attacks were being portrayed by teachers as a “response” to Israel.

“There are many Jews here in this room and all we wanted was to sit and take notes, but what we are receiving are notifications (of Hamas attacks). During the lecture we discovered that our Jewish colleague was found dead. She was at the party where Hamas entered, kidnapping, killing and raping Jewish women…”, said the student when she was abruptly interrupted by the debate mediator.

“[Inaudível] is here to ask your question. Let’s go”, said teacher Mônica Herz, showing discomfort with the student’s report. “I’m Jewish too, I understand your pain, but this is an academic discussion, I ask you to ask a question”, added the teacher.

The student continued saying that the majority of Jews present in the room did not feel represented by the position of professor Michel Gherman, who is also Jewish and is considered an expert on the conflict between Palestine and Israel.

“He is not here representing anyone, he is here as a teacher elucidating a topic”, said Mônica Herz. The teacher was applauded by the students who showed indifference to the Jewish colleague’s report.

“Look, are you going to ask a question? No? Next”, added the debate mediator.

The student insisted: “You’re not letting me ask a question, unfortunately. And I don’t understand why you’re screaming.”

“Ask the question,” said the teacher in an authoritative tone.

“My question is the following: Why, in this moment of so much pain, did the teacher, who is no longer here, say that (the attacks) are a response?”, asked the student. Then, a pro-Hamas student shouts: “70 years of colonization!”

From then on, the event is filled with confusion and professor Mônica Herz threatens to end the debate: “You will ask questions or I will end it now. It’s not a political debate, you’re not going to speak out politically.” Faced with the Jewish student’s insistence, the teacher gets excited and says that her speaking time is over.

“This is an attack on the Zionists at this university and no one will remain silent because of the Palestinian flag at the DCE,” said the student who had her speech cut off by the same pro-Hamas student who had shouted earlier. He then asked the speakers to explain what could be done to facilitate the “decolonization of Palestine”.

Then, a third student questions the debaters about the accusations of alleged apartheid Palestinian provoked by Israel. “The Palestinian population grew by 75% and is now 4 million. Apartheid was what happened during the Holocaust, where to this day it has not been possible to recover the number of Jews killed”, said the student.

In another part of the debate, professor Michel Gherman appears shouting at Jewish students. Irritated by the questions, the professor says he “has no conditions” and abandons the debate.

The broadcast was deleted from the YouTube channel of the Institute of International Relations (IRI). Only some excerpts from the event with moments of confusion circulate on social media.

When commenting on the case on the social network X, Gherman Thank you for the messages of support and said that “historians of the future will still read with astonishment that at the height of the greatest tragedy that Israel was going through, on a day of terrible news, at a time of strong pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic positions, a bunch of Jewish students from the south decided to attack Jewish teachers who accused Hamas.”

Despite condemning Hamas attacks, Gherman is known for anti-Israel statements. In a recent interview with the website Congresso em Foco, the professor said that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contributed to the attack being successfully carried out by Hamas due to “the lack of gradual legitimacy and the threat to democracy that he (Netanyahu) himself (Netanyahu) was producing.”

In another post on social media, without mentioning the censorship of Jewish students, Gherman said that it was not him who was attacked during the debate, but “the freedom of thought within the university”. “Today I looked fascism in the eye. We will win every time he dares to attack,” he added.

Gherman has also said that the Israeli government is made up of “fascists and psychopaths” and often attacks “bolsonaristas” on social media, in addition to taking a stance against agendas such as Escola Sem Partido.

Reactions

In a statement, the Institute of International Relations (IRI) repudiated what it called “attempts to prevent an academic debate” and classified the questions from Jewish students as “attacks” on teachers.

The PUC-Rio Teachers’ Association also spoke out in favor of the teachers and accused the Jewish students of being against the “open and constructive” academic debate.

In the same vein, the Brazilian Association of International Relations expressed solidarity with the teachers and condemned the alleged “aggression”.

On the other hand, when commenting on the case on the social networklawyer André Marsiglia said that it is not possible to consider a debate in which the audience is silent.

“What happened in the PUC-Rio debate is regrettable. How is it possible to consider a debate in which the audience is silenced and invited not to participate politically to be university? Universities, not today, have become islands of static, meaningless knowledge. They closed the doors to society and public debate”, wrote the lawyer.

Watch the video of what happened below: