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Hebrew University professor slanders Israel at Columbia

In Columbia University lecture, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian claims Israel tests weapons on Palestinians.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

In a lecture last Tuesday at Columbia University, an Arab professor of social work from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University said the IDF tests various weapons against innocent Palestinians in order to learn which are the most powerful, Army Radio reported Sunday.

Dozens in the prestigious New York institution heard Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s wild accusations, including the claim that “Israel does weapons tests on Palestinian children,” according to the radio report, which aired statements recorded during her talk.

“Palestinian spaces are laboratories for the Israeli security industry,” Shalhoub-Kevorkian asserted. Furthermore, the IDF specifically targets the younger generation for these alleged tests, she said, backing up the claim by quoting from the alleged testimony of a few children.

“The army checks what bombs to use – gas bombs or stink bombs,” a child named Muhammad said, according to the report. “Whether to put over us plastic bags or cloth bags, whether to hit us with their rifles or kick us with their boots.”

Other allegations made during the speech included a statement that when Chad’s president visited Israel in November, he was brought to Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem to see how the Israelis “are really controlling the people and the area” – using closed-circuit cameras. The African leader made no secret of the fact that his historic visit was focused on security issues, as his government is fighting a rebellion in the northern part of the country.

The professor’s speech, titled “Violent Technologies in Palestinian Jerusalem,” was based on alleged research she did in Israel during her tenure at Hebrew University. It is also presented abroad as a Hebrew University study, Dabush reported.

The university did not condemn the lecture. “The views expressed by Professor Nadera Shalhoub Kevorkian do not represent or express in any way the Hebrew University or the administration of the University; these are her personal opinions which express only herself,” it said in a statement.

The event was condemned by Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, which focuses largely on campus issues.