The Hebrew Channel "13" reported that the Hebrew University in Jerusalem suspended professor Nadera Shalhub Keyworth on Tuesday, due to public statements against Israel. According to Channel 13, Nadera Shalhub stated in a podcast, "Zionism must be eradicated... Israel is committing genocide." The Hebrew University mentioned that her suspension came after she signed a petition against the war in Gaza in late October 2023.
In justifying the decision to suspend her teaching, the university stated that "Nadera signed a petition at the beginning of the war that described Israel's actions as genocidal practices and an occupying entity since 1948." The university concluded its response by saying, "At this stage, in order to maintain a calm atmosphere at the university for the benefit of our students, we have decided to suspend Professor Nadera Shalhub Keyworth." She also denied allegations of rape committed by Hamas on October 7, stating, "Israel always lies," according to Channel 13.
### Who is Nadera Shalhub?
Nadera was born in Haifa in 1960 to Palestinian parents who experienced the hardships of the Nakba in 1948. Her father, the late lawyer Jamil Shalhub Keyworth, was injured in the foot while trying to sneak back into Haifa at the age of 17 in 1948. Her mother had to board a ship with her three children (Nadera's half-brothers) during the Nakba before marrying her father, to protect herself and her children from certain death, according to the Palestinian Studies Foundation.
Her upbringing and childhood had a significant impact on shaping her future path, as Nadera recounts how Israelis labeled them as "Arabs of 48" (Palestinians of the interior) with the most vile insults and threw stones at them on the way back from school without facing any consequences.
Nadera attended the University of Haifa, where she studied political science and philosophy, obtaining her bachelor's degree in 1980. She then earned a master's degree in criminology from the Hebrew University in occupied Jerusalem in 1989, followed by a Ph.D. in law from the same university's Institute of Criminology in 1994.
Nadera lives in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City in occupied Jerusalem. She is a professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the Hebrew University and holds a chair in global law at Queen Mary University in London. Her research revolves around social psychology, law, and society.
She is considered one of the leading international researchers studying the daily life of Palestinians under occupation and the colonial settler system. Shalhub has authored several books, including "Militarization and Violence Against Women in Conflict Areas in the Middle East: A Palestinian Case Study." In 2015, she published "Theology of Security, Surveillance and Politics of Fear" with Cambridge University Press, and in September 2019, she released the book "Childhood in Captivity and the Politics of De-juvenilization."
