‘Gratitude is an important Jewish value’ – targeted Israeli professor thanks supporters

An Israeli professor targeted by a direct harassment campaign from a pro-Palestinian student group at the university he lectures at has told Jewish News  he is grateful for the “enormous outpouring of support” he has received in response.

Professor Michael Ben Gad, who teaches economics at City St George’s, University of London, has been targeted by a group calling itself “City Action for Palestine”, who have falsely described him as a “terrorist” and called for him to be fired from his job.

Last week, members of the group invaded his lecture theatre during a class, with Ben Gad stating that one of them “made a threat about having my head chopped off.”

But Ben Gad has been clear that he will continue to teach, turning down an offer of paid leave from the university, which he has continuously stressed has been completely supportive of him. He told Jewish News that this campaign against him, launched a couple of weeks ago, was first time he had ever been targeted in such a fashion.

“Never, in my entire career at City University – I’ve been the head of the department, I’ve been on Senate [the university’s academic authority] – Never have I ever had a single issue, not from a student, and certainly not from a member of staff.

“We have people of every possible heritage in the department, and I consider every single one of them personal friends.”

More than 1,500 academics, from a wide variety of countries and religious backgrounds, publicly supported Ben Gad in an open letter – support he does not take lightly.

“I think a very important Jewish value is gratitude; it’s something I try to express as often as I can”, he says.

“People are sticking their necks out on my behalf. That’s not something I take for granted.”

A few hours prior to our chat, the alleged identity of two of the protestors in Ben Gad’s lecture hall is being mentioned on social media – one of them is believed to be a City St George’s student. I ask Ben Gad if he believes that if those involved in the campaign against him are confirmed to be students, they should be expelled from the university. He says that while he “cannot speak to the actual disciplinary procedures that are available” to the university, “my personal belief…I should think, just as a matter of principle, that if you behave this way, in a threatening way, if you’re disruptive of other people’s right to enjoy a lecture, then you don’t really belong in the the university. You’re abusing your right to be there in order to ruin the experience for everybody else. That’s never acceptable.”

I put it to him that the “City Action for Palestine” group has directly libelled him by calling him a “terrorist” and urging that he be sacked. Has he considered his own legal action?

He confirms that he has also received offers of help “from the legal community”, but that he hasn’t made a decision as to whether to avail himself of that help. “If I’m reluctant to do it, it’s simply because I’m very jealous of my time; I take it very seriously”, he says.

“To be tied in court for years, that’s something I’d want to avoid if I could – that’s the reason for my reluctance. I would say I haven’t really decided, and I think I would have the option of doing that later, when perhaps I have more free time. I haven’t given it much thought, given how quickly events have unfolded as well.”

In the last few weeks, he has spoken about his main concern being “for people who are far more vulnerable than I am, and I mean particularly Jewish students who have been targeted all over the country.” He says, in relation to that, that “I wanted to express my sympathy…part of the reason I’m taking the stand that I am is, to a degree to boost them.”

But while Jewish students are fortunate enough to be served by a dedicated organisation, the Union of Jewish Students, I wonder if he feels whether Jewish academics need more support? He confirms that a Jewish academic group has been among those who have reached out to offer “mutual support”, but says that additional backing for Jewish academics in general “certainly would not be a bad thing.

“I always want to contrast my situation with that of other people I think have it much harder than me”, he says.

“I’m a full professor and a former department head. I’m not as professionally vulnerable, and I’m also in a field which is kind of technical and not very woke, so I don’t have any issues within my academic department whatsoever. That’s not true for everyone.

“And if you are in one of these other fields, which has been sort of captured, and let’s add to that, you’re maybe more junior and you’re still starting out, maybe you feel vulnerable for other reasons. You might be a young woman, you might have some small children. I can imagine that a lot of the pressure that I’m facing would be really overwhelming.”