“We are not slaves or vassals — I won’t be told what to think”: Brave Israeli professor pushes back against academia’s political radicalism

In a powerful message sent to his colleagues earlier last morning, Professor Benjamin Brown, a senior lecture at the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem declared he would not participate in any academic strike declared in protest of the potential dismissal of Israel’s Attorney General or the head of the Shin Bet.

“For months now, like all of us, I’ve been receiving weekly indoctrination messages telling me what to think,” Brown wrote his fellow professors.

“I’m a grown man — I can think for myself.”

Brown made it clear that previous messages didn’t trouble him much, but that the most recent announcements that were made crossed a red line.

“This time, your statement goes beyond words and borders on actions — and I must respond,” he wrote, making it clear that no university president, rector, dean, faculty union, or any other body has the right to compel him to adopt their political stance or to fight their ideological battles.

Brown, who is widely recognized for his scholarly work, emphasized that faculty unions are entitled to call for professional action, but not for political or ideological struggles, even if leaders believe it's about “saving the soul of the nation” or “defending Israeli democracy.”

“Even those who disagree with me must understand: no struggle for democracy can be waged by trampling a core democratic value like freedom of conscience,” he added.

“Not just governments are bound by it — so are faculty unions and university administrators.”

Brown concluded with a firm, practical stance: