JERUSALEM, Dec 30 (NNN-XINHUA) – More Israeli universities, yesterday, voiced opposition against the discriminatory legislative initiatives against women, LGBT and Arabs by the newly formed rightist coalition government.
The Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) yesterday issued a statement, warning against the threat to Israel’s image by such initiatives, adding that, it would work for its goals without discriminating against anyone based on race, religion, nationality, gender and sexual orientation.
The University of Haifa also issued a statement yesterday, warning that, the legislative initiatives by the new far-right and religious government could discriminate against and exclude populations in Israeli society, foster hatred towards the LGBT community, and sow fear in the country.
The Weizmann Institute of Science, also vowed in a statement yesterday that, it would “continue to stand firm amidst right violations of the LGBT community and other groups in the face of acts of incitement and violence.”
On Tuesday, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said, in a statement that, it would continue to promote values of full equality, liberty, freedom, and human dignity in any form.
“As a civilised society we must denounce sectional discourse that seeks to achieve supremacy and exclude entire populations from Israel’s delicate social order,” it said.
In an open letter issued to its students, the Tel Aviv University said, “these days, extreme voices are heard, raising shocking ideas aiming to harm the delicate fabric of our lives.”
It vowed not to cooperate with entities that will pursue a policy of improper discrimination.
Earlier, the Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University, and Reichman University also stated that, they oppose discrimination and exclusion of certain populations.
Recently, leading hospitals in Israel already came out against a legislative initiative taken by the new government, to allow doctors to refuse treatment to certain populations, such as LGBT people, if this goes against the doctor’s religious beliefs.
Yesterday, the new Israeli coalition government, led by Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset.
The new coalition, the most far-right government in Israel’s history, is made up of Netanyahu’s Likud party, the pro-settler Religious Zionism, which calls for annexation of the occupied West Bank, the Jewish Power party, whose leader was convicted of supporting Jewish terrorism and inciting racism, and the Noam party, an extreme-right party that opposes the LGBTQ rights, as well as, Shas and United Torah Judaism, two ultra-Orthodox parties.– NNN-XINHUA