Danny Magner, Chairman of the Student Association (ASAT) at the Technion: Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, spoke with Arutz Sheva about ongoing Arab student protests - outside the gates of the campus.
"The Technion is an apolitical institution and it usually very calm and quiet here, except for during major events such as Operation Protective Edge and the Mavi Marmara flotilla."
Magner is referring both to the 50-day war Israel fought with Hamas in the summer of 2014, as well as the 2010 flotilla boarded by IDF soldiers after ship captains ignored orders to change course. Upon being attacked by extremists on board, the soldiers were forced to open fire.
"Yesterday's demonstration of Arab students, with some Jews among them, was a peaceful demonstration outside the gate of the Technion - a quiet day," Magner continued.
In other universities across Israel, protests were quite tense, and not as peaceful, although no violence erupted.
At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Tuesday, Arab students led a demonstration, held under tight security, which included calls for "the liberation of Palestine."
"They were shouting that the terrorists are martyrs, victims of police brutality," one student told Arutz Sheva.
Hundreds of Jewish Israelis, including the Jewish Home party student organization, staged a counter-protest that called to stop the silence in the face of incitement and manifestations of terrorism on campus.
HUJI's protests come on the heels of other such demonstration in both Haifa University and Tel Aviv University (TAU), Sunday.
200 Arab and leftist students protested at Haifa University under the banner, "The charge: Arab. The punishment: death."
The demonstrators at TAU held up pictures of Hir Alhamdan as well as Palestinian flags. They wore Palestinian keffiyehs and shouted in Arabic denouncing the incident.
'A humble martyr'
Among other things, the protesters called out: "Israeli is a terrorist state," "Jerusalem is the capital of the Arabs," and "the deceased is a humble martyr."
A few dozen active students in the university's right-wing student cells, including "Likud", "Jewish Home" and "Im Tirzu," rallied opposite the Arab demonstration, calling protesters "traitors" and "terrorists."
Wagner stressed that the Technion will continue to keep the campus free of politics.
"On a personal level, I do not like students protesting against each other, but in relation to the storm afflicting the country, I am pleased that the demonstration was held in such an orderly fashion."
"We have several thousand Arab students, but no student political cells. Elections at the Student Association occur by individual basis only. Unlike most academic institutions [in Israel] we maintain an apolitical character."
"Anyone who wants to show his politics can do so outside the gates of the campus."