Students from Tzfat (Safed) Academic College have described their fears to step on campus, following multiple instances of harassment and threats by Arab fellow students.
Shelly Tobol, a Behavioral Sciences student at Tzfat Academic College and a member of the Im Tirzu movement, testified on the threats and harassment she experienced during the past year during her studies, at a meeting discussing the recent increase in Arab violence.
"During Operation Guardian of the Walls, an Arab classmate began uploading anti-Semitic posts. After I asked her why she was uploading these posts, she sent Palestinian flags to the group of students. She started harassing me, and she posted my Instagram account on the net with an explicit threat: 'We will conquer your region, we will win with the help of Allah.'
"In addition, she posted my phone number which led to explicit threats on my life. The administration did nothing to address the issue; instead, it preferred to present it as a conflict between students. Today I am afraid to go to college; I study online instead. I'm afraid to walk around the campus. I'm afraid for my life."
Rinat Rousseau, another student at Tzfat Academic College, also experienced similar attacks. "I feel like a guest at Tzfat College and that the homeowners are the Arab students. For example, just one Jewish student among over 50 Arab students took a course on the Holocaust. When examinations were held and she arrived to take the test, she saw that Arab students had written 'Nazi' on her desk. She left without taking the test, and when the lecturer asked the other students what had happened, no one replied. Later, she complained to the lecturer, but nothing was done. This student ended up leaving the college; this incident was the last straw.
"We have approached the college again and again - and the response is general statements of condemnation, but nothing real has been done to deter, punish, and prevent subsequent incidents," Rousseau concludes.