After Ben Gurion University yesterday rejected a request by students to light memorial candles for those murdered in the Ariel attack, claiming that it was a “political event”, today MK Almog Cohen from Otzma Yehudit arrived on the university grounds with the aim of perpetuating the memory of the murdered. MK Almog Cohen He took advantage of his immunity and lit memorial candles for the murdered together with the coordinator of ‘If You Want’ at the university, Clara Ben Shoshan and the student union on campus.
In addition to the university administration’s refusal to allow a candle-lighting event to take place on the grounds that it is a “political event that must be coordinated two working days in advance”, the university spokeswoman issued a harsh statement yesterday against an activist, if you will, an immigrant from France who served in the MGB, in which it was claimed that the activist tried to “take advantage the attack to provoke provocation.”
MK Almog Cohen: “I took advantage of my immunity as a MK on the first day in office and now lit soul candles together with the “If You Will” movement on the grounds of Ben Gurion University for the uplifting of the souls of the martyrs from last night’s terrible attack in Ariel. may them rest in peace”.
Clara Ben Shoshan, a university student and coordinator of ‘If You Want’ on campus, she said: “We cannot be deterred by the slanders of the university’s spokespersons. The attempt to claim that I tried to provoke some kind of provocation, just because I wanted to light candles, indicates an emotional opacity. I immigrated from France, I served in the MGB and I did it proudly for the State of Israel. I dreamed of the moment when I could study at an academic institution in Israel without fear of expressing my national identity. It is not clear how, out of such a thing, the spokeswoman of the university chose to issue a statement that I tried to take advantage of the attack. Those who are deterred by any basic expression of national identification should do some soul-searching.”
