Hungary’s Culture and Innovation Minister Balázs Hankó has initiated the withdrawal process of the scholarship of a Jordanian student who interrupted an Israeli professor’s lecture last month, the minister announced at the third International Pro-Israel Summit.
Hebrew University history Prof. Alexander Yakobson was giving a lecture at the Eotvos Loránd University (ELTE) on October 16 when 20 keffiyeh-clad pro-Palestinian students entered and prevented him from speaking.
One of the students was reportedly particularly aggressive, shouting that she would not allow Yakobson “to conduct political propaganda in favor of genocide at the university.”
He was forced to postpone the lecture after ELTE’s Humanities Faculty decided “it could not be held safely and in accordance with the scientific expectations of the university.”
“Two weeks ago, young people studying in our country crossed a border that we cannot allow,” Hankó told the attendees at the summit.
Regarding one of the lead protesters who was on a Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship, Hankó said, “If anyone violates the peace and security of our nation at universities, their scholarship will be immediately withdrawn.”
He also called on the university management to investigate how the protest was possible.
Scholarship student who disrupted Israeli professor was from Jordan
Although Hungarian media did not identify the scholarship student by name, Arabic and Israeli media reported that she is from Jordan.
Hungary’s Centre for Fundamental Rights praised the move, saying that “Hungary has zero tolerance for antisemitism and terrorist parties.”
The Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship is an initiative of the Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, which aims “to support the internationalization and continuous development of Hungarian higher education, to strengthen the international relations of the academic and research community, and to promote the good reputation and competitiveness of Hungarian higher education worldwide.”
On Sunday, Hankó met with Likud Education Minister Yoav Kisch in Budapest, telling him, “Hungary is not only an ally but also a friend of Israel’s.”