EKA rector: Cancellation of Israeli professor's workshop not a political choice

The Estonian Academy of Arts' (EKA) outgoing rector Mart Kalm has defended the institution's decision to terminate its contract with an Israeli lecturer, referring to it as a "technical matter," which has been unfairly politicized.
At the same time, he noted that the decision may not have been communicated publicly as well as it could have been.
Speaking to "Aktuaalne kaamera," Kalm, who has found himself at the center of a storm of controversy over the cancellation of the second half of a seminar given by visiting Israeli professor Jonathan Ventura, said: "I should apologize for my imprecise wording, which has upset people, taken on a life of its own, and allowed misunderstandings to arise."
According to Kalm, the debate, which erupted on Tuesday of this week, has even come as a teachable moment for Estonia's universities, colleges, and higher education institutions, since it means certain issues are finally on the table whereas they hadn't been before.
He demurred on whether the decision would be reversed, however.
Kalm said: "EKA has been provided with advice, and we plan to review the decision. Yet not in a mechanistic way; we will draw lessons from today's lessons."
Kalm noted that Education Minister Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) had offered a lifeline to the university by stating that her ministry, plus the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would provide universities with guidance on handling complex, worldview value-related issues.

Up to now, the universities had largely been on their own in this arena, Kallas noted.
While Kalm and EKA have faced political pressure including from the prime minister and foreign minister to walk back on the cancellation of the visiting professor's workshop, the EKA rector said that he does not take that pressure to heart, due to EKA being an independent institution.
"It is a large and diverse university," Kalm said, adding that it is also a highly international institution, with many foreign and exchange students enrolled.
Any modern university is democratic in nature, he noted.
Among the student body, there can be found supporters of both the Palestinian and Israeli angles, Kalm added, noting that he has never observed antisemitism at EKA.
Last week, EKA's director of studies informed students that the second part of a workshop led by Jonathan Ventura, an associate professor at Shenkar College in Tel Aviv, would be canceled.

The seminar was due to take place in February.
EKA said it had severed this working agreement and would not be in cooperation agreements with any higher education institutions in Israel either.
The first part of the seminar had already been given last month, and Ventura reportedly briefly addressed the current geopolitical situation in the wake of the Gaza war, before giving his workshop.
Kalm and EKA had also explained their decision in the light of similar moves made by art academies across Europe.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Mari Peegel
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' interviewer Margus Saar.