Uproar at the Technion After Vendor Sells “Map of Palestine” Pendants at Student Festival

An uproar broke out today (Wednesday) at the Technion after, during a student event, a booth was set up selling pendants shaped like the map of the land in the colors of the Palestinian flag. After event management noticed the items, organizers approached the booth owner and demanded that they be removed. When he refused to do so, the booth was shut down immediately and its owner was removed from the campus grounds. Following the incident, the organization "B'Tsalmo" is demanding that the Technion administration open an internal investigation and examine how the booth was approved to participate in the event.

The incident took place during "Dabke at Noon," an annual music and dance happening held at the Technion. During the activity, students noticed that one of the vendor booths was selling pendants designed in the shape of the map of the land and painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

At the organization "B'Tsalmo," officials sharply condemned the very display of the items and said that "during the event, a booth was set up where a pendant depicting the full map of 'Palestine' was sold openly, while completely and deliberately erasing the State of Israel." The organization added: "This is not freedom of expression or a free academy, but radical political incitement that undermines the very existence of the State of Israel, and it must be handled with an iron fist and zero tolerance."

For its part, the Technion stressed that even before the event opened, all booth owners had been clearly informed that it was absolutely forbidden to sell products of a political or inciting nature. In a statement, the institution said that "as soon as the event organizers noticed the pendant displayed at the booth, they approached the booth owner, who is not connected to the Technion, and demanded that he remove it. After he refused, the booth was closed immediately and its owner was removed from the campus."

The Technion clarified that the booth owner is not affiliated with the academic institution, and that enforcement action was carried out immediately after the items were discovered. According to its statement, the guidelines given in advance to all exhibitors unequivocally prohibited the sale of items of a political or inciting nature, and the incident was handled in accordance with that policy.

Following the affair, the organization "B'Tsalmo" sent a letter to Technion President Professor Uri Sivan, demanding that an internal investigation be opened to examine how the booth was approved to participate in the happening in the first place. In addition, the organization asked that a mechanism be formulated to prevent similar cases from recurring in the future, so that booths displaying or selling items of a similar nature would not be set up at campus events.