Media: In Israel, any criticism is considered "treason and threat".
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that Meir Baruchin, who taught history at the Yitzhak Shamir High School in Petach Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, was under pressure from his students and the country's government because of his condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank on social media. He was first fired and then sentenced to 15 days of house arrest. His students insulted him and wished him to get cancer.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that teacher Meir Baruchin was bullied and beaten by his students after being placed under house arrest and banned from social media for 15 days for his civil stance on social media.
Baruchin, who taught history at Yitzhak Shamir High School in Petach Tikva, east of the capital Tel Aviv, was fired after October 7 for his views, but was later reinstated.
On January 19, Baruchin's 10th-grade students boycotted his classes and organized a whistle-blower. Videos of insults were circulated on social networks.
Hatred doesn't start on October 7th
A 16-year-old student insulted Baruchin, who was convicted of "treason" , with the phrase "I hope you get cancer."
"War is easy to blame. In war, our fears, anxieties, and doubts multiply greatly. But the 16-year-old's hatred of her cancer-stricken mentor didn't begin on October 7, and it won't end when the last troops leave Gaza. This hatred made it possible for the current government to win the last elections and put an end to the life of the prime minister ( Yitzhak Rabin - the former prime minister of Israel, who was shot dead by the Israeli Igal Amir in 1995 ) , the article says .
The article claims that Baruchin's statements "do not constitute treason or threats to the country" and that Israeli teachers are "free to conceal and express" their political views.
History teacher Baruchin criticizes the actions of the Israeli army
"An oppressed nation is allowed to do anything to liberate itself from oppression. Is the Israeli military not raping Palestinian women? They have been doing it since 1948, but it is not in the textbooks ," the teacher wrote on the school teachers' messaging platform where he works.
The Israeli Ministry of Education subsequently dismissed Baruchin from his teaching position, and the Israeli police opened an investigation against him, and he was arrested on November 9.
In an October 7 social media post, Baruchin called Israeli Air Force pilots "child killers" and said the pilots "obeyed orders despite knowing the consequences."
Regarding the violations committed by Israel in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Baruchin said: "Today, bloodshed continues in the West Bank."
It is noted that since October 7 in Israel, many Israelis, especially Palestinians, have expressed their solidarity with the people of Gaza on social media.