Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press, November 16th, 2010

Yediot Aharonot notes that "The University of Haifa refused to allow MK Hanin Zoabi to participate in a meeting of the Balad political cell held at the university.  In their announcement the university said that ‘The University supports freedom of speech and views it as a cherished value.  The Dean of Students, having evaluated the situation concluding that there are elements trying to exploit the event for violence.’"  The author opines that "A faint scent of disinfectants wafts from the announcement," and adds that "The good thing about important values is that they do not bend easily.  But when you bend them, they do not bend, rather they break."
Ma’ariv refers to proposals that the Government halt funding for the artists who refused to appear at the new auditorium in Ariel.  The author opines that "The State of Israel does not need to support creative works that harm the Jews’ rights to a sovereign state.  Whoever insists that it does may be referred to Hamas."
Yisrael Hayom argues that "Any sensible person in Israel, as well as the heads of the American administration, understands that the true meaning of the freeze is the return to the 1967 boundaries, sooner or later, and that without real negotiations and without the Palestinians forfeiting their vision of a right of return.  Israel’s future is not dependent on another 20 planes or American support in international institutions suffering from renewed anti-Semitism."
The Jerusalem Post comments on the illegal entry of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers from Africa through the open border with Egypt, and notes that "This presents a demographic threat to a country struggling to maintain a significant Jewish majority while providing equal rights to a large Arab minority." The editor states that "Amid the concerns over demographic threats to the Jewish majority, Israel’s political leadership must take steps to expedite the processing of requests for asylum," and adds: "the Jewish people has the imperative both to ensure that a strong Jewish majority is maintained in the sovereign Jewish state, and to serve as a moral example of how developed countries should treat refugees and asylum-seekers."
Haaretz criticizes the directive issued yesterday by Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat that would make state funding of cultural institutions conditional on their undertaking to perform anywhere in Israel, including Ariel, and states that "Threatening the livelihoods of artists for whom performing in a settlement violates their ethical worldview is a violation of these artists’ freedom of expression and freedom of occupation."