After 62 Palestinians were killed May 14 during demonstrations in Gaza along the Israel-Gaza border, students at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem decided to protest in their own way. The students, mostly Israeli Arabs, hung black posters in the school’s corridors recording the names of the Palestinians killed. The exhibit also included signs with Gaza's shape that read, “Not Your Toy,” part of a refrain from the song by this year’s Eurovision winner, Israeli Netta Barzilai.

Science Minister Ofir Akunis of Likud banned the students from participating in an international science conference scheduled for the end of the month in Jerusalem. His decision was obviously entirely political. When asked by Al-Monitor whether all Bezalel students would be prevented from exhibiting at the conference, Akunis answered, “Yes.”

Bezalel, located on the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus, is considered one of the leading institutes of its kind in the world. The absence of works by its students at the upcoming conference, which will host 25 science ministers and delegations from around the world, is a disproportionate form of collective punishment that infringes on freedom of expression. The conference will include exhibits of works by students of design from art schools across the country.

Akunis told Al-Monitor that he supports freedom of expression and creativity, but added, “I will not permit the freedom to disparage. Even Hamas has already announced that the casualties along the border with Gaza were [mostly] its own people, or in other words, terrorists.”