Haifa University announced Wednesday that it would not allow an event marking “Nakba Day” to take place on its campus. The early afternoon announcement came just a few hours before the event was to start.

The university said in a statement that while the event had originally been touted as “a cultural event,” it turned out Tuesday that the intention was to mark “Nakba Day” – as Arab enemies of Israel call the anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state. “In these circumstances, the university decided not to allow the event to take place.”

There was concern that the event would spiral into mayhem after a similar event in Tel Aviv University was successfully disrupted by Zionist protesters Monday. A confrontation between Zionists on one side, and Arabs and leftists on the other, also took place in Hebrew University Tuesday.  

Following Monday’s event, Education Minister Gideon Saar told Arutz Sheva that the law makes it possible to cancel such events since they border on incitement against the state of Israel. “There is no reason for Israeli campuses to be territory for exhibitions of hatred against Israel, as occurs on European campuses,” he argued. 

Last year, Arabs in Haifa University invited terror-supporting MK Hanin Zoabi to speak on campus for Nakba Day. That event, too, was eventually cancelled by the university at the last moment.