\nIntroduction<\/b>\n
\nAcademia is acknowledged as playing a significant role in shaping society, directly and indirectly. Higher education institutions are central sources of knowledge and discourse design (Etzkowitz & Viale, 2010); they are a symbol\nof ethic and values (Bok & Bok, 2009); a place that cultivates economic, social, and political leaders (Astin & Astin, 2000); and the scene of social and political activism. Furthermore, formal education is known to influence social engagement\nand foster critical thinking. Over the years, the world has witnessed the involvement of academics and students who have protested regime injustices\nand reacted to social inequality, violent conflicts, and neglect of democratic values. Such involvement is, however, rare in the Israeli higher education system, and appears to be particularly low, almost nonexistent, when the issue\nconcerns the struggle for the rights of Arabs in Israel (Amara, 2002, 2018).\n
\nThe lack of symmetry and equality between the Hebrew and Arabic languages\nin Israel, reflected in various fields, such as the linguistic landscape,\nthe education system, the media, public services, and the labor market, has\nlong been documented (e.g., Ben-Rafael, Shohamy, Amara & Trumper-Hecht,\n2006; Mendel, 2014; Saban & Amara, 2004; Yitzhaki, 2013). This asymmetry had\nexisted long before Arabic lost its status as an official language in 2018. It is an\nexpression of the tense relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab\nminority in Israel and an indication of dangerous processes of Arab exclusion\nfrom the social and political sphere. In a country that defines itself as the\nnation-state of the Jewish People, the Arabs necessarily become second-class citizens, and their culture and language have been demoted as well (Chaitin, Steinberg & Steinberg, 2019).\nPromoting so-called \u201cnational interests\u201d at the expense of humanistic values\nis not a unique Israeli phenomenon. Maintaining national strength and unity\nis a well-known justification for favoring the majority and for unequal allocation\nof resources, while ignoring the rights of other groups (Meadwell, 1989).\n
\n…\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n