{"id":178733,"date":"2025-06-23T11:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T09:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/hun-skal-arbejde-paa-saxo-instituttet-til-september-men-sidder-fast-i-jerusalem\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T10:16:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T08:16:23","slug":"hired-by-university-of-copenhagen-but-cant-leave-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/hired-by-university-of-copenhagen-but-cant-leave-jerusalem\/","title":{"rendered":"Hired by University of Copenhagen, but can\u2019t leave Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"

O<\/span>n the night of Friday 13 June, we were informed that Israel had attacked Iran. Everyone down here has apps on their phones that issue alerts when there are missile attacks, and I was woken up by the notifications. This in itself is not unusual, as there are often smaller attacks, for example a missile from Yemen. You head to a shelter briefly, and then life goes on.<\/p>\n

\n

Trapped in Jerusalem<\/p>\n

Israel<\/strong> launched a major missile attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday 13 June, with strikes against nuclear facilities. In the early hours of Sunday 22 June, the USA joined the war and bombed three Iranian nuclear plants.<\/p>\n

Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv<\/strong> has suspended all outbound flights.<\/p>\n

One of those unable to leave is University of Copenhagen (UCPH) alum Clara Marie Westergaard<\/strong>. She holds a PhD in Arabic philosophy and is a postdoc at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she researches Arabic philosophy.<\/p>\n

From September, she is employed at the Saxo Institute<\/strong>, but her flights have been cancelled, and she does not know when she will be able to leave Israel.<\/p>\n

This is Clara\u2019s story told in her own words<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This was different. On Friday morning, time stood still. We knew, of course, that a retaliatory strike against Israel was coming, and then it was announced that 100 missiles were on their way from Iran. I live alone, but I called and texted a lot with my friends here. I know a little Hebrew, but not much, so I\u2019m still dependent on the Israeli news services updating their articles in English.<\/p>\n

Right now, what preoccupies me the most is not knowing how I will get home<\/p>\n

Clara Marie Westergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On Friday morning, I went out and bought some water, fruit, snacks and canned goods. Supermarkets close on Friday afternoon because of Shabbat<\/em> on Saturday, so there are certain things you need to get done before the shops close. There was a bit of a prepper vibe at the supermarket. When I got home, Israel started shooting down drones. I went to stay with some friends \u2014 none of us wanted to be alone. We went for a walk, just waiting. We all had a feeling that this would be big, and we didn\u2019t want to face it alone.<\/p>\n

During the first few days, we spent many hours a day in bomb shelters, so I didn\u2019t get much sleep. A week later, I\u2019ve just now had six consecutive hours of sleep for the first time. But I\u2019m lucky \u2014 I can handle it. I know people who are in constant panic, who can\u2019t sleep and are having nightmares. Right now, what preoccupies me the most is not knowing how I will get home.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> 1,300 Israeli academics in urgent call to the heads of academia in Israel<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m starting a job in Denmark in September and was already scheduled to fly home in August, but my flights have been cancelled. And I really want to go home as soon as possible. There\u2019s nothing keeping me here, and I\u2019m not able to work anyway.<\/p>\n

The embassy has not been much help, but I have good travel insurance which might be able to get me out via Egypt. The uncertainty is stressful. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s safer to stay here in Jerusalem and wait for the airspace to reopen, or to make the trip overland to Egypt. At least for now, I have a routine here, even though it\u2019s uncomfortable. When the alarms sound, I go down to my local shelter.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I went up to my office at the university to pick up some of my things. I might have to leave in a hurry, and it\u2019s nice to have them at home.<\/p>\n

Hebrew University is located on the top of a mountain outside East Jerusalem, and my shared office space is right next to a botanical garden. It\u2019s very beautiful.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Israeli university\u2019s boundary lines a dilemma for the University of Copenhagen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I research the intellectual history and philosophy of the Arab-Islamic world, particularly how Greek philosophy was received in the Arab world, so it has been an exciting place to be. The National Library has a lot of original manuscripts, and it has motivated me to learn Hebrew.<\/p>\n

But much has changed.<\/p>\n

Researcher in a \u2018unicorn position\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I applied for the position I\u2019m in now two weeks before the terrorist attack on 7 October. It\u2019s not that Palestinians were treated well by Israel before then, but the world looked different back then. I had to postpone my start at the university by six months because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against all travel here. My position is funded through the German-financed Martin Buber Society of Fellows and is really a bit of a \u2018unicorn position\u2019 \u2014 a rather unique job in the research world, because you have up to four years of full freedom without any teaching or administrative duties.<\/p>\n

While I was waiting to be able to travel to Jerusalem, I became increasingly unsure whether it was the right decision to go, and I had good conversations with both friends and colleagues. My field of research is not the modern Middle East, but when a conflict looms so large in a region you work on, it is, of course, interesting to be close to it.<\/p>\n

Those on the left know that they have lost<\/p>\n

Clara Marie Westergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My position is financed by the German state and therefore not tied to Israeli funding, and that has been important to me. During the six months I was waiting, I also applied for other positions and secured a postdoc at the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen. I\u2019m due to start in September. The whole time I\u2019ve been down here, I\u2019ve known I was going back to Denmark, and that has been a comfort.<\/p>\n

When Netanyahu announced a few months ago that Israel was now aiming for a long-term occupation of Gaza rather than just retrieving the hostages, something changed for me. It became hard to be here, and I isolated myself quite a lot during the first couple of weeks. Many of my Israeli colleagues have been very worried and depressed.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem is honest, Tel Aviv is out of touch<\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t support an academic boycott. It can be necessary in some cases, but you risk excluding entire fields of research and the scholars who work within them.<\/p>\n

Moreover, I believe that resistance can also emerge from within the university. At the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, the vast majority of my colleagues oppose what is going on, and several of them are also researching the current situation. At the same time, I don\u2019t feel that critical research is subject to political pressure here.<\/p>\n

When I first arrived here, there was a ceasefire, but it broke down fairly quickly. This meant I\u2019ve largely stayed in Jerusalem. I haven\u2019t, for instance, travelled to the West Bank, because I felt I was already here at a time of considerable unrest. I also don\u2019t really like going to Tel Aviv. Many go there for the beach and the parties \u2014 it\u2019s a very escapist city. To me, Tel Aviv seems very out of touch. Jerusalem, with all its religious and political factions, feels more honest.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Rector in major interview: Why the University of Copenhagen will not pursue an academic boycott of Israel<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

After the terrorist attack on 7 October, many people in the West Bank lost their jobs and incomes. Some women started a small business selling vegetables and Palestinian dishes in Jerusalem through a pick-up point<\/em>. I\u2019ve used it a lot. The other day I wrote to the person who coordinates it, saying I might have to leave the country and wouldn\u2019t be able to buy from them anymore. He told me it\u2019s crazy for them too. His village was completely devastated by the Israeli military the day before. Everything happening in the West Bank is a bit forgotten right now because the focus is on Israel and Iran.<\/p>\n

Many of my colleagues at the university are reflecting on what the role of academics should be in all of this. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is also marked by a certain fatigue, and those on the left know that they have lost.
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Efter Israels angreb p\u00e5 Iran har hun siddet fast i Jerusalem.","name":"clara-westergaard","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":178542,"date":"2025-06-23 07:21:02","modified":"2025-06-23 09:13:10","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1930,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-480x362.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":362,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-768x579.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":579,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-1280x965.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":965,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-1536x1158.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1158,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-2048x1544.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1544,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-290x219.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":219,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-700x528.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":528,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaard-990x746.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":746}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Clara Marie Westergaard is a postdoc at Hebrew University. She has been stranded in Jerusalem since Israel\u2019s attack on Iran."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"As told to","contributor_title":"Maria Brus Pedersen","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p><span class=\"dropcap\">O<\/span>n the night of Friday 13 June, we were informed that Israel had attacked Iran. Everyone down here has apps on their phones that issue alerts when there are missile attacks, and I was woken up by the notifications. This in itself is not unusual, as there are often smaller attacks, for example a missile from Yemen. You head to a shelter briefly, and then life goes on.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">Trapped in Jerusalem<\/p>\n<p><strong>Israel<\/strong> launched a major missile attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday 13 June, with strikes against nuclear facilities. In the early hours of Sunday 22 June, the USA joined the war and bombed three Iranian nuclear plants.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv<\/strong> has suspended all outbound flights.<\/p>\n<p>One of those unable to leave is <strong>University of Copenhagen (UCPH) alum Clara Marie Westergaard<\/strong>. She holds a PhD in Arabic philosophy and is a postdoc at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she researches Arabic philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>From September, she is <strong>employed at the Saxo Institute<\/strong>, but her flights have been cancelled, and she does not know when she will be able to leave Israel.<\/p>\n<p>This is Clara\u2019s story told in her <strong>own words<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This was different. On Friday morning, time stood still. We knew, of course, that a retaliatory strike against Israel was coming, and then it was announced that 100 missiles were on their way from Iran. I live alone, but I called and texted a lot with my friends here. I know a little Hebrew, but not much, so I\u2019m still dependent on the Israeli news services updating their articles in English.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Right now, what preoccupies me the most is not knowing how I will get home<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Clara Marie Westergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On Friday morning, I went out and bought some water, fruit, snacks and canned goods. Supermarkets close on Friday afternoon because of <em>Shabbat<\/em> on Saturday, so there are certain things you need to get done before the shops close. There was a bit of a prepper vibe at the supermarket. When I got home, Israel started shooting down drones. I went to stay with some friends \u2014 none of us wanted to be alone. We went for a walk, just waiting. We all had a feeling that this would be big, and we didn\u2019t want to face it alone.<\/p>\n<p>During the first few days, we spent many hours a day in bomb shelters, so I didn\u2019t get much sleep. A week later, I\u2019ve just now had six consecutive hours of sleep for the first time. But I\u2019m lucky \u2014 I can handle it. I know people who are in constant panic, who can\u2019t sleep and are having nightmares. Right now, what preoccupies me the most is not knowing how I will get home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/1300-israeli-academics-in-urgent-call-to-the-heads-of-academia-in-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>1,300 Israeli academics in urgent call to the heads of academia in Israel<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m starting a job in Denmark in September and was already scheduled to fly home in August, but my flights have been cancelled. And I really want to go home as soon as possible. There\u2019s nothing keeping me here, and I\u2019m not able to work anyway.<\/p>\n<p>The embassy has not been much help, but I have good travel insurance which might be able to get me out via Egypt. The uncertainty is stressful. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s safer to stay here in Jerusalem and wait for the airspace to reopen, or to make the trip overland to Egypt. At least for now, I have a routine here, even though it\u2019s uncomfortable. When the alarms sound, I go down to my local shelter.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday I went up to my office at the university to pick up some of my things. I might have to leave in a hurry, and it\u2019s nice to have them at home.<\/p>\n<p>Hebrew University is located on the top of a mountain outside East Jerusalem, and my shared office space is right next to a botanical garden. It\u2019s very beautiful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/israeli-universitys-boundary-lines-a-dilemma-for-the-university-of-copenhagen\/\">Israeli university\u2019s boundary lines a dilemma for the University of Copenhagen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I research the intellectual history and philosophy of the Arab-Islamic world, particularly how Greek philosophy was received in the Arab world, so it has been an exciting place to be. The National Library has a lot of original manuscripts, and it has motivated me to learn Hebrew.<\/p>\n<p>But much has changed.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Researcher in a \u2018unicorn position\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I applied for the position I\u2019m in now two weeks before the terrorist attack on 7 October. It\u2019s not that Palestinians were treated well by Israel before then, but the world looked different back then. I had to postpone my start at the university by six months because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against all travel here. My position is funded through the German-financed Martin Buber Society of Fellows and is really a bit of a \u2018unicorn position\u2019 \u2014 a rather unique job in the research world, because you have up to four years of full freedom without any teaching or administrative duties.<\/p>\n<p>While I was waiting to be able to travel to Jerusalem, I became increasingly unsure whether it was the right decision to go, and I had good conversations with both friends and colleagues. My field of research is not the modern Middle East, but when a conflict looms so large in a region you work on, it is, of course, interesting to be close to it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Those on the left know that they have lost<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Clara Marie Westergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>My position is financed by the German state and therefore not tied to Israeli funding, and that has been important to me. During the six months I was waiting, I also applied for other positions and secured a postdoc at the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen. I\u2019m due to start in September. The whole time I\u2019ve been down here, I\u2019ve known I was going back to Denmark, and that has been a comfort.<\/p>\n<p>When Netanyahu announced a few months ago that Israel was now aiming for a long-term occupation of Gaza rather than just retrieving the hostages, something changed for me. It became hard to be here, and I isolated myself quite a lot during the first couple of weeks. Many of my Israeli colleagues have been very worried and depressed.<\/p>\n<h3>Jerusalem is honest, Tel Aviv is out of touch<\/h3>\n<p>I don\u2019t support an academic boycott. It can be necessary in some cases, but you risk excluding entire fields of research and the scholars who work within them.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, I believe that resistance can also emerge from within the university. At the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, the vast majority of my colleagues oppose what is going on, and several of them are also researching the current situation. At the same time, I don\u2019t feel that critical research is subject to political pressure here.<\/p>\n<p>When I first arrived here, there was a ceasefire, but it broke down fairly quickly. This meant I\u2019ve largely stayed in Jerusalem. I haven\u2019t, for instance, travelled to the West Bank, because I felt I was already here at a time of considerable unrest. I also don\u2019t really like going to Tel Aviv. Many go there for the beach and the parties \u2014 it\u2019s a very escapist city. To me, Tel Aviv seems very out of touch. Jerusalem, with all its religious and political factions, feels more honest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rector-interview-this-is-why-there-will-be-no-ucph-academic-boycott-of-israel\/\">Rector in major interview: Why the University of Copenhagen will not pursue an academic boycott of Israel<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>After the terrorist attack on 7 October, many people in the West Bank lost their jobs and incomes. Some women started a small business selling vegetables and Palestinian dishes in Jerusalem through a <em>pick-up point<\/em>. I\u2019ve used it a lot. The other day I wrote to the person who coordinates it, saying I might have to leave the country and wouldn\u2019t be able to buy from them anymore. He told me it\u2019s crazy for them too. His village was completely devastated by the Israeli military the day before. Everything happening in the West Bank is a bit forgotten right now because the focus is on Israel and Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Many of my colleagues at the university are reflecting on what the role of academics should be in all of this. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is also marked by a certain fatigue, and those on the left know that they have lost.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":45,"name":"International","slug":"international","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":315,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11489,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/clarawestergaardfeatured.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178733"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178850,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178733\/revisions\/178850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}