Senior faculty at several of Israel’s institutions of higher learning sent Defense Minister Amir Peretz a letter on Wednesday asking him to lift restrictions barring Palestinian students from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from studying in Israel.

The professors condemned the “sweeping ban” on entry for Palestinian students, and argued that each Palestinian student’s case should be examined individually. The letter stressed that students deemed not dangerous to Israel should be permitted to study in the country’s universities and colleges.

The appeal to Peretz came after security forces refused an entry permit to Sawsan Salameh, a woman from the village of Anata, near Jerusalem. Salameh was accepted as a doctoral candidate in chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Signing the letter were Hebrew University Rector Prof. Haim D. Rabinowitch; Tel Aviv University Rector Prof. Dany Leviatan; University of Haifa Rector Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi; and Ben-Gurion University Rector Prof. Jimmy Weinblatt; as well the dean of the Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Prof. Yosef Yarden, and the senior executive vice president of the Technion, Prof. Aviv Rosen.

On Wednesday afternoon, the High Court of Justice was expected to discuss on a petition against the travel ban filed by Gisha, the Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement.