Three Arab students from the Jerusalem College of Engineering (JCE) claimed Thursday that they were arrested after urging other JCE student to boycott a recent lecture by President Shimon Peres.

The police said that the three were threatening other students and inciting racism, stressing that the students were detained only after a complaint was filed in the matter.

The three were interrogated by officers of the Jerusalem District Police and were later remanded to one week's house arrest.

"The students that were arrested posted on the JCE Facebook page that they were not going to attend the lecture given by the president. They have the right to express their opinion and no one, not even the police, has the right to arrest them. It's a humiliation and it's discrimination," a fellow student told Ynet.

Suheir As'ad, a student activist from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told Ynet that "The police's conduct borders on insanity. These are things that are in the heart of the legitimate political discourse and any attempt to delegitimize them, under the guise of criminal offenses, is a gross infringement on freedom of expression.

"This is an attempt to intimidate and silence Arab students, especially the activists. This is a serious incident and we won't take it lying down. We won't remain silent in the face of academic terror," she warned.