On December 2, 2011, Shmueli wrote on her facebook account her opinion about the BGU Government and Politics department, that she doesn’t believe that they are behaving professionally about promoting students in the department, for they are “promoting based on political views and not academic excellence.” Shmueli, like a series of other pro-Israel students, is concerned about a trend within Ben-Gurion University, where only students who support the views of radical academics get to become teaching assistants.

After Shmueli wrote this on her facebook, Michal Rotem, a teaching assistant of Neve Gordon, copied Shmueli’s status to her facebook account and stated “From the conclusion of the status, I am not left wing but a traitor.” Michal’s sister Ofirwrote that “Ortal Shmueli needs to cool down; otherwise I will deal with her.” In one of the comments Michal Engel, also a student in BGU’s Government and Politics Department wrote regarding Ortal Shmueli, “she is a stupid bitch. When I see her, I could beat her.”

On December 4, 2011, after Shmueli turned in her seminar papers, she filed a complaint with the Be’ersheva Police. She says: "As a woman and member of the student union I walk out of the university very late at night sometimes. I am scared of these people." The complaint says that a member of a very radical and extremist group threatened Shmueliand they are already known for their violent protests during the Flotilla crisis. During this time, they organized the most aggressive protest that the BGU campus has ever seen. Protesters chanted “Long live Palestine; by spirit, by blood, we will redeem you; A thousand blessings to the warriors of freedom, a thousand blessings to the shahids (suicide bombers) of freedom; Oh Erdogan, oh beloved, we want you to punish (bomb) Tel Aviv; No, no, the fascism will not pass.” Radical pro-Palestinian activists at BGU also gave Nazi salutes, wove the PLO flag, and physically hurt a student who disagreed with them, requiring Magen David Adom intervention.