6.600 Professoren und Studenten rufen zum akademischen Boykott Israels auf, darunter Petra De Sutter und Rudi Vranckx unter den Unterzeichnern

>More than 6,600 professors, employees and students are calling on Belgian universities in an open letter to stop collaborations with Israel. Well-known honorary doctors such as outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter (Green), war reporter Rudi Vranckx and writer Ish Ait Hamou are among the signatories, and the campaign also receives international support from Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and British director Ken Loach. “Business as usual means complicity in one of the greatest violations of international law of our time,” it said.

>”As early as October 15, 2023, a week after the October 7 attacks, 800 scholars and experts in the fields of international law, conflict studies and genocide studies warned of the risk of genocide in a public statement. Today, more than a year later, We all witnessed how their warning, based on deep academic expertise and historical knowledge, became reality.”

>With these words, more than 6,600 Belgian academics express their concern about “the ongoing genocide in Gaza “. In the open letter, addressed to the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) and the Conseil des rectrices et recteurs (CRef), the signatories point out the many violations of international law by the Israeli army and criticize the lack of decisive international action.

>”As scientists, students and employees of Belgian universities, we share responsibility for the policy of our own institutions and we are not dependent on the action or inaction of our respective governments. It is crucial that we not only reflect and teach about the principles of international law, but also concrete action to defend and strengthen these principles .”

>”Legal and moral duty”

>The academics see a boycott of collaborations between Belgian universities and Israeli institutions as a moral and legal obligation. They point to the lawsuits and rulings of the past year by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), such as the ICJ genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel, the ICC arrest warrants issued against the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the ICJ ruling the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories confirming .

>The academics argue that not only the Belgian government, but also Belgian universities, as public institutions, have a legal obligation to terminate collaborations that conflict with international law. “That includes terminating agreements with Israeli institutions directly or indirectly involved in human rights violations, as well as suspending Israel’s participation in European research and education programs.”

An academic boycott is a nice start, but what we really need is an economic boycott, just like with South Africa.

That the EU is treating Israel as a privileged partner just boggles the mind.