The International Center for Urbanism (ICfU) at KU Leuven University in Belgium has announced its support for a complete academic boycott of Israeli institutions, in line with European and global calls to boycott Israel following the war on Gaza.
Date:
June 2024
The International Center for Urbanism (ICfU) at KU Leuven University in Belgium has announced its support for a complete academic boycott of Israeli institutions, in line with European and global calls to boycott Israel following the war on Gaza.
In June 2024, the (ICfU) called for an immediate ceasefire, increased support for Palestinian students and academics, cessation of any future collaboration with Israeli universities, and took a leading role in preventing Israel from participating in the European Horizon research program. This action followed European and global calls to boycott Israel in response to the war on Gaza.
Earlier in May 2024, ARIJ published an investigation entitled “European Research Grants Support the War on Gaza”, revealing that research funding provided to Israeli arms companies under the European Horizon 2020 program, supported sectors within these companies engaged in manufacturing military equipment used in the war on Gaza.
(ICfU) announcement coincided with a call from students and faculty members at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland to exclude Israeli company Mellanox Technologies from participating in the PHORMIC program funded by the European Horizon program. This call was made due to Mellanox Technologies’ connections with Israeli defense company Elbit Systems, known for manufacturing weapons.
In late May 2024, the University of Barcelona in Spain decided not to participate in any academic activities involving Israeli institutions. They called on the European Union to “block immediately and as a precautionary measure, the participation of Israeli institutions in all projects financed with European funds, in accordance with the European treaties and the principles on which they are based”.
The Academic Council of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) also announced that it would “suspend institutional research agreements and projects involving an Israeli university” until Israeli universities demonstrate a “clear commitment” to the International Court of Justice’s ruling calling for a ceasefire.
ARIJ’s investigation was published in Arabic, English, and Italian.
