It is entirely logical that students take to the streets, says Markha Valenta, a researcher at University College Utrecht. She has been invited to this evening of discussing dilemmas surrounding academic freedom and societal responsibility, for example, around the war in Gaza.
Universities, says Valenta, may say that they consider democracy, international law and human rights important, but the reality is different: according to her, they “suppress” any discussions about them when Israel is the one violating those principles. The subsequent anger then manifests in demonstrations. “There is a documented genocide happening in front of our very eyes” and so universities should cut all ties with Israeli institutes.
A halt
But is that as easy as it sounds? Professor Raf Geenens (KU Leuven) doubts it. He is a member of the ethics committee that has been carefully examining all of Leuven’s international partnerships and making binding decisions on them since 2019. The fundamental question is “whether there is enough evidence to show that a university is complicit in violating human rights”. If so, then the (planned) partnership is terminated. For example, the committee ruled that the Israeli government “was likely involved in serious human rights violations”. This meant that a halt was called to new partnerships with the government and associated institutes and hospitals.
One student would like to know why the website for KU Leuven still lists a number of new partnerships with Israeli universities who would deny access to Palestinians. Geenens says that is because overwhelming evidence is needed before terminating a partnership – after all, it is about decisions that could limit the freedom of researchers. If the evidence isn’t there, “then we give a green light but issue a warning: this is not the time for such partnerships”. The relevant researcher then makes the final decision.
Geenens understand that this doesn’t satisfy the activists, “but from an international perspective, this is significant. No other university of a similar size goes as far”.
Learned from boycotting Russia
Not even Maastricht University – yet. Ties with Israeli institutes were “frozen” shortly before the summer, in the meantime, work is being carried out on the so-called Human Rights Due Diligence tool. It will be used to determine whether the hands of partners in war zones are clean. In December, a concept will be sent to the University Council for discussion, President Rianne Letschert said this evening.
But why does it all have to take so long, says Valenta, voicing the feelings of the pro-Palestinian students. After all, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Dutch government very quickly requested a boycott by the universities, who quickly complied. “Too quickly,” Rotterdam professor Ruard Ganzevoort admits. “We have learnt our lesson.” Moreover, says Letschert: “As Dutch universities, we really failed there.” It was “a violation of our autonomy. We should have said: this is going too far”. That is why they are so much more careful now; imposing a document from above and without input “is dangerous”.