Israel faces an unprecedented global academic boycott

In light of the genocidal war in Gaza, the academic boycott of Israel has intensified significantly, reflecting the strong stance taken by the international academic community against it. This movement has grown despite accusations directed against it of being anti-Semitic, an accusation that is often used to challenge the legitimacy of pro-Palestinian advocacy and to reject the crimes they are subjected to by Israel’s war and criminality machine. These accusations did not deter student movements or academic boycotts but, instead, highlighted the complexities of freedom of expression and the doubts surrounding it in Western countries that once promoted academic independence, freedom of opinion and expression.

The academic and cultural boycott has been supported by many organisations and academic bodies around the world, reflecting a broad consensus against the Israeli war on Gaza. The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) has been vocal in calling for boycotts and divestment from Israeli academic institutions, stressing the impact of Israeli crimes on academics and student freedoms.

Internationally, the response has been similarly strong, with boycott supporters viewing Israeli academic institutions as complicit in Israel’s atrocities and violations, making them legitimate targets for boycott. This debate has seen Israeli academics face a unified and coordinated response at the international level and from within their institutions, as we saw in the controversy surrounding the letter signed by Israeli academics accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

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The Italian cultural and academic community has responded to calls for a boycott, with more than 1,700 Italian academics and researchers bringing this issue to the national consciousness through an open letter to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This document calls for the cessation of industrial, scientific and technological cooperation with Israel. The signatories say this cooperation could support the development of technologies with both civilian and military applications, including optical technologies for combat. They state that, without explicit provisions prohibiting the military use of joint research, these agreements risk violating international and humanitarian laws by Israel, and Israel may exploit this academic cooperation to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The letter further stresses the moral and legal need for this and urges the suspension of this cooperation to force Israel to adhere to international standards, especially those stipulated in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This letter also notes that the continuation of such partnerships may implicate Italian academic institutions in possible war crimes, a serious accusation currently under review by the International Criminal Court.

Furthermore, academics highlight the dire consequences of Israeli military operations in Gaza, namely the systematic destruction of educational infrastructure, which constitutes a serious attack on the right to education. Destroying schools and universities, along with the loss of lives among students and teachers, paints a horrific picture of the impact of the Israeli war on education in Gaza, which has been systematically destroyed.

In a closing call for solidarity, the signatories called for strengthening academic relations with Palestinian institutions. Along with international responses to other humanitarian crises, they proposed establishing educational programs and allocating funds to support Palestinian teachers and students.

The Italian academics’ action has already seen tangible results, as the University of Turin was the first to officially sever its academic ties with Israeli institutions. This decision, passed by the University’s Academic Council, marks an important moment in the broader academic boycott movement. The boycott by the University of Turin, a renowned institution with strong programs in the humanities, medicine and engineering, sets a precedent that could influence other universities in Italy and around the world.

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As for the US, the American administration and supporters of Israel’s crimes have no other options but to accuse those who raise their voices loudly to demand an end to the Israeli massacres against the Palestinian people of anti-Semitism. These accusations have, once again, created an atmosphere of doubt regarding the true state of academic freedom within American universities, which have traditionally been viewed as strongholds of diverse opinions and active debate. The violent reaction against these students who support the just Palestinian cause not only challenges the integrity of these institutions, but also reveals broader political complicity and reluctance to address the harsh realities of Israeli crimes in Gaza. Incidents such as these highlight a worrying trend in the form of political pressures are over-ruling the educational decree of promoting open debate on sensitive issues such as Israeli war crimes, which are being weighed by the International Court of Justice and have a valid international legal basis.

This phenomenon is clearly evident in the wave of protests and solidarity movements in various global universities. At Columbia University, the arrest of more than 100 students for their peaceful presence in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment sparked global reactions, with students from institutions such as Yale University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill setting up similar encampments to support this. These protests, which range from strikes to marches, indicate a collective student protest against Israeli crimes, American complicity in them and the suppression of freedom of expression.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that the reactions of university administrations were varied, as some of them broke under pressure from Israeli political groups (lobby). A prominent example of this is Columbia University President, Minouche Shafik’s decision to allow police to break up a student protest encampment and arrest students from campus. This measure sparked a significant backlash and intense calls for universities to divest from Israel and support Palestinian rights more explicitly.

Moreover, the global academic boycott has taken a more organised form, as Israeli researchers become increasingly isolated from the international research community, facing lecture cancellations, rejection of their research papers and exclusion from conferences and academic collaborations. These academic actions are not isolated incidents, but rather part of an ongoing seven-month campaign across European and American universities, reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the Israeli military’s crimes in Gaza.

In conclusion, the academic boycott of Israel is a reflection of broader societal and political conflicts and boils the matter down to a conflict between defending human rights and the involvement of Western governments in supporting Israel militarily, academically and politically in the war crimes it commits in Gaza. This scenario underscores the important role that academia plays in influencing and reflecting political discourse and the profound challenges that academic institutions face when taking a clear and explicit stance in support of freedom of expression and calling for an end to human rights violations in Gaza.

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This article appeared in Arabic in Arabi21 on 22 April, 2024.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.