Belgian university severs ties with all Israeli academic and research institutions
Ghent University, which has been partly occupied by protesters against Israel, accuses the institutes of no longer aligning with its human rights policy amid Gaza war
BRUSSELS — Belgium’s Ghent University has severed ties with all Israeli universities and research institutions, as they no longer align with its human rights policy, the university said on Friday.
Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters in Ghent have been protesting against Israel over the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror attack and have been occupying parts of the university campus since early May.
An investigation by the Ghent University, known as UGent, highlighted what it said were concerns regarding connections between Israeli academic institutions and the Israeli government, military, or security services, according to a university statement.
The investigation also referenced a recent World Court ruling stating that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had worsened in recent months.
UGent, which already severed ties with three Israeli institutions two weeks ago, had 18 ongoing partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, it said.
The university will continue its research projects with six non-academic Israeli institutions, saying they could not find any links between them and alleged human rights violations.
Protesters told Belgian broadcaster VRT they welcomed the decision but want to see it extended to include the six Israeli non-academic partners UGent currently partners with. They added they will continue their protest.
Earlier this week, two other Belgian universities announced changes in their partnership with Israeli institutions.
The University of Antwerp announced it would continue its ongoing research projects with Israeli institutions but put new projects with Israeli partners on hold.
The Université Libre de Bruxelles announced that it will no longer initiate projects with Israeli partners. The same policy will apply to Palestinian partners until the hostages are released, it said.
Anti-Israel protests have been held at universities worldwide since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught which its terrorists murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 252 hostages, triggering the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
However, the protests became more prominent in April when protesters at Columbia University in New York erected an encampment on campus, demanding the university end ties with Israeli institutions. Since then, similar demonstrations have been held consistently at universities across the US and Europe with the same demands.
Similar encampments were set up at other universities with protesters moving on to occupying buildings on various campuses around the world a few weeks later, leading to thousands of arrests in US universities alone.
While other universities have agreed to negotiate with protesters and debate ties with Israeli institutions, the Belgian universities were the first to sever ties with them fully.
