Since the 7th of October 2023, following horrific attacks by Hamas and other armed groups, Israel has commenced a full-scale assault on the Gaza Strip and heightened its military campaign in the West Bank. On Friday, 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide taking place in Gaza and ordered a number of provisional measures. Among others, the state of Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinian people.
In light of the above, we, as academics, call upon the EU and European academic institutions to uphold their moral and legal obligations and take immediate action to address the serious risks of dual-use and misuse of research projects and to halt funding collaborations with organizations that are known or suspected accomplices in the Israeli or other (alleged) human rights and international law violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide.
Israel has been involved in the EU’s research and innovation programmes since 1996, while currently there are 594 partnerships with Israeli organizations, to which the EU Commission’s net contribution is approximately 480 million Euros. The ethics and human rights screening procedures in place within universities are largely unable to address the magnitude and urgency of ongoing violations.
What can you do? You can support our open letter by adding your name and (academic) affiliation below – optimally by Wednesday 31 January EOB. Please feel free to share this letter with your wider network. We hope to collect as many signatures as possible before making the letter public and open to anyone to sign.
We thank you for your support.
