Learn more about academic boycott
On this page you can find answers to the most frequently asked questions on academic boycotts. You will also find learning resources about the role of Israeli academic institutions in facilitating Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid.
Frequently asked questions
Why should we boycott complicit Israeli institutions?
For decades, Israeli universities have played a key role in planning, implementing and justifying Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies, while maintaining a uniquely close relationship with the Israeli military. Not only are Israeli universities profoundly complicit in developing weapon systems and military doctrines deployed in Israel’s recent war crimes in Gaza, they also provide legal and moral justification for the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land, extra-judicial killings and indiscriminate attacks against civilians. Some Israeli universities, such as Ariel and Hebrew University, are built fully or partially as colonies in the occupied Palestinian territory in contravention of international law. Since the beginning of what is currently being investigated as genocide, universities across Israel have not only expressed unwavering support for the Israeli military, but also provided financial compensation and other benefits for so-called “warrior students” serving in the army.
Isn’t the call for boycott an attack on academic freedom?
The academic boycott is a boycott of Israeli institutions not individuals. Therefore it does not conflict with academic freedom. In line with the global BDS movement we oppose all forms of discrimination, including Islamaphobia, anti-semitism and discrimination on the basis of nationality. The BDS movement rejects boycotting individuals on the basis of their identity and does not call for a boycott of individual Israeli academics simply because of their affiliation to a complicit university. The boycott in other words does not prevent Israeli scholars from engaging with international scholars and international institutions. Only if an exchange is part of an institutional relationship with a complicit Israeli institution or if an individual is representing the state of Israel or a complicit Israeli institution (such as a dean, rector, or president), or if the person is commissioned/recruited to participate in Israel’s efforts to “rebrand” itself, are their activities subject to the institutional boycott the BDS movement is calling for.
Shouldn’t we support critical thinking at the universities instead of boycotting them?
Israeli scholars, have played an indispensable role in exposing Israel’s system of colonialism and apartheid, whether through their academic work or public advocacy. However, as institutions, Israeli universities do not have much space for critique. On the contrary, censorship and restriction of academic freedom in Israeli universities have been well documented by Palestinian as well as Israeli scholars. Discussion of fundamental subjects such as the Nakba, the right of Palestinian refugees to return, Zionism, the complicity of Israeli academic institutions in settler-colonial and apartheid projects, etc. are often off-limits on campus, and critical scholars often face harassment, threats and even suspension. As a result, many of the most prominent critical Israeli scholars have left Israel. Over the past nine months alone, Scholars at Risk has documented the dismissal and suspension of at least three scholars for crtiticizing the Israeli military’s brutal assault on civilians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Knesset is currently debating a bill, that will force universities to fire faculty who “negate Israel’s character as a Jewish and democratic state or support terror activities.” Needless to say, Palestinian students are not only regularly and disproportionally targeted with disciplinary measures by the university administrations, but also face threats and harassment from fellow students. In other words, the idea that Israeli universities are bastions of liberal thinking and academic freedom is simply a myth.
Who is behind this?
The call for academic boycott is just one pillar of the global Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement (BDS). The BDS movement was launched in 2005 by 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, including the General Union of Palestinian Teachers and the Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities’ Professors and Employees. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the Palestinian BDS call urges nonviolent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law by ending the illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, recognizing the rights of Palestinians citizens of Israel and respecting the right of displaced Palestinians to return. In South Africa academic boycott was also a central component of movement, but while the South African academic boycott targeted both institutions and individuals, the current campaign against Israeli universities only targets institutions.
Do academic boycotts even work?
Already in 2015, the Israeli president at the time, Reuven Rivlin, described the academic boycott of Israel as a “strategic threat of the first order.” Since then, the movement has only accelerated. In response to the past few months of student-led and faculty-supported mobilizations, universities across the world have already taken measures to suspend collaborations with complicit Israeli institutions, including universities in South Africa, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Mexico, and Norway. According to the BDS-movement, the academic boycott campaign has never witnessed “so many gains in such a short period of time”. In April, Israeli Ministry of Intelligence compiled a report warning that the wave of boycotts “pose risks to Israel’s scientific-technological position in the world, and in the long run could lead to damage to national security and the strength of Israel’s economy”. The wave of boycott also jeopardizes Israel’s place in the Horizon Europe funding scheme. Along with targeted economic and cultural boycotts, the academic boycott contributes to effectively challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.
Learn more!
Join the call for academic boycott!
Are you a student or an employee at a Danish university? Sign the petition for an academic boycott of complicit Israeli universities.
Join the campaign!
Learn more about how you can support the call for academic boycott here.
