Pro-Palestinian activists plan to occupy a building at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Etterbeek from Monday, the Palestine Solidarity Network student group announced on Friday.
The group has urged the erection of tents within an unspecified building on the VUB campus from 09:30 that day. This is part of a series of actions staged over recent days in response to demonstrations organised on American campuses since late April.
The movement, initiated by New York Columbia students, has since spread across the United States and the globe, reaching cities like Sydney, Dublin, and Amsterdam, and this week, the Université libre de Bruxelles, a French-speaking institution in the capital.
The VUB had previously flagged its review of seven ongoing research projects involving an Israeli partner amidst the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, the university stated its intention to withdraw from a scientific study on artificial intelligence (AI) involving Bar-Ilan University. This followed a negative evaluation from the ethics committee, which prompted consultation with the European Commission over its withdrawal.
This announcement spurred the Palestine Solidarity Network activists to bring forward their called occupation to ‘maintain pressure’ on the institution. The students are demanding an academic boycott. They also claim the university collaborates on Israeli projects with possible military applications, a claim disputed by VUB. Activists claim that Israeli technological university, Technion is linked to Elbit Systems, who allegedly supply many of the drones used by Israel.
Furthermore, VUB’s patronage of American company, Hewlett-Packard, has also drawn the attention of the Palestine Solidarity Network. The activists allege that the tech firm “provides the computer equipment that allows Israel to maintain its system of apartheid and segregation against the Palestinian people”.
