The University of Antwerp has decided to ignore the advice of its own Ethics Committee and continue a research partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Belgian universities and their collaboration with Israeli institutions have been in the spotlight since a wave of student occupations swept across the country, with students in Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Liège and Antwerp demanding that their campuses cut ties with "an apartheid state committing genocide in Gaza".
While the University of Antwerp refused to suspend Israeli partnerships outright, outgoing Chancellor Herman Van Goethem agreed to implement a "human rights test" for all prospective and ongoing projects.
Under this framework, the Ethics Commission on Misuse, Human Rights & Security (MiHRS) ruled that BRIDGEGAP, a Horizon research project with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, should not go ahead because of "its contributions to Israeli army training programmes". The "binding" advice was appealed and subsequently rejected by the university’s Executive Council.
"A more in-depth risk analysis, complemented by critical consultations with Hebrew University's management, shows that there are no indications of a risk of involvement of this university in serious and/or systematic human rights violations," stated Van Goethem in a press release published on Wednesday.
Links to the IDF
MiHRS says its research indicates the opposite, pointing to several aspects of BRIDGEGAP which make the risk of human rights violations "too high" for the partnership to continue.
It concluded that 'Havatzalot', a joint military-academic degree, 'Tzameret', a collaboration between the Hebrew University's Medical School and Israeli Defence Force's medical corps, and 'Talpiot', a training scheme relating to weapons systems, all constitute direct links to the Israeli military.
Students occupy Ghent University, an action by End Fossil Gent and Ghent Students For Palestine, Monday 06 May 2024 in Gent. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
Van Goethen rejects this claim. "These are long-standing training programmes and thus not concrete military operations," he explained in a paper seen by The Brussels Times.
In addition, he defends the decision to ignore the Ethics Committee because "the Hebrew University pursues policies critical of successive Netanyahu governments" and a boycott would only isolate the institution.
Incoming Chancellor Herwig Leirs added that such decisions cannot be made by universities alone. "I am thinking primarily of Europe," he said. The bloc has implemented boycotts against Russian, Belarussian and Iranian institutions for their respective country's human rights violations.
In May, the University of Antwerp introduced a moratorium on any new partnerships with Israeli institutions based on International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings issuing binding orders for Israel to "prevent genocide" in Gaza. "Israeli partner establishments often have institutional collaborations with the military authorities," Van Goethem said at the time.
The ULB student occupation in Brussels. Credit: Belga
'Nothing will stop us'
The students who occupied campus in May say they are "absolutely not happy with this news" and have vowed to continue pressuring their university to change tack.
"The Chancellor promised that he would follow the advice of the committee but is not doing so," occupation spokesperson Marieke told Gazet Van Antwerpen. "Ghent University has stopped all ongoing collaborations with Israeli research institutions and universities. We do not understand why the University of Antwerp cannot do the same."
"I do not know when and how, but nothing will stop us from taking more action. In any case, the fight for the academic boycott continues."
