UvA boycott of Hebrew University “completely divorced from reality”

“The [UvA] committee assumes that the Israeli army has committed serious human rights violations and that the Hebrew University is partly responsible for this. These are incorrect assumptions. It is assumed that the university collaborates with the Israeli army through three degree programmes, while there is no military element whatsoever in these. These are academic programmes over which the army has no influence whatsoever. The university is not involved in military decisions. Just as UvA is not responsible for the policies of the Dutch government, we are not responsible for the policies of the Israeli government. What’s more, in June last year, the Hebrew University called for a truce in Gaza. The boycott is completely divorced from reality.”

“Fundamentally wrong”

This is what Netta Barak-Corren, a full professor at the Law School of Hebrew University, said in an exclusive interview with the Dutch daily Het Parool, following the UvA’s decision to discontinue its student exchange programmes with the Jerusalem-based university. Barak-Corren plays a leading role on behalf of her employer in the academic world’s resistance to foreign boycott actions in Israel. In the interview, she calls the UvA’s decision “fundamentally wrong”.

Last week, the UvA announced that it would be discontinuing student exchanges between the UvA and Hebrew University (HU). HU was accused of facilitating human rights violations and not guaranteeing academic freedom. The UvA’s decision was met with approval, but also with a lot of criticism, including from Israel itself. Barak-Corren: “If you boycott the Hebrew University and other Israeli universities, you deprive Dutch students of the opportunity to see it here with their own eyes and to come and listen to both Palestinian and Jewish professors and students – those most involved in this conflict.”