UvA must immediately suspend ties with Israeli institutions, say CSR and COR
All cooperation with Israeli institutions must be suspended immediately, according to a letter sent to the University of Amsterdam (UvA) by the Joint Assembly (GV) of the COR and CSR. That co-determination council also wants the UvA to assess any cooperation with Israeli institutions for possible elimination altogether.
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) must immediately suspend all ongoing collaborations with Israeli institutions. This is the position of the Joint Assembly (GV) of the Central Works Council (COR) and the Central Student Council (CSR). According to the GV, the UvA board must act now because increasingly explicit positions are being taken outside the UvA “on the genocide in Gaza”.
This also means that all collaborations – not just those with the Hebrew University – with Israeli universities should be assessed as soon as possible with a view to their complete termination. According to the GV, this should be done by the UvA’s Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties.
The GV is also highly critical of the UvA’s reporting on the already terminated collaboration with Hebrew University. The Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties concluded that the Israeli university was involved in “major and systematic human rights violations”. On 13 March, the UvA stated that the collaboration would not be continued “in its current form or without risk-mitigating measures”. The GV believes that this collaboration should not be resumed at all, regardless of the form or extent of risk-mitigating measures.
Maagdenhuis occupation
In its letter, the GV also complains about “the lack of a transparent dialogue about what the UvA is doing in relation to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”. This is said to have been one of the causes of the Maagdenhuis occupation by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on 14 April.
The GV is a regular meeting of the CSR and the COR. Te GV has advisory or consent rights on many decisions made by the UvA Executive Board, such as the UvA budget and the house rules. Last year, for example, the GV blocked the main points of the budget in connection with the UvA's policy on occupations and demonstrations.
According to the GV, since the occupation, the UvA board has still not taken any steps to initiate a constructive dialogue within the university about its partnerships with Israeli institutions. Furthermore, academics who speak out about Gaza, for example in the media, are not sufficiently consulted by the UvA itself, according to the GV.
The Advisory Committee on Cooperation with Third Parties was established after the occupations of the UvA in May. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanded the complete stop of cooperation with Israeli institutions. However, the UvA only allowed the advisory committee, which was established afterwards, to review one Israeli – and one Hungarian and one Chinese – partnership: the Hebrew University. The advisory report was published almost a year after the protesters occupied the Binnengasthuis site on 7 and 8 May. According to the COR, part of the GV, the entire assessment framework used to issue this advice must be “formulated more concretely”. With the current impasse, according to the GV, protests and unrest will continue.
A spokesperson said that the UvA Board had not yet had time to respond to the letter.
