UvA blacklisted by US state of Florida
The government of the US state of Florida has published an official document online listing organisations and institutions worldwide that have been blacklisted by Florida for boycotting Israel. Dutch universities, including the UvA, have been on the list since the end of September.
According to Florida, the organisations and institutions listed in the document are boycotting the state of Israel and will therefore be blacklisted for one year, starting on 30 September. It is not entirely clear whether being placed on the list also means that universities in Florida must terminate their collaborations with Dutch universities. It is striking that the list, which previously seemed to lead a dormant existence, has expanded considerably since Donald Trump took office. The UvA recently announced its intention to terminate all collaborations with Israel.
The document in question, entitled Scrutinised Companies that Boycott Israel, has been in existence since 2016, but was updated on 30 September. The document is part of the Global Governance Mandates and Florida Statutes Quarterly Report (here, table 9), a quarterly report by the state of Florida, which lists government risks with regard to collaborations with third parties. Incidentally, all US states have such lists, and there is also a federal list. The boycotting party is, in particular, the pension fund of the state of Florida.
BDS laws
The state of Florida uses so-called anti-BDS laws in making these kinds of decisions. These are laws that provide for retaliatory measures against individuals or institutions engaged in boycott, divestment and sanctions. With regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, many supporters of the State of Israel have often advocated the application of these laws against individuals and organisations involved in boycotts of entities affiliated with Israel. Florida is now doing this.
Asca
In addition to the UvA as a whole, one specific UvA research school is on the list, namely the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (Asca). The technical universities of Delft and Eindhoven are also on the list, as are Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Rotterdam School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, Utrecht University and Tilburg University. They will be blacklisted for the coming year.
Ghent
Cities are also included in the updated list, but none from the Netherlands. There are European cities, including Oslo, Liège and Ghent. The latter city was in the news last year because Ghent University (UGent) decided to sever ties with all Israeli universities and is now paying the price with a place on the blacklist. The brand-new rector of UGent, Petra de Sutter, will receive (not for this, incidentally) an honorary doctorate from the UvA in January.
