Dear colleagues and students,

It is with cautious optimism that we view the recent ceasefire in Gaza. There is finally a glimmer of hope – delicate, but tangible. At the same time, we know how fragile this ceasefire is, and how great the destruction and suffering have been. Peace and justice cannot be achieved with a single agreement.

As the Executive Board and deans of the UvA, we have the responsibility to continue reflecting on external academic collaborations and the values ​​we adhere to in these collaborations. Before the summer, we decided not to initiate any new Horizon Europe research projects with Israeli partners for the time being, pending the investigation into the human rights clause of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The results of this investigation are in, with firm conclusions. As yet, this has not led to the suspension of the Association Agreement.

We have noted with horror the growing (scientific) evidence that genocide is taking place in Gaza (see, for example, the report (pdf) from the UN Human Rights Council). In June, we shared this concern with the Minister of Education, Culture and Science and urged himExternal link to actively advocate for compliance with international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict and to speak out against the disproportionate use of force and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, we have not yet received a response from the minister.

When collaborating with external parties in our education and research, academic freedom is a key principle. This freedom is not absolute. Ethical boundaries govern our actions. Therefore, we assess our partnerships and have a committee that can offer advice to researchers and administrators. This allows some collaborations to proceed, while others cannot.

Now that the consensus is growing that genocide is taking place in Gaza and Israel is failing to respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law, we have asked ourselves to what extent we can collaborate with Israeli institutions at the institutional level – even during this ceasefire. We cannot and do not want to hold Israeli institutions responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. At the same time, Israeli institutions, like Dutch universities, have close ties to their government. And even at this stage, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that collaborative projects may contribute directly or indirectly to human rights violations.

At the end of September, we decided to uphold our earlier decision not to enter into any new Horizon collaborations involving Israeli institutions. Furthermore, we will not enter into any other institutional collaborations with Israeli partners in education and research for the time being. We will also be exploring the (legal) scope for withdrawing from current Horizon collaborations in the coming period. We have also chosen not to take any steps, for the time being, to extend the student exchange agreement with the university in Tel Aviv, which expires next year.

At the same time, we believe it's important to maintain contact with individual students and researchers in Israel. They are often critical of the Israeli government's actions, and we don't wish to isolate them from the rest of the world. Academic freedom is crucial, especially at the individual level, and that's why we are explicitly keeping these individual academic connections open.

Our decision will hurt some members of our community, due to personal relationships and ties with Israel or Israeli scientists. We are mindful of this. And we fully realise that this decision will not actually change the situation in Gaza and Israel; the suffering is far too great and our influence too limited for that. Open and collaborative scientific collaborations—anywhere in the world—are crucial, but they also come with academic responsibility. We want to embody that responsibility with this decision.

Christa Boer (dean, Social and Behavioural Sciences)
Fedde Scheele (dean, Dentistry)
Marieke de Goede (dean, Humanities)
Mireille van Eechoud (dean, Law)
Peter-Paul Verbeek (Rector Magnificus)
Richard Goldstein (vice-president)
Roel Beetsma (dean, Economics and Business)
Susan te Pas (dean, Science)

Read the frequently asked questions on collaborations with IsraelExternal link
For more info view the page Third party collaborations: Conflict zones and human rights violationsExternal link