BY LUC SELS. The immeasurable human suffering in Gaza deeply concerns us all. This compels our university community to continuously review our position. As announced in the blog post “A lasting cease-fire and large-scale humanitarian aid”, the EC DMM has examined existing and future collaborations with Israeli research teams or universities.

Rector Luc Sels conveyed this message to colleagues and students on behalf of the Executive Board of KU Leuven.

The immeasurable human suffering in Gaza deeply concerns us all. This compels our university community to continuously review our position. The number of people who lost their life, were wounded or had their life uprooted continues to rise every day. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports more than 34,000 Palestinian and 1,200 Israeli deaths, and some 77,000 Palestinians and 5,400 Israelis wounded.  Some 70,000 houses have been destroyed in Gaza. Virtually none of the educational institutions still operate. The population has had nowhere to go for months on end. Israel had the right to defend itself after the atrocious and arbitrary attack from Hamas. But the rash nature of the reaction and the brutality the Palestinian population was struck with lead to a global reaction of rightful indignation. It is only natural that protests have been growing. We cannot turn a blind eye and have to denounce any form of dehumanising violence, from one side or the other.

Views differ as to the best way to react to this, including in our own university community. We believe that, in this type of situations, we have to avoid taking actions that might widen the gap between groups in our community. In polarised conflicts, it is good that our university can rely on the approach we have developed for crisis situations like these: the assessment made by KU Leuven’s Ethics Committee on Dual Use, Military use & Misuse of Research (EC DMM), including the Human Rights Assessment. The EC DMM assesses whether our partners in international collaborations are involved in any violations of human rights and evaluates project proposals, looking for risks of misuse, dual use or pure military use of research results. In order to ensure a certain independence from the university administration, the EC DMM has the final authority.

Collaborations with Israeli research teams and universities

As announced in the blog post “A lasting cease-fire and large-scale humanitarian aid”, the EC DMM has examined existing and future collaborations with Israeli research teams or universities. At the moment, KU Leuven does not have any structural partnerships[EVR1]  with Israeli universities. Some of our researchers do work with research teams from Israel, usually in larger consortia financed by the European programme “Horizon Europe”.

After a thorough assessment based on the criteria laid down in the Human Rights Assessment, the EC DMM has decided not to discontinue the existing collaborations. For future collaborations, the EC DMM will adopt the approach that is used for all international collaborations: approval or objection based on a thorough screening of each individual project, examining the partner institution and the content of the project. At the same time, the EC DMM points out that there is credible evidence of serious violations of human rights by the Israeli army and the current Israeli government. Most Israeli universities have ties to the army and/or are funded by the Israeli government. Therefore, while the Israeli government continues to adopt their hard-line approach, the EC DMM suggests to exercise the necessary caution and consideration when planning new collaborations.

New collaborations with Israeli partners must be submitted to the EC DMM for evaluation. In addition to the evaluation based on the criteria of the Human Rights Assessment, the committee will also closely examine whether the research might potentially have any military applications. The EC DMM also calls on researchers to reflect on the necessity and desirability of new collaborations and to pay particular attention to the nature of their partners and the implications of their research and education activities. The Human Rights Contact Point (humanrights@kuleuven.be) can answer any questions or concerns you may have, or can submit a request for specific evaluations to the EC DMM.

We opt for a balanced and meticulous approach. We want our general position to reflect caution. On the other hand, the Israeli universities are not coextensive with the government that provides their funding. More than any other institution, the universities can actively contribute to change in Israel. In this context, it is important to continue the dialogue with them. Given the current situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, there might be sound reasons to want to collaborate on topics such as peacebuilding, the functioning of the government and the rule of law, human rights, conflict resolution, inclusion or improvement of medical care.

Together with the EC DMM, we will continue to closely monitor the position of the Israeli universities and other partners. This allows us to assess each project in its current context. In conversations between the different Rectors involved, the Israeli partners have been notified of our deep concerns and of the conditions we have for collaborations in research and education.

Investing in reconstruction

KU Leuven calls for the acts of violence to stop in the short term. Additionally, in collaboration with the other Flemish Universities, KU Leuven calls on the EU Member States, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the Belgian authorities to invest in the reconstruction of Gaza, including the infrastructure for research and higher education, as soon as reasonably possible and as soon as the safety of the people can be guaranteed.

We urge these institutions to rely on the expertise of the universities during this reconstruction process and to strengthen the academic ties with all actors and institutions in the Palestinian territories and Israel who commit to bringing peace in the area and to guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian and Israeli citizens.

This can be done, for instance, by funding mobility programmes, provided that they contribute to building local capacity in the Palestinian territories and that they do not lead to a permanent braindrain. This includes short research stays for Palestinian academic staff members, support for the operation of higher education institutions or for extending the capacity for online and blended education.

It will also be important to fund joint programmes that unite universities in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, the extended surrounding area, and Europe. We adopt a similar approach in Ethiopia, for instance, where VLIR-UOS support helps unite universities of different ethnolinguistic areas in joint programmes on peacebuilding and dialogue.

In conclusion

Our university wants to be a warm and safe community for all. Make sure to embrace this warm openness, especially now, in times of war and unseen polarisation. Try to be open to other points of view and be respectful in your arguments when visions differ. Open dialogue is the glue that holds us together.

If you have any questions or concerns about the situation in the Palestinian territories or Israel, or the consequences of the conflict on KU Leuven, you can contact globalresponse@kuleuven.be. The same goes for anyone affected by violence anywhere else in the world. The Rohingya or the people in Eastern Congo and Eastern Ukraine, for instance, just like the Palestinians in Gaza, are victims of gruesome conflicts they did not ask for.

Cordially,

Luc Sels, also on behalf of the EC DMM and the Executive Board of KU Leuven