Global Universities Cut Ties with Israeli Institutions over Gaza Genocide
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Universities and academic bodies across the world are severing ties with Israeli institutions over complicity in the Tel Aviv regime’s massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
A growing wave of universities and scholarly associations are cutting academic links with Israel, condemning its brutal war on Gaza that has left nearly 65,000 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians.
The devastation has drawn comparisons to a man-made famine, with UN-backed experts confirming large swathes of Gaza have been reduced to rubble.
In response, universities in Brazil, Norway, Belgium, Spain and Ireland have moved to suspend cooperation with Israeli institutions. The University of Amsterdam ended its exchange programme with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem al-Quds, while the European Association of Social Anthropologists declared it would no longer collaborate with Israeli academia.
Stephanie Adam of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said Israeli universities are integral to “Israel’s decades-long regime of military occupation, settler colonial apartheid and now genocide,” adding that global academia has a “moral and legal obligation” to sever ties.
Yet in the UK, France and Germany, most universities have resisted action. Universities UK said it opposes an academic boycott, calling it an infringement on academic freedom.
Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan admitted Israel’s assault on Gaza has been “hugely disproportionate” and devastating for civilians, but questioned penalizing academics who claim to oppose Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappé rejected such arguments, stating that most Israeli academics “do not refuse to serve in the army” and remain complicit in a system of oppression. “They provide courses and degrees to the secret service, police and agencies of government that are oppressing Palestinians,” he said, stressing that boycotts are “necessary” to expose their role.
Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah, British-Palestinian surgeon and rector of the University of Glasgow, said mounting outrage is pushing academics to take unofficial steps. “The moral outrage about what the Israelis are doing is leading more and more academics to take personal decisions, not to have joint projects with Israelis,” he said.
The impact on Israeli research remains disputed, but observers warn that continued boycotts could fuel a damaging brain drain. Israel has relied heavily on European Union research funding, receiving €875.9 million from the Horizon Europe programme since 2021. But the EU has proposed partially suspending Israel’s participation, targeting projects with dual military applications such as drones and cybersecurity.
Although 10 EU member states argue against suspension, Israel’s share of EU research funding has already fallen. In May 2024, the Israeli government allocated €22 million to counter the boycott movement, a move that reflects growing concern in Tel Aviv.
Recent figures show only 10 Israeli researchers received EU starting grants in 2025, down from 30 the year before.
Abu-Sittah insisted that academic boycotts can be decisive. “The threat of academic boycott is sufficient to push the Israeli government into ending this genocide,” he said.
