17.07.24
Editorial Note
In late June, the European Commission warned universities and researchers that terminating Horizon Europe projects with Israeli counterparts based on their nationality would be considered discrimination. This warning came after several institutions said they were suspending EU-funded research collaborations with partners in Israel.
Iliana Ivanova, the EU research and innovation commissioner, said, “Termination solely on the basis of nationality would be improper and would amount to discrimination prohibited under the Association Agreement. Ivanova warned that “any termination request would need to be issued in accordance with the terms and conditions of the relevant grant agreement.” Some universities in Europe announced the suspension of research ties with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza. These include the University of Granada, the Association of Spanish Universities, and the Academic Council of the Free University of Brussels, among others.
However, Ivanova says that Israeli entities are eligible to participate in all Horizon Europe grants under the same terms and conditions as other institutions based in EU member states.
Still, the European Commission may not understand where the pressure to boycott Israel is coming from. For four decades, several Arab states have funded Western academic institutions and used their influence to delegitimize Israel. Their efforts were mostly hidden, and they even recruited Israelis and Jews to defame Israel.
Now, British universities are being targeted.
The British case illustrates the complexity and sophistication of the BDS campaign with its plethora of actors. Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is the apparent leader. The group describes itself as a “community of people working together for peace, equality, and justice and against racism, occupation, and colonization.” It is the “biggest organization in the UK dedicated to securing Palestinian human rights”, campaigning for “Palestinian rights and freedom.” PCS found that “UK Universities collectively invest almost £430 million in companies complicit in the state’s war on Gaza, which has since killed over 38,000 Palestinians.”
The Qatari-owned media outlet based in the UK, The New Arab, reveals another part of the story. It describes how a pro-Palestinian coalition from the Gulf states, comprising activist groups from Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, has launched a campaign to boycott universities in Britain that are “allegedly contributing to what they call the genocide in Gaza.” The Gulf Coalition Against Normalization (Gulf CAN) has called on students not to enroll in certain universities in the UK, to remove the universities from scholarships, and to end their relations with arms companies that supply weapons to Israel.
The aim of coordinating campaigns within the Gulf states is to “resist Zionism and the normalization with Israel.”
The Gulf CAN statement reads: “British universities are not only complicit in refusing to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza, but also play a direct role in financing and developing weapons supplied to the Zionist occupation army.” Gulf CAN is “calling on local education stakeholders to boycott the following list of UK universities: Newcastle University, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham, University of Leeds, Northumbria University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Portsmouth, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Coventry University.”
The institutions on Gulf CAN’s list have invested over £34 million in Israel-linked companies, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. “These universities take an explicit position in protecting the occupation by suppressing demonstrations by students demanding an end to their participation in the genocide in Gaza.”
The statement adds, “the suppression has included the use of physical violence, sexual harassment, and the removal of the hijab.”
As can be seen, the Arab coalition invents cases against Britain.
The statement concludes with what is known since the Hamas October attack against Israel: “Universities across the globe, especially institutions in Britain, have been facing pressure to divest from companies linked to Israel with protests and encampments.”
The pressure comes primarily from Qatar. According to The New Arab website, it provides “voices that promote a progressive discourse and counter autocratic and sectarian narratives. We are a progressive, non-partisan news outlet that focuses on issues of democracy, social justice and human rights.” The owner of the New Arab, Fadaat Media Group, was established as a private commercial institution in the Qatari capital, Doha, in 2012. Their missions are: “To side with the Palestinian cause and support all efforts of the Palestinian people, the Arab nation and the peoples of the world to achieve justice in Palestine. Respecting all religious, cultural and ethnic components of Arab societies, and celebrating the diversity and pluralism that characterize our region.”
There is more to it. Middle East actors insert themselves in the Western academic scene to delegitimize Israel. A few days ago, Avril Haines, the director of US National Intelligence, disclosed that Iranian agents have “Inserted themselves in the protest movement,” promoting and even funding the anti-Israel groups on campus. The bombshell announcement rattled the mainstream media and the progressive camp, which portrayed the massive campus disruptions as spontaneous grassroots protests. The American authorities, including the FBI, have launched several investigations into the funding behind the campus upheaval.
As well known, Israel stands as a symbol for the anti-Western, anti-democratic movement of the Islamic theocrats, whose real goal is to destroy the Western world order.
The European Commission should take notice. The players behind the action to terminate Israel from the Horizon Europe project have a larger vision: to undermine free ideas and the exchange of information—the bedrock of Western Civilization.
REFERENCES:
Kicking Israeli researchers off Horizon projects could ‘amount to discrimination’, says EU Commissioner
27 Jun 2024 | News
Iliana Ivanova advises against unilateral termination of Israeli participation in Horizon grants
The European Commission has warned universities and researchers that terminating Horizon Europe projects with Israeli counterparts on the basis of their nationality alone would be considered as discrimination, after several institutions said they were to suspend EU-funded research collaborations with partners in Israel.
“Termination solely on the basis of nationality would be improper and would amount to discrimination prohibited under the Association Agreement [with Israel], EU research and innovation commissioner Iliana Ivanova said in a reply to a letter by Flemish universities published earlier this month.
Ivanova warned that “any termination request would need to be issued in accordance with the terms and conditions of the relevant grant agreement.”
The letter follows on from announcements by several higher education institutions across Europe that they were suspending research ties with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza.
The University of Granada decided to stop working with Israeli partners in five Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 projects. An association of Spanish universities said it was committed to reviewing and, where appropriate, suspending collaboration agreements with Israeli universities and research centress “that have not demonstrated a firm commitment to peace and adherence to international humanitarian law.”
Last month, the academic council of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) announced it would “suspend all agreements and institutional research projects involving an Israeli university” until universities in Israel made a “clear commitment” to abide by a recent International Court of Justice order against Israel’s assault on Rafah.
The ULB council had asked for clear recommendations and instructions on how to proceed with Horizon Europe projects that involve partners from Israel, so they can better assess if Israeli partners comply with Horizon Europe ethical standards.
The council pointed to Article 14 of the Horizon Europe grant agreement, which stipulates that research projects “must be carried out in line with the highest ethical standards and the applicable EU, international and national law on ethical principles”. Project partners are expected to “commit to and ensure the respect of basic EU values (such as respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, including the rights of minorities)”.
Termination request
However, Ivanova says Israeli entities are eligible to participate in Horizon Europe grants under the same terms and conditions as institutions based in EU member states. “Moreover, Israeli entities’ participation in Horizon Europe projects is regulated by guidelines “related to entities based in occupied territories since 1967 and the terms and conditions of each grant agreement concluded by consortia involving Israeli entities,” Ivanova said.
It is not immediately clear if universities that have already terminated or suspended the access of Israeli researchers in Horizon grants will be investigated for discrimination.
Ivanova said the granting authority – in this case the European Commission – will assess each termination request. “On the basis of this assessment, the granting authority will decide on the possible legal and financial consequences of the termination such as a grant reduction, which would require a formal contradictory procedure.”
In a scathing letter earlier this month, German MEP Christian Ehler, the European Parliament’s co-rapporteur on Horizon Europe, asked the Commission to defend Israeli participation in the EU research and innovation programme.
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https://www.newarab.com/news/gulf-bds-groups-target-british-universities-over-war-gaza
Gulf BDS groups launch boycott campaign against British universities over war on Gaza
Boycott groups from Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait announced a campaign to boycott British universities that are complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies 07 July, 2024
A pro-Palestine coalition group based in the Gulf states has launched a campaign to boycott universities in Britain that are allegedly contributing to what they call the genocide in Gaza.
The Gulf Coalition Against Normalization(Gulf CAN) is calling on students not to enrol in the targeted universities, contracted agents to terminate relationships and ministries of education to remove the universities from scholarships and end their relations with arms companies that supply weapons to Israel and withdraw their investments.
Gulf CAN is an umbrella organisation comprised of activist groups from Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. It aims to coordinate campaigns within the Gulf states to “resist Zionism” and normalisation with Israel within the region.
“British universities are not only complicit in refusing to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza, but also play a direct role in financing and developing weapons supplied to the Zionist occupation army,” the statement reads.
Gulf CAN is calling on local education stakeholders to boycott the following list of UK universities: Newcastle University, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham, University of Leeds, Northumbria University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Portsmouth, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Coventry University.
The institutions on Gulf CAN’s list have invested over £34 million in Israel-linked companies, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“These universities take an explicit position in protecting the occupation by suppressing demonstrations by students demanding an end to their participation in the genocide in Gaza,” the statement adds, highlighting that “the suppression has included the use of physical violence, sexual harassment, and the removal of the hijab”.
The organisation says the universities have lost £600,000 due to their campaign so far, noting that scholarship programmes and partnerships with local universities in the Gulf are an “indispensable source of income for British universities.”
The British Council found that Gulf countries, including Kuwait and Qatar, are among the largest markets for sponsored UK study visas in 2018. The UK saw an almost six percent increase in T4 visas from Kuwait.
At the same time, the UK remained Bahrain’s number one destination for students leaving the country, with over 15,000 students.
Universities across the globe, especially institutions in Britain, have been facing pressure to divest from companies linked to Israel with protests and encampments.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) found that UK Universities collectively invest almost £430 million in companies complicit in the state’s war on Gaza, which has since killed over 38,000 Palestinians.
israel-academia-monitor.com 