Ghent University will not stop cooperation with Israeli institutions: students will occupy the university building

The activists of End Fossil Gent and Ghent Students For Palestine demand that Ghent University come up with an action plan to, on the one hand, cut all ties with Israeli institutions and, on the other hand, to put sustainability considerations at the center of budgetary and educational choices. They had presented Ghent University with an ultimatum: if their demands were not listened to, they would occupy a university building.

Geert Bourgeois, chairman of the board of directors, said on Saturday that the university “will not introduce any exceptions or deviating regulations for a specific country. We assess partner by partner, insofar as they are involved in serious human rights violations,” he told VRT NWS. Bourgeois points out that there are Israeli universities that do not practice this and still discuss Palestinian opinions. “You have to ensure that there are still contacts left,” he says.

The students now report that they will continue their actions. They want to occupy a university building from Monday to Wednesday. They do not want to reveal for the time being which building it concerns and what time the campaign will start.