Univ. Amsterdam cuts some ties to Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Hungarian institutions
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) announced that it will stop supporting a student exchange with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Dutch university also said it will also ensure that it will not enter into collaborative projects with Hungarian institutions under various sanctions by the European Union. At the same time, the UvA also said Thursday it will re-examine its efforts to provide safeguards for doctoral students from China who could potentially be subjected to political pressure by the Chinese government and organizations working on behalf of the Chinese state.
The UvA’s Executive Board said it will follow the advice it commissioned from the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties. This was one of the concessions the UvA gave to demonstrators who primarily pressured the university to stop projects with Israel.
“The committee offered a negative advice on the continuation of this collaboration. If risk-reducing measures can be implemented, the committee is prepared to re-examine the issue,” the university said in a statement.
Pro-Palestinian activists have spent more than a year trying to pressure the UvA to sever all ties with universities, institutes, and companies based in Israel, or with links to the Israeli government. The protests began after Israel’s intensified response in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked, abducted, and killed hundreds of people in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Further, the advice also called on the university to end its arrangements with Hungarian institutions that are blocked from participation in the Erasmus and HorizonEurope programs. The UvA specifically mentioned the University of Pannonia, which is mainly located in Veszprém, and HU-rizon, a Hungarian government international research program with funding equivalent to about 20 million euros.
“The Executive Board will follow this advice and will not enter into any collaborations with these institutions. Any future collaborations remain subject to the sanctions policy of the European Commission and will be reassessed by the advisory committee,” the UvA stated.
The university also took note of concerns about PhD students from the China Scholarship Council, or CSC. Media outlets in the Netherlands have been reporting for several years that students from these programs can find themselves pushed into a difficult position based on the pledges of political support they are required to sign before getting approval and funding from the CSC.
“The committee had no objection to the extension of this collaboration but advised that risk-mitigating measures be taken. These measures must guarantee academic freedom, knowledge security, data privacy and the safety of PhD candidates,” the university said. It intends to develop new terms to revise its existing Memorandum of Understanding with the CSC.
“At the moment, these three specific collaborations have problematic aspects, which the assessment committee has pointed out to us. That is why we will not be continuing them in their current form for the time being,” said the university rector, Peter-Paul Verbeek.
The rector added that the university wants to avoid running the risk of human rights violations while ensuring that they are not excluding entire countries. “That requires a tailor-made approach, and that is why collaborations are always assessed individually. It is important that we complete our new assessment guidelines – which are now with the participation body for advice – as soon as possible.”
Since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a total of nearly 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including nearly 17,500 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which is run by the Hamas-led government there. Another 111,500 have been injured, and over 14,000 are missing, but presumed dead. The Israeli government said its own casualties total 1,150, with nearly 8,800 others injured.
