Academic boycotts of Israel are an ethical imperative

 

Israeli academic institutions are complicit in the occupation of Palestine

A few years back, I celebrated the completion of my undergraduate studies with Professor Sofyan Taya. Taya is a renowned physicist and president of the Islamic University of Gaza, and was a visiting scholar at the University of Waterloo when we met. I shared my interest in pursuing a similar career: one day being a part of the esteemed enterprise of higher education. 

In early December 2023, Israel murdered Taya and his family when an airstrike hit their home. Taya is just one of thousands of Palestinian students, staff, and faculty who have lost their lives amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza — a genocide that I believe is aided and abetted by Canadian academic institutions.

However, it is necessary to understand how North American universities partnering with Israeli academic institutions contributed to Israel’s scholasticide — the systemic obliteration of education — during this genocide of Palestinians.

An infographic by Palestine’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education highlights that Israeli attacks and occupations have targeted numerous universities in Gaza, resulting in the complete destruction of all universities in Gaza. The same infographic reveals that Israeli bombardment has murdered over 400 educational staff and denied more than 80,000 students access to their universities. 

Since the 1980s, the University of Toronto has consistently opposed academic boycotts on the grounds of “promoting academic freedom” and “freedom of expression.” However, as a graduate student who cares deeply about my work, I often contemplate what it means to engage in an academic arena —  particularly in the sciences — that expects political sterility. I believe that academic boycotts are a just strategy for achieving true academic freedom and expression, especially in response to a genocide.  (more...)

Academic boycotts of Israel are an ethical imperative