Italian Florence University joins academic boycott, drops Israeli ties
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Five departments at the University of Florence have ended partnerships with Israeli institutions, citing complicity in occupation and apartheid policies.
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A man holds a banner reading: "Wake up, your silence makes you complicit in this genocide. Free Palestine," during a rally in support of the Palestinians in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 (AP)
In a significant move aligned with the growing global campaign for Palestinian rights, five departments at the University of Florence have officially severed ties with academic institutions in "Israel", framing the decision as part of an international academic boycott against the occupation entity.
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has ended its collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, an institution with longstanding links to the Israeli military-industrial complex. Ben-Gurion University is also known for hosting Nobel laureate Dan Shechtman, who has supported Zionist academic networks. Meanwhile, the Departments of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences and Technology have also suspended their partnerships with Israeli counterparts under the same initiative.
The Department of Architecture cut ties with Ariel University, located in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, further underscoring the university’s rejection of institutions complicit in the occupation. Additionally, the Department of Political and Social Sciences terminated cooperation with Tel Aviv University’s Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center, an entity linked to "Israel’s" expanding surveillance and military intelligence apparatus.
Wider context
The move comes amid increasing international condemnation of "Israel’s" genocidal war on Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestinian land. Across Europe and beyond, student and academic communities have intensified their demands for institutions to divest from and boycott all entities complicit in apartheid and war crimes.
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, inspired by the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, has gained renewed momentum globally amid "Israel’s" ongoing genocide in Gaza, where nearly 60,000 Palestinians, many of them children, have been killed or wounded.
Academic institutions worldwide have increasingly come under pressure to cut ties with Israeli entities that play direct or indirect roles in sustaining the occupation, research for military purposes, or normalizing apartheid.
The University of Florence’s decision marks a significant step in the European academic landscape, signaling a shift toward ethical responsibility and solidarity with the Palestinian people. As students and faculty across the world continue to mobilize, the call for meaningful accountability is only growing louder.
