University of Milan suspends exchange program with Israeli university
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The university says the decision to cancel the exchange agreement with Reichman University was made after the rector met with students advocating for a boycott of relations.
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Protesters gather during a rally in support of the Palestinians in Rome, on January 13, 2024. (AP)
The University of Milan has suspended its exchange agreement with "Israel's" Reichman University after Rector Marina Brambilla met with Palestinian students advocating for a boycott of Israeli institutions, reports indicated on Tuesday.
The administration cited the deteriorating situation in the Middle East as the reason for this decision, as noted by the Italian news agency ANSA. In turn, student associations celebrated the suspension as a "victory," crediting it to the strong pressure from students and faculty.
Earlier this year, the university also halted its agreement with Ariel University and pledged not to renew it following student activism.
In line with similar movements at universities across the West, students at Milan staged an encampment earlier this year to protest the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza and its ties to Israeli educational institutions.
Similar encampments were staged in the United States, across several universities, which called for divestment. Earlier this year, the Union Theological Seminary announced on May 10 that its board of trustees had approved a policy endorsing the institution's divestment from “companies substantially and intractably benefiting from the war in Palestine.”
The decision to adopt the divestment plan was made by the board's investment committee, which had been working on its formulation since November 2023, as per the announcement. As a partner of Columbia University, UTS is among the first institutions in the United States to publicly commit to divesting its endowment from companies associated with the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Last week, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on October 13 in various cities and capitals around the world to denounce the ongoing genocidal aggression by "Israel" against the Gaza Strip. Massive demonstrations occurred in cities such as Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Berlin, Wolfsburg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsingborg, Malmo, Milan, and Istanbul.
Since last October, the Israeli occupation has engaged in ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, worsening the security and humanitarian crisis despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
