RESOLUTION - Real peace requires real dialogue: Say no to academic boycotts

Preamble:

Since October 7th, 2023, academic boycott campaigns targeting Israeli universities have intensified across European and international campuses. Dozens of universities, academic associations, and faculty unions have reviewed, suspended, or severed ties with Israeli scholars and institutions. In June 2025, the Taskforce on Academic and Institutional International Links and Related Matters of the Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) recommended that “the College enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities” and ”should not submit for approval or agree to participate in any new institutional research agreements involving Israeli participation”. In Italy, over the past few months, several universities have decided to terminate existing framework agreements and suspend ongoing partnerships with Israeli universities. These include the University of Pisa, five departments at the University of Florence, and the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society at the University of Turin. In the Netherlands, Universities like Erasmus Rotterdam, Radboud University, and the University of Leiden have taken similar steps. These examples represent only a small part of a growing trend across nearly all European countries, where the conflict in the Middle East is being instrumentalised to advance politically motivated campaigns aimed at isolating Israel and delegitimising its right to exist.

EUJS notes that:

1. While calls to cut ties with Israeli universities predate October 7th, the Hamas terrorist attacks and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war have significantly intensified these efforts. Since then, a growing number of universities have frozen, reconsidered, or severed their partnerships with Israeli academic institutions entirely.
2. Although the academic boycott is formally directed at Israeli institutions rather than individuals, it has nonetheless had a tangible impact on students and university staff who face increasing exclusion from international academic opportunities, collaborative networks, and research funding.
3. Jewish and Israeli students increasingly face hostility on university campuses. While freedom of expression and political debate are vital to academic life, this environment has increasingly allowed space for acts of verbal and physical intimidation, in clear contradiction to the principles of non-discrimination, peaceful coexistence, and university regulations. As a result, many students feel marginalised, unable to express their identity safely or engage fully in campus life.

EUJS believes that:

1. Academic cooperation (including joint research, exchange programmes, and inter-university dialogue) is essential for fostering understanding, peacebuilding, and innovation. Boycotts risk undermining these goals by shutting down dialogue and collaboration, and by eroding the networks that are vital to conflict resolution and long-term peace. 
2. Academic freedom and open exchange of ideas are core values of democratic societies. Boycotts contradict these principles and hinder critical thinking on campus.
3. Universities should be places of open and respectful dialogue, not platforms for exclusion or political pressure. It is the responsibility of student unions and academic institutions to ensure that all students can feel safe, included, and able to express themselves freely in accordance with democratic values.
4. Jewish students must be able to express their identity without fear of discrimination, marginalisation or reprisal. Silencing voices fosters polarisation, undermines critical thinking, and weakens the university's role as a space for open, inclusive dialogue

EUJS resolves to:

1. Oppose academic boycotts that target Israeli institutions or scholars, recognising that such actions interfere with the creation of bridges needed to foster peace, dialogue and mutual understanding.
2. Work with EU institutions and academic networks to highlight how academic boycotts risk entrenching division and harming efforts toward dialogue and peaceful coexistence, 
3. Support Member Unions in encouraging university leadership to resist pressure to adopt academic boycotts, and to uphold their duty to protect academic freedom, prevent exclusion, and maintain an environment grounded in open dialogue and institutional neutrality. 
4. Amplify the voices of Jewish and Israeli students who promote dialogue, peacebuilding, and critical engagement within academic institutions.

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