More than 130 research groups (and counting) from universities across Spain are demanding that their vice-chancellors suspend relations “with Israeli universities and institutions linked to or colluding with the genocide in Palestine.” This de facto includes all Israeli centers, according to a statement published by VERA, the Association of Rectors of Israeli Universities, including the usual rhetoric of the Hebrew country's “right to defend itself.”.
Spanish research groups have signed a letter, open for accessionsin which, in addition to demanding this review and suspension of “any academic collaboration,” they extend the request to Spanish or foreign companies and banks that collaborate with Israel's military interests or with its occupation policies. At least a dozen national centers have some kind of agreement with an Israeli campusas this newspaper has been able to verify, and two of them (Alcalá and Oviedo) work directly with Israel on defense projects, This is evident from research by the University Network for Palestine.
The Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) pledged two weeks ago to review and, where necessary, suspend “the cooperation agreements” with their Israeli counterparts if they did not condemn the genocide, a statement the students made in solidarity with Palestine camped as “empty words” and that for the time being It has only affected Granada's universities and Jaén and, without official character, in Barcelona, whose faculty passed a motion demanding a severance of relations.
In addition to this suspension of relations, Spanish researchers are demanding that their Palestinian counterparts be assisted with “economic resources for the reception and protection of students and academic staff in Palestine who are currently in danger, and for participation in the reconstruction of Gaza.” as well as the adoption of measures to contribute to the recovery of its educational centers and programs.
The signatories belong to all types of scientific disciplines and universities throughout Spain.