PNN – 4,500 members of Belgian universities have issued an open letter calling for the cessation of academic cooperation with the Zionist regime due to its occupation, apartheid, mass violence and genocide.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing the Brussels Times, more than 4,500 students and university staff, including 1,110 professors, have called on Belgian universities and colleges to sever their academic ties with the Zionist regime.
The request was made in an open letter signed by academics, students and public figures, including philosopher Slavoj Žižek, journalist Rudi Vraneks and writer Ish Ait Hamo.
The request follows the decision by the University of Antwerp, Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels to award honorary doctorates to Francesca Albanese and Professor Nora Erekat in April.
The letter states: In doing so, the universities demonstrate their commitment to international law, human rights and institutional accountability in the face of Israel’s occupation, apartheid, collective violence and genocide. But history is not written by ceremony alone. Now that the applause has faded, the implications of paying homage to Albanese and Erekat can no longer be ignored.
The group is calling for an immediate end to all academic collaborations with the Israeli regime and an “immediate halt to new collaborations.”
They are also calling for the termination of contracts with companies including Dell, Toshiba, and Microsoft.