Protest against University Utrecht normalising genocide

UNIVERSITY UTRECHT NORMALISES GENOCIDE AND HOSTS PARTICIPANTS WITH TIES TO THE ISRAELI MILITARY

From July 26 to August 1, Utrecht University College (UCU) will host the 2026 European University Debate Championship (EUDC) organised by Utrecht University's Utrecht Debating Society. A significant number of participants represent Israeli universities and have ties to the Israeli military involved in war crimes and human rights violations.

ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN WAR CRIMES

Even though Utrecht University's rector announced in September that the university would engage in a boycott of Israeli institutions, 68 of the 375 EUDC registered speakers that represent debating societies linked to Israeli universities. U fonds financially supports Utrecht Debating Society hosting and co- organising this championship.

While Israel continues its genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza and maintains its system of occupation and apartheid in the West Bank, Ucu has chosen to host teams including people with ties to the military involved in war crimes and grave human rights violations. They represent Israeli universities complicit in genocide, occupation and apartheid.

ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES' TIES WITH THE MILITARY

Israeli universities are part of a system of occupation, colonization, genocide, and oppression: They have long-standing ties with the military, they have campuses in occupied Palestinian territory, and function as central pillars to Israel's settler colonial project. From legal studies, to military research and training, the medical sciences, archeology, technology and beyond, Israeli universities service and legitimise israeli occupation and expansion.

Since October 2023, Israel wiped off all eleven universities in Gaza. 516 of the 563 schools were destroyed or damaged, and 6,830 students and 334 teachers and staff members were killed. There is no longer formal education for 625,000 students. Libraries and historical archives have been burned to the ground. Not a word of protest was heard from the Israeli universities - let alone any assistance offered.

ACADEMIC EXCHANGE THAT NORMALIZES OPPRESSION

By offering these institutions an international platform, Utrecht University, Utrecht University College and Utrecht Debating Society contribute to the normalization of genocide and apartheid.

Universities cannot claim to stand for justice while providing an international platform to institutions linked to military occupation, dispossession, and violence against Palestinians and Lebanese peoples.

Academic institutions have a choice: stand with the oppressed or normalize oppression. By proceeding with this event without addressing these concerns, UCU is choosing normalization.

We refuse to accept the whitewashing of Israeli state violence through academic exchange.

[by multiple organisers (source)]