Strike organizers accuse university presidents of failing to keep their promises to sever various partnerships with Israel.
The State of Florida has recently blacklisted several Belgian for their boycott of Israel.
Students and academic staff are on strike on Thursday at several university campuses across Belgium to protest the situation in the Gaza Strip and denounce the continued collaboration between Belgian universities and Israeli institutions.
Picket lines are planned in front of several campuses, while leaflets have been distributed in lecture halls to invite other students to join the mobilization. The strikers have also announced activities related to the Palestinian issue in Namur, Brussels, Leuven and Ghent, among other cities.
The organizers accuse university presidents of failing to keep their promises to sever various partnerships with Israel. According to them, the announcement of a peace agreement concerning Gaza ‘’does not change the responsibility of universities to cut their ties with Israeli institutions” due to the continuation of “apartheid, colonization, and occupation.”
The signatories of an open letter cite, in particular, an opinion issued in July 2024 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that ‘’Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and that states and public institutions cannot contribute to it.’’
In May 2025, Belgian universities promised to request the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel. But according to the strike’s organizers, “despite ethics committees and legal opinions,” more than 100 collaborations still exist within the country’s institutions.
The students also denounce a “double standard” : after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, collaborations with Russian universities were quickly halted. They believe that ties with Israeli institutions should be subject to similar measures.
This strike movement is part of the international academic boycott campaign against Israel, “Stop Funding Genocide EU.”
Several Belgian universities blacklisted by the State of Florida
The State of Florida has recently blacklisted several Belgian for their boycott of Israel.
The State Board of Administration, Florida’s principal independent investment management organization, is required by law to prohibit investments in companies and other entities that boycott Israel.
Recent legislation expanded these anti-boycott provisions to include educational institutions and nonprofits to prevent antisemitic discrimination and boycotts of Israel.
In Belgium, the University of Ghent (UGent), the Brussels’ French-speaking Free University (ULB), the University of Liège (ULiège) and the University of Antwerp (UAntwerp) are on the blacklist, as well as the city of Ghent and the Brussels municipality of Ixelles.
The decision prohibits public institutions in Florida from cooperating with or investing in organisations “that engage in discriminatory or anti-Semitic boycott campaigns against Israel or territories under Israeli control”.
This also affects student exchange programmes, joint scientific work and academic cooperation between universities.