The authors of the motion suspending the partnership denounced the “positions of the Reichman University deeply hawkish and devoid of any humanist, pacifist and critical perspective with regard to the ongoing war in Gaza.”
The Institute of political studies (IEP) in Strasbourg has suspended its partnership with the Reichman University in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, regretting its “profoundly warmongering positions, devoid of any humanist perspective” in view of “the ongoing war in Gaza”.
This decision, reported by the local aily Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, , was taken at a meeting of the school’s board of directors in June but it was only just published on the school’s website.
The Institute, also known as Sciences Po Strasbourg, is a highly selective school within the city University, and is one of the prestigious French Grandes Écoles.
The motion had been submitted by a students list, which has eight of the 10 seats for student representatives on the board, and was also supported by some teachers.
But the institute’s director, Jean-Philippe Heurtin, had expressed his ‘’strong hostility’’ to the motion.
The proposal was adopted by 12 votes to seven, with two abstentions and 12 directors not taking part in the vote.
While condemning “without reservation the terrorist attack suffered by the Israeli population on October 7, 2023”, the authors of the motion denounced the “positions of the Reichman University deeply hawkish and devoid of any humanist, pacifist and critical perspective with regard to the ongoing war in Gaza.”
“The active involvement of this university in a conflict that is leading to the massacre of tens of thousands of civilians, women and children, is in contradiction with the humanist values that Sciences Po Strasbourg claims to uphold,” they wrote.
The suspension was described as “discriminatory” by the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF). Its president, Yossef Murciano, denounced the decision as “likely to fuel an already tense climate” in a context marked by an upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents in Strasbourg. In particular, UEJF mentioned the physical assaults suffered by three Jewish students at the University of Strasbourg last year.
The organization also pointed to the harmful consequences of the measure: disruption of intellectual exchanges between French and Israeli students, marginalization of Israeli academics working for peace and attack on the fundamental principles of higher education.
The local branch of Crif, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, denounced what it called a ‘’boycott’’, seeing it as “a sign of serious excesses” and a “total misunderstanding of the organization of Israeli society.”
“Within the very walls of what should be a place of reflection, tolerance and critical thinking, the only expression would become that of boycott, discrimination and rejection of the other”, it said.
The suspension was described as “discriminatory” by the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF). Its president, Yossef Murciano, denounced the decision as “likely to fuel an already tense climate” in a context marked by an upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents in Strasbourg. In particular, UEJF mentioned the physical assaults suffered by three Jewish students at the University of Strasbourg last year.
The organization also pointed to the harmful consequences of the measure: disruption of intellectual exchanges between French and Israeli students, marginalization of Israeli academics working for peace and attack on the fundamental principles of higher education.