Spanish rectors will suspend collaboration with Israeli universities that do not commit to peace

The CRUE calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages "immediately and permanently" and safe corridors

MADRID, 9 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) has committed to review and, where appropriate, suspend collaboration agreements with Israeli universities and research centers that "have not expressed a firm commitment to peace and compliance of international humanitarian law".

This was agreed this Thursday by the Governing Board of the CRUE, which has also shown its "deep regret for the very serious events that are currently taking place in the Gaza Strip."

As reported in a statement, the Spanish rectors also commit to "intensify" cooperation with the Palestinian scientific and higher education system and to expand their cooperation, volunteering and care programs for the refugee population.

"Ensuring that in the exercise of free expression, equally reprehensible conduct of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, as well as any other hateful behavior within the university communities, does not occur" is the third commitment made by the rectors.

In this context, the president of CRUE and rector of the Universitat Jaume I, Eva Alcón, has stated that "the university spirit is incompatible with any type of violence." "Universities are spaces of peace and coexistence. And in that sense, we raise our voices in the face of the humanitarian crisis with devastating effects that seriously affects the civilian population and the Palestinian scientific and higher education system," she stressed.

Alcón has specified that the Spanish rectors ask for "a ceasefire, the immediate and permanent release of hostages, the creation of safe corridors that allow humanitarian aid" and, for the State of Israel, to "respect international law so that So be it".

"From the universities we are committed to intensifying cooperation with the Palestinian scientific and higher education system through the different programs we have, including the University Shelter program," he stated in statements reported by Europa Press.

The CRUE has defended that Spanish universities "have already expressed and reaffirmed on several occasions their permanent commitment to peace, coexistence and justice and to the defense of international humanitarian law", which, as it has assured, "does not prevent once again be deeply moved by the worsening of the conflict and the painful consequences it is having for the Palestinian population.

"We endorse the feelings of our campuses and the demand that is spreading from them so that, from different instances, measures are adopted to stop the escalation of violence that is occurring," he stated.

For all these reasons, it demands the "immediate and definitive cessation of the military operations of the Israeli army, as well as any action of a terrorist nature, and the release of the people kidnapped by Hamas"

Finally, the rectors request that the State of Israel "respect international law and allow the entry into Gaza of all humanitarian aid that can be provided to cover the emergency of its civilian population and that the corresponding measures be articulated by the authorities." to undertake the reconstruction and recovery of the Palestinian territory as soon as possible".