End of six weeks of occupation at ULiège

Update - On Friday June 21, the "Students for Palestine at ULiège" announced in a press release the end of the occupation of the premises of the University of Liège. 

Since October 7, 2023, we have repeatedly expressed our position on the tragic developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling for an immediate ceasefire and unreservedly condemning both the massacre committed against Israeli civilians by Hamas and the intentionally disproportionate military response ordered by Netanyahu's government, which to date has claimed over 37,000 lives in Gaza. We have also recognized our ethical responsibility as a research institution. On December 18, 2023, we committed ourselves alongside the other FWB universities in two inter-university motions by the Rectors' Council (CRef) to suspend institutional collaborations with organizations, whatever their origin, that repeatedly support or are directly involved in violations of international law and human rights. A letter from CRef was also sent, asking the European Commission to take a position on multilateral partnerships (such as Horizon Europe) involving Israeli academic or industrial organizations.

Following these motions, a screening of collaborations was initiated within the institution.

• ULiège has confirmed that it has no bilateral partnerships with Israeli universities, and has undertaken not to enter into any as long as there are clear violations of international and/or humanitarian law;
• ULiège has also confirmed its commitment to suspend all direct cooperation with partners who contribute directly to Israel's acts of war against the Gazan population, or who openly support the Netanyahu government's military action, or who fail to respect human rights protected under international law.

The international movement calling for a boycott of Israeli universities, supported by numerous students, researchers and teachers since the autumn and relayed by the "Students for Palestine" occupation of the central building since May 10, has encouraged us to move forward more quickly and with greater transparency. As a result, the group in charge of screening has been extended to include other areas of expertise, and officially constituted as a permanent body called the "Commission de guidance et de vigilance des relations internationales à risque", by the ULiège Board of Directors on June 5, 2024. Three students are currently taking part in its work as guests.

In response to one of the suggestions made by the student movement, a proposal has been made to open a participatory council to the whole community to reflect, in a resolutely pluralist and inclusive perspective, on the civic and ethical responsibilities of the academic world vis-à-vis the situation in Palestine and Israel, with a view to reinforcing concrete actions within the framework of the Hospital University.

This dual proposal was announced in a message to the community on May 30. Since then, the work of these commissions has progressed.

Concerning the Commission for Guidance and Vigilance of International Relations at Risk:

• The commission took note of the surveys carried out by students concerning ULiège's international collaborations, and examined projects and partnerships in relation to Israel as a priority.
• On June 6, the commission formalized an initial analysis tool distinguishing between an approach in legal terms, i.e. international and humanitarian law (for projects), and an analysis in ethical terms (for partnerships).
• A message was sent to the Léon Fredericq Foundation to suspend donations from the WIZO(Women International Zionist Organisation), due to Facebook posts (January and April 2024) openly supporting the Netanyahu government's military action and incompatible with the commitments mentioned by the ULiège.
• The nature of the SLC's collaboration with OIP (a company with majority Israeli shareholding, some of whose activities are geared towards military applications) was examined. It was decided to write to Belspo and OIP to find out what preventive measures had been taken to prevent the transfer of data and technologies to the military sector.
• As a precautionary measure, the committee is proposing to suspend all projects involving collaboration with PB Clermont and Mecar, which are currently being developed at our university in response to a call for projects issued by the French Ministry of Defense, until an in-depth review has been completed.
• The commission will shortly be examining the recommendations made by equivalent commissions at other Belgian universities, such as UGent, concerning multilateral partnerships such as COST and Horizon Europe. It will assess the relevance and feasibility of withdrawing all or part of its current or future partnerships, depending on the response to the letters sent by CRef and VLIR to the European Commission (see above).

Concerning the Participative Ethical Council:

The first meeting of the Council took place on June 14. Fifty-two people took part. Operating procedures were defined, as were the ethical guidelines for the proposals to be drawn up: respect for academic freedom, pluralism, democratic perspective. The first action proposed by the Participatory Ethics Council is the activation of the "ULiège Université Hospitalière" scheme to welcome teachers, researchers and students from Gaza and other regions affected by the conflict, who are in professional and personal distress. The Participatory Ethics Council now has a page under construction on the University's my.gouvernance portal; it will enable all members of the university community to find the Council's minutes and OJs, as well as all the documentation likely to fuel its reflection and proposals, such as the survey files produced by students about our international collaborations. https://my.gouvernance.uliege.be/conseil-ethique-participatif.

We have tolerated the occupation of the central building, even though it does not correspond to the modalities of free expression and debate for which the university must remain guarantor, because we wished to moderate the risks of polarization in the context of extreme tension created by the conflict. We are well aware of the consequences of this choice for the members of our community, and we thank them for their reserve and resilience. Substantial human resources, including from within the movement itself, have been mobilized to ensure compliance with the occupancy agreement and the security of the premises; more will be needed to repair the damage and infringements noted. We owe the negotiated management of the occupation without violence, as we have seen in other universities, to the listening and mutual learning we have put in place with the student movement.

The work is not over, and we are committed to continuing it. Today, we no longer see any justification for the camp. We hope that the prospects outlined represent, for the researchers, the opportunity to increase in all fields the ethical reflexivity encouraged by European research programs and, for the students who led the occupation, the possibility of taking their movement in new directions.

Anne-Sophie Nyssen
Rectrice