STUDENT ORGANIZATION ACTIVE –  END THE UNIVERSITY’S COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE AND SETTLER COLONIALISM

Student organization active, do you want a more democratic university, free from ties to genocidal Israeli universities? Join us in demanding that the University of Helsinki ends its complicity in genocide and apartheid by cutting all institutional research ties with Israeli universities.

THE UNIVERSITY’S COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE

On Tuesday September 23rd, the leadership of the University of Helsinki announced that they will join an appeal, initiated by Belgian universities, that demands the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In other words, the university calls for the EU to act on the exclusion of Israel from the Horizon Europe research and innovation funding framework, which enables enormous funding for Israeli universities deeply complicit in genocide and occupation. Yet, the university has refused to move from words to action by failing to review and terminate its own participation in at least 15 on-going research projects with Israeli institutions.

It is certainly a step in the right direction that the University of Helsinki has decided to join the call that demands the EU to exclude Israel from Horizon Europe. To ensure the success of its objectives, the University of Helsinki must now resolutely build EU-level pressure through concrete actions within its own operations.

Read Students for Palestine’s press release on the insufficiency of the University of Helsinki’s leadership’s current stance on research collaboration with Israeli institutions.

WHAT AND WHY: Ending All Research Collaboration with Israel

Complicity of Israeli universities in the genocide and occupation

Israeli universities, including several research partner institutions of the University of Helsinki:

1. Have expressed political support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
2. Financially support students who have participated in war crimes in Gaza.
3. Have close research and training cooperation with Israeli military and top arms manufacturers.
4. Have repressed support for Palestinians and dissent towards genocide, and curbed critical research.

Research partners of the University of Helsinki include Tel Aviv University, Weizmann Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Ben Gurion University.

What is Horizon Europe?

University of Helsinki partners currently collaborate with Israeli universities in at least 15 Horizon Projects.

Horizon Europe is EU’s key research and innovation funding programme and its current cycle covers funding from 2021 to 2027. While on paper this funding should automatically deny funding for military applications, the truth is that many of these innovations are so called dual-use research that ends up contributing to Israel’s war and occupation economy, and are now tested and advertised in Gaza.

Did you know that Israel received €1.1 billion in grant funds between 2021 and 2024 through Horizon Europe funding, ranking among the highest recipients?

Read more on the complicity of Israeli universities on the BDS website: https://bdsmovement.net/academic-boycott

HOW: Pledge your commitment to academic boycott

Join your organization in a united front against genocide, settler colonialism and apartheid! This can be done simply by signing Students for Palestine Finland’s pledge of commitment to work towards the full academic boycott of Israel.

In pledging your commitment, your organization:

1. Publicly declares its support for the full academic boycott of Israel as outlined by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) 
2. Publicly demands that the University of Helsinki ends its association with genocidevia theHorizon Europe Framework, including by terminating or withdrawing from all ongoing research projects with Israeli institutions.
3. Is added to the list of signees on the Students for Palestine website, where all student organisations that have declared their support for the full academic boycott of Israel are listed.​​​​​​​

Note: After you have pledged your commitment by filling the form above, Students for Palestine will share materials for publicising your pledge on social media. 

The Palestinian-led BDS movement calls for escalation of grassroots pressure. Now is the time to act!

Students, stand in solidarity with Palestine and demand that our University Stops Funding Genocide. Let’s make ourselves heard and hold our leadership accountable!

Signatories