Swiss academics oppose Israeli research pact
More than 250 Swiss academics have sent an open letter to the ministry for education calling for the termination of a research agreement with Israel.
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Swiss academics oppose Israeli research pact
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The letter to State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) denounces the agreement as “complicity with crimes committed in Gaza”.
The mobilisation was organised by the Collective for Academic Freedom, Democracy and Solidarity (Clads), founded in 2024 by a number of academics from Lausanne, including Professor Julia Steinberger, known for her climate battles, reports 24 Heures and the Tribune de Genève.
Contacted by Keystone-ATS, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research said it would not take a position for the time being, pending the response that SERI is preparing.
The petitioners call on the SERI to carry out an “assessment of ongoing projects” in universities in order to determine their possible links to the Israeli army and the “genocidal policy” of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
They also call for the termination of the ‘agreement between the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Israel Science Foundation.
This partnership, Steinberger explains in the French-speaking newspapers, has restricted access, “which gives Israel an even more privileged and therefore even more problematic status”.
Adapted from Italian by AI/mga
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