Dal faculty union calls for suspension of academic ties from Israeli institutions

The union representing faculty at Dalhousie has passed a motion calling for the Halifax university to suspend formal partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, and to boycott and divest from institutions "until Israel ends its policies of military occupation and apartheid."

The motion was passed recently at the Dalhousie Faculty Association's annual general meeting. There, another was passed condemning all forms of violence against civilians, and Israeli attacks on schools and other educational institutions in Gaza.

"We need to do everything we can do to stop this … attack on education," said Mohammed El Hazzouri, an associate professor at Dalhousie University who helped write the two motions.

On Thursday, Israel attacked a Gaza school in what it said was a targeted strike on Hamas fighters, killing dozens of people. The school is run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency and was sheltering 6,000 displaced people.

In May, Reuters reported that all 12 of Gaza's higher education institutions had been destroyed or damaged, according to official Palestinian data.

Smoke billows following Israeli strikes on the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) in Gaza City, October 11, 2023. (Saleh Salem/REUTERS)

El Hazzouri is also a Palestinian refugee who arrived in Canada 17 years ago. "For me, it hits personal," he said. "It is generational trauma … it's a repetition of Israeli actions that [have] taken place."

The faculty union's boycott and divestment motion echoes demands made by students at universities like McGill in Montreal and the University of Toronto.

An academic boycott would be targeted at institutions, not individuals, said associate professor Ajay Parasram, who also worked on the motions.

One program Dalhousie currently has is a four-week exchange program with Tel Aviv University for commerce and management students. The program includes recreational activities and education on Israeli culture and business practices, according to the program's website.

In a statement, Dalhousie said its engagement with organizers and participants in the pro-Palestinian encampment on its campus "to-date have been mutually respectful and constructive and will involve a principled consideration of the concerns brought forward."

Ajay Parasram is an associate professor at Dalhousie University. He was also part of the group of Dalhousie Faculty Association members who wrote the motions. (Andrew Lam/CBC)

Parasram said boycotts and divestment would be peaceful ways to apply pressure to the Israeli government.

The motions are "not in and of itself sufficient, but every little step towards bringing about an end to this genocide" should be pursued, said Parasram.

Israel has denied charges of genocide brought against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. In May, Israel told the United Nations' top court it was doing everything it could to protect the civilian population during its military operation in Gaza.

Internationally, Belgium's Ghent University has severed ties with all Israeli universities and research institutions, citing its human rights policy.

Halifax resident Mary MacDonald opposes the idea of academic boycotts, although she doesn't have an issue with boycotts generally.

She has an inherited form of muscular dystrophy. MacDonald said she's been a patient at Canadian and U.S. medical institutions, some of which have partnered with Israeli medical researchers.

MacDonald worries that academic boycotts in Canada and other countries would harm research into disorders like hers. She's said she's "hoping … against hope that there will be eventually a treatment or a cure."

Cathy Conrad is a professor of geography and environmental studies, and the president of the Saint Mary's University Faculty Union. (Andrew Lam/CBC)

The Saint Mary's University Faculty Union has made similar calls to its administration for divestment from companies linked to human rights violations.

Cathy Conrad, a professor and president of the union, said the Halifax university does not publicly disclose its endowment investments, unlike Dalhousie.

"We think that it's important to have transparency, particularly for a university to disclose where we are investing our money," Conrad said.

Saint Mary's University did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication, but Conrad said the university told the union it was working on disclosing its investments.

On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas-led militants took some 250 hostages when they stormed over the border into Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli government tallies. Since then, Israel's air and land attacks in Gaza have killed over 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

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