By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Flemish universities in Belgium on Friday decided to cease academic cooperation with their Israeli partners, reiterating their condemnation of all violations of international humanitarian law and the war crimes.
The Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) said in a statement that they will not be in any new projects with Israeli partners, adding that existing collaborations with Israeli research partners will continue to be subject to human rights assessment.
In an open letter dated Jan. 14, thousands of students, professors, researchers and other academic staff had called on Belgian universities to cease all ties with Israeli institutions over the Israeli attacks on Gaza and West Bank.
The VLIR said the academic world has a special responsibility and that it can play a crucial role in the restoration of educational and research institutions in Gaza.
The VLIR also reiterated their call for the European Commission to issue guidelines that would enable universities in European-funded research consortia to assess whether Israeli partners within those consortia are involved in human rights violations.
"We are closely monitoring this and will continue the dialogue with the European Commission unabated," said Jan Danckaert, chairman of VLIR.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.