Academic freedom is a great good. But a good that knows no boundaries loses its value.
Last Friday the combined heads of Dutch universities argued in de Trouw (a Dutch daily) they would not sever ties with Israeli institutions. A good part of their argument revolved around academic freedom. Severing ties with Israeli institutions would infringe on the freedom of Dutch academics to choose what they study and with whom.
Today, I replied that all freedoms have boundaries. Originally published in de Volkskrant (another Dutch daily), I post below the English translation of the original article. I do so, because this is not just a Dutch debate, it is an international debate about the morality and values that shape our freedoms.
Academic freedom and its moral limits
In recent weeks, protests have been organized by students and staff at almost all Dutch universities. These protests call for an academic boycott of Israeli universities. This is clearly (still) a controversial proposal.
Last Tuesday students occupied the umbrella organization of the Dutch universities, Universiteiten van Nederland, in The Hague. On Friday the joined rectores magnifici of the Dutch universities published an open letter in de Trouw—a Dutch daily newspaper.
Besides some gratuitous statements about “expressed emotions” and “the conflict,” the rectors give two arguments against a boycott. First, they cite “our commitment to academic freedom,” rightly, as one of the core values of universities. In the Netherlands, academics are granted the freedom to decide for themselves what they research, how they conduct their research and with whom they collaborate. Academics are free to “make their own judgements”. Second, a boycott would interfere with dialogue and “scientific diplomacy”.
These arguments, however, ignore two important points. First, the proposed boycott concerns institutions, not individuals. Second, there are moral limits to be placed on academic freedom.
But first, what are the concrete demands of the protesting students and employees? Roughly speaking they follow the proposals of the PACBI: Universities and scientists should not enter into new partnerships with Israeli universities and should sever existing ties. This means no student exchange programs; no joint Horizon Europe applications; no conferences at Israeli universities; no ties with or purchases from Israeli companies that have factories or facilities in occupied territory. This freeze would continue until the institution concerned ceases support for the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the ruling apartheid regime. This is explicitly a boycott of the institutions, not of individuals.
Does such a boycott limit academic freedom? Yes, a little bit. Can that be defended? Yes, all freedoms have limits.
The implicit argument of the protests is that cooperation with Israeli universities crosses a moral line. They argue that uncritically allowing the current situation to continue has degenerated into complicity. What moral boundary can we induce from this? I would say that moral boundary can be formulate approximately as follows: Dutch universities and academics should not collaborate with institutions that are actively involved in setting up or maintaining an apartheid regime that denies a certain population the right to freedom, knowledge, and development.
Does this moral limit apply to Israeli universities? Yes, it certainly seems like it. A recently published book by Maya Wind, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom, shows that Israeli universities are intertwined with the occupation of Palestinian territory and the oppression of Palestinian life and, importantly, Palestinian knowledge and science. This did not start recently; it has been the case for decades. Israeli universities contribute to the development of the weapons and police and military strategies that make the occupation, oppression, and current genocidal violence possible. In addition, they provide the academic, moral and legal justifications for the occupation and violence while drastically limiting the academic freedom of critical and Palestinian students and staff, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
It is also worth noting that not a single university in Gaza is left standing. Schools are bombed, books are burned. Not a single Israeli university has denounced the current genocidal violence, spoken out against this educide or scholasticide, or aided Palestinian academics. When we talk about “our commitment to academic freedom”, there is a deafening silence towards Palestinian academics and “sister institutions”. Just as we cannot be endlessly liberal toward non-liberals, we cannot grant endless freedom in the face of restrictions on those very same freedoms.
This moral boundary does not only concern Israeli universities. It would require a much broader due diligence. Yet, Israeli universities are a particularly visible example at the moment.
And yes, this of course affects individual researchers. But if universities in the Netherlands, Europe, and Israel do not speak out now, when will they?
(Original print article: here)
Hilde van Meegdenburg 