OSLO: The Norwegian University of Science and Technology will decide next week whether to launch an academic boycott of Israel due to its occupation of the Palestinian territories, officials said Tuesday. The NTNU institute, Norway’s second-biggest university located in the western town of Trondheim, said that it will consider on November 12 a proposal initiated by more than 30 professors.
In an open letter, the group called for a freeze on academic cooperation with Israel “until guarantees are issued that the occupation of Palestinian land will be terminated.”
“We, who have signed this letter, believe that it is time that academic institutions contributed to an international pressure against Israel so that real negotiations between Israel, democratically elected Palestinian authorities and the international society can begin,” the letter said.
“Israeli universities and other institutions of higher education have played a key role in the policy of oppression,” the letter added.
Anne Katherine Dahl, an advisor to the president of NTNU, said the university’s board of directors had agreed to consider the motion.
“The board of directors thought it was legitimate to examine the issue, that does not necessarily mean it will agree with the signatories,” Dahl told AFP.
The board is composed of 11 members: four representatives of the state, four from the university staff, two student representatives and one from the temporary staff.
The university’s rector, Torbjoern Digernes, said Tuesday he did not support the proposal.
“As academics, it is our duty to encourage studies on the causes of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians and on ways to resolve it,” he wrote in a note to the board. – AFP
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