The Brazilian university Unicamp has decided to break the cooperation agreement it had with Technion, the Israeli Institute of Technology. The decision comes after the mobilization of the academic community calling for the end of the partnership, claiming that the Israeli university supports the country’s “war and genocidal policy against the Palestinians.”
Unicamp’s rector, Paulo Cesar Montagner, said this Tuesday (30), during a meeting of the University Council, that the situation in the Gaza Strip had “deteriorated to such an extent that violations of human rights and the dignity of the Palestinian population have become an unacceptable constant.”
Montagner also said that Technion has already been notified of the termination.
Signed at the end of 2023, the cooperation agreement aimed to promote academic cooperation between the two institutions “through joint research projects and/or exchange of professors/researchers, graduate and undergraduate students.”
In a motion presented at the beginning of this month, the Free Palestine Unicamp Committee requested the suspension of the partnership, stating that Technion is part of Israel’s military-industrial complex. In the document, they cite excerpts from books and interviews by Israeli researcher Maya Wind, who said that “the largest companies in Israel’s military industry —Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, Elbit Systems— were born within the universities, in particular the Israeli Institute of Technology.”
“The decision is justified, fundamentally, by humanitarian reasons and moral values that guide Unicamp, a university committed to cultivating critical thinking, and defending democratic freedoms and peaceful coexistence around the world,” said the Committee’s text.
