Above photo: Romain Beker.
Expanding boycotts and funding cuts over the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza threaten Israel’s research sector.
Raising fears of a brain drain and loss of EU-backed grants.
Universities and scholarly associations across Europe and South America have announced suspensions of cooperation with Israeli institutions, citing their role in aiding the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, The Guardian reported on 13 September.
Trinity College Dublin announced this summer that it was ending collaboration with Israeli partners. Meanwhile, the Federal University of Ceará in Brazil had already canceled a planned innovation summit with an Israeli university last year.
Similar actions were announced by institutions in Norway, Belgium, and Spain.
The University of Amsterdam confirmed it was terminating its student exchange with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The European Association of Social Anthropologists also said it would refuse cooperation with Israeli bodies and called on its members to follow the same path.
Stephanie Adam of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said Israeli academic institutions are complicit in “Israel’s decades-long regime of military occupation, settler colonial apartheid and now genocide,” adding there is “a moral and legal obligation for universities to end ties with complicit Israeli universities.”
Israeli historian Ilan Pappé has disputed claims that many academics are sympathetic to Palestinians.
“If it were so, I would have seen them among the few hundreds [of] brave Israelis who demonstrate against the war because it is a genocide, not because it fails to bring back the hostages … They provide courses and degrees to the secret service, police and are agencies of the government that are oppressing daily the Palestinians,” he added.
Nobel laureate and former president of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan, said he has “mixed feelings about boycotts.”
“On the one hand, the Israeli government’s approach to Gaza has been hugely disproportionate, harming civilians, including young children, in the thousands,” he told The Guardian.
In the UK, France, and Germany, few institutions have taken action.
A spokesperson for Universities UK said: “As a representative body, Universities UK has a longstanding public position of being committed to the free exchange of ideas, regardless of nationality or location. As such we do not endorse blanket academic boycotts, as this would represent an infringement of academic freedom.”
There are concerns in Tel Aviv that researchers will leave Israel, potentially never to return, fuelling a “brain drain” that is already a concern in medicine.
Ghassan Soleiman Abu Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon and rector of the University of Glasgow, said that students and academics across the UK have pushed for academic boycotts of Israel, but are being blocked by governing bodies.
“The moral outrage about what the Israelis are doing is leading more and more academics to take personal decisions, not to have joint projects with Israelis,” he said.
Netherlands to join Ireland in Eurovision boycott if Israel competes
Several European nations have called for a boycott of the singing competition if Israel participates in 2026
The Netherlands will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is included, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS announced on 12 September.
The decision brings the country in line with Slovenia, Iceland, Spain, and Ireland, which have already declared they will not take part should Israel remain on the line-up.
In its statement, AVROTROS said the event “was founded in 1956 to bring people together after a period of deep division and war.”
While music had always been the contest’s unifying force, it added, the broadcaster could “no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.”
Netherlands to boycott 2026 Eurovision if Israel participates
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The Netherlands has followed Ireland’s lead in announcing it will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part, citing the extensive suffering in Gaza, Dutch broadcaster AvroTros reported on Friday.… pic.twitter.com/jP1FYZWlcz— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) September 12, 2025
The Dutch broadcaster also raised concerns about media restrictions, alleging there was “proven evidence of interference by the Israeli government” during the 2025 edition.
It accused Israel of using the contest “as a political instrument”. It argued that “human suffering, the suppression of press freedom and political interference are at odds with the values of public broadcasting.”
Earlier this week, Ireland’s RTÉ declared that its participation would be “unconscionable” while Israel continues its assault on Gaza, enforces a crippling blockade that results in a man-made famine.
The Irish broadcaster said it was disturbed by “the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory and the plight of the remaining hostages.”
Ireland says they will not take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to participate. pic.twitter.com/tfoUZhGILO
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 11, 2025
Dublin has also joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide.
Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun voiced similar concerns, telling La hora de La 1 on TVE that “we cannot normalize Israel’s participation in international events as if nothing is happening.”
He described Israel as a “genocidal government” and warned that if the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) fails to act, “measures will have to be taken.”
The EBU has extended its penalty-free withdrawal deadline to December, with a final decision on Israel’s participation expected at its General Assembly.
The 70th anniversary contest is scheduled to take place in Vienna, with the finale on 16 May 2026.
