Break up with Israel

On Wednesday February 14, students and staff from various Belgian higher education institutions are organizing "Break Up With Israel", a national solidarity action with Palestine. In Ghent, a students and staff protest will take place at the UGent's rectorate, followed by a community event at VIERNULVIER, dedicated to severing academic ties with Israeli institutions. They call on Ghent University to "break up with Israel" by supporting the following demands:

• Full transparency regarding the nature of all UGent's ties with Israeli institutions and public communication on all decisions made in regards to them;
• breaking ties between higher education institutions and Israeli institutions;
• the boycott of collaborations between higher education institutions and companies targetted by the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement;
• An explicit statement and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to the occupation as well as the apartheid regime in occupied Palestine.

From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, there will be a meeting and hearing space at VIERNULVIER. Consisting of a panel discussion, providing students and staff insight into academic boycotts and educide. Various academics, including initiators of the open letter to the VLIR, will engage in conversation, calling for the cessation of all academic collaboration with Israel and denouncing educide. This discussion will be introduced and connected through poetry and music. In support of the action, you can visit the VIERNULVIER Café and participate in the embroidery project of Manoeuvre and Palestine Café Ghent, an archival project aimed at keeping all Palestinian lives and stories alive.