This petition is open to signatures from students, teachers, professors, researchers and staff from all universities and research institutions, whether affiliated to the CNRS or not, whether in France or abroad
To the attention of Antoine Petit
President of CNRS
Dear Mr. Petit
On March 2, 2022, six days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the CNRS reacted clearly and condemned “in the strongest possible terms Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” The CNRS noted that it was “unacceptable that in the 21st century such a conflict should arise”, and insisted that: “Science has no borders, but the values that all scientific communities hold and share cannot tolerate this war”.
The CNRS acted accordingly and stated: “The CNRS suspends all new forms of scientific collaboration with Russia and cancels all future scientific events involving Russia.”
More than six months after the start of the bombardment of civilians in Gaza, the exposure of multiple violations of international humanitarian law by independent United Nations experts (1), the order issued by the International Court of Justice on January 26, 2024 attesting to a plausible risk of genocide (2), the absence of words and deeds by the CNRS is deeply disturbing, even though more civilians have been killed in six months of bombardments and military incursions in Gaza than in two years in Ukraine. The human toll of the violence unleashed in recent months is beyond comprehension: 37,676 civilians killed in Gaza or presumed dead under the rubble (including 1,4,300 children), 700 in Israel, 460 in the West Bank, 40 in Lebanon.(3)
Since October 7, all the universities in Gaza have been bombed, partially or totally destroyed (4), leaving almost 90,000 students without an education. After serving as a military base for the Israeli army for almost 70 days, al-Israa University was completely destroyed by a planned explosion, which also destroyed a national museum affiliated to the Gazan Ministry of Archaeology housed in the building, which included 3,000 works of art (5). In the light of these events, we are concerned by the fact that these attacks and destructions have not prevented the signing of collaboration agreements between Israeli universities and European and French institutions. Far from punishing Israel, Europe has even offered to change project submission dates.
Maya Wind, an Israeli anthropologist from the University of British Columbia, has demonstrated in her recent work (6) how Israeli universities collaborate closely with the arms industry, while at the same time participating in the policy of colonization and oppression of the Palestinians.
At a time when several European universities (notably in Norway (7) and Belgium (8)) have suspended or severed their partnerships with Israeli universities, and others, notably in Italy (9), have officially pledged not to take part in research programs with Israel, the differentiated assessment of the tragedies and massacres affecting both the civilian population and the Palestinian education sector by the CNRS in France raises questions. This raises a fundamental question about the ability of our countries and institutions to adopt coherent international positions on scientific collaboration, based on ethical principles centered on respect for fundamental human rights and international law.
We are therefore waiting for a clear response from the CNRS to support the French universities and academic institutions that have condemned these massacres and called for a ceasefire (10) , as well as for the end of partnerships with Israeli universities involved in military dynamics and spoliation (11).
To this end, we, students, teachers, professors, researchers and staff from all universities and research centers, whether or not affiliated to the CNRS, demand that the latter take prompt note of the situation and :
– Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and condemn the massacres and bombardments of civilians, students, staff and professors in Gaza and the West Bank.
– Publishes and exposes all collaboration agreements with Israeli institutions, whether companies or academic and research institutions, involved in the war and arms industry and in the occupation and colonization of the occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
– Announces the suspension of all new scientific collaboration agreements with Israel and cancels all future scientific events involving Israeli institutions, as it did for Russia in 2022.
– Refrain from taking part in existing research programs involving Israel (such as the Hubert Curien Maimonides 2025 program co-funded by French and Israeli ministries (12)), until Israel complies with its obligations under international law, including the Geneva Convention, and humanitarian law.
– Develop cooperation agreements with Palestinian universities, with a view to supporting the reconstruction of the academic system in the territories under occupation, and preserving the plurality of independent research.
While the January 31 letter sent to you by Ivar Ekeland, President of AURDIP, has received no response to date, we expect a clear position before May 15, the day of commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe).
As Europe’s largest research center, the CNRS has a duty to set an example and urge its partners, from the IRD to the INRAE (but also the MNHN and INSERM (…)), and all universities, to make a clear and firm commitment to ending the massacres and preserving the principles that form the basis of our common humanity.
List of signatories and signature form available here
(1) https://news.un.org/fr/story/2024/02/1143472.
(2) https://www.icj-cij.org/fr/node/203447
(3) Numbers of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor on February 23 : Statistics on the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip (07 October – 23 February 2024) (euromedmonitor.org)
(6) Wind, M. (2024) Towers of Ivory and Steel, How Israeli Universities deny palestinian freedom. Verso Books
(7) https://ansatt.oslomet.no/en/siste-nytt/-/nyhet/oslomet-setter-utvekslingsavtale-pa-pause Avslutter samarbeid med universiteter i Israel – Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge (usn.no) L’UiB met fin à son accord avec l’Académie israélienne des beaux-arts (kunstavisen.no)
(8) https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/law-and-development/news-and-events/bar-ilan/
(9) https://www.lastampa.it/torino/2024/03/19/news/guerra_israele_protesta_studenti_universita-14157931/
(10) See statements of french universities such as Lumière Lyon-2, Paris-Nanterre, ENS Lyon, Université de Lille. https://aurdip.org/motion-votee-par-luniversite-lumiere-lyon-2-concernant-la-guerre-a-gaza/
https://nanterre.mrap.fr/IMG/pdf/motions_ca_universite_paris-nanterre_11_de_cembre_2023.pdf
https://fsu.univ-lille.fr/IMG/pdf/motion_-_ca_8_fevrier_2024-2.pdf
(11) See statements of SEMOMM and l’Association Française de Sociologie
(12) France : Ministry for ‘Europe and Foreign Affairs ; Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR) and Israel : Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology