Category: Our actions

CNRS must comply with ICJ order and end all scientific cooperation with Israel

Ivar Ekeland, president of AURDIP, wrote to Antoine Petit, President and CEO of the CNRS, to express surprise that the CNRS is relaunching new Franco-Israeli cooperation projects after the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ ) of January 26, 2024 which highlights the strong risks that Israel is currently committing genocide in Gaza.

Letter from AURDIP to France Universités concerning the war in Gaza

Ivar Ekeland, president of the French Organization of Academics for the Respect of International Law in Palestine, wrote to France Universités (formerly Conference of University Presidents) to ask them to comment on the siege of Gaza as they expressed themselves on the attack of October 7, 2023 and on the invasion of Ukraine. Quoting the United Nations Secretary General who declared that the siege of Gaza was not a humanitarian crisis, but a crisis of humanity, the honorary president of Paris-Dauphine University asked his colleagues to sanction Israeli universities as they sanction Russian universities.

Human Rights and other Civil Society Groups Urge United Nations to Respect Human Rights in the Fight Against Antisemitism

(New York) – The United Nations should respect human rights in its efforts to combat antisemitism, 60 human rights and civil rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, said in an open letter to Secretary-General António Guterres and the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

The groups said that antisemitism is pernicious, poses real harm to Jewish communities around the world, and requires meaningful action to combat it. However, the UN leadership should ensure that its efforts to combat antisemitism “do not inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights, including the right to speak and organize in support of Palestinian rights and to criticize Israeli government policies,” the groups said. The groups urged the UN not to endorse or adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. As also reported by former Special Rapporteur on Racism E. Tendayi Achiume, this definition has been misused to falsely label some criticism of Israeli government policies and/or advocacy for Palestinian rights antisemitic, the groups said. They noted that there are at least two other definitions that a number of scholars say are less open to being misused: the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism and the Nexus Document.

In addition to Human Rights Watch, signatories include the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and dozens of other organizations, including AURDIP.