Four Norwegian universities have decided to suspend ties with Israeli universities they deem complicit in the occupying regime’s genocidal war in Gaza.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) welcomed the decisions, hailing them as a crucial step in supporting the Palestinian struggle.
The move aligns with the campaign’s call for international academic and cultural institutions to sever ties with Israeli counterparts involved in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Among the universities taking action, OsloMet has announced the termination of its ties with Haifa University and vowed not to engage in any new agreements with Israeli universities complicit in the war.
Additionally, OsloMet has committed to discontinuing procurement contracts with suppliers linked to the Israeli military or illegal settlements.
The University of South Eastern Norway has followed suit, cutting off relations with Haifa University and Hadassah Academic College.
Similarly, the University of Bergen has severed cooperation agreements with Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, citing the academy’s involvement in providing uniforms and gear for the Israeli military.
The Bergen School of Architecture has also joined in this action, ending its collaboration with Bezalel Academy over its ties with the Israeli military.
This move echoes the sentiments expressed by 15 Palestinian universities, which have called for Israeli universities to face international isolation for their complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Norway’s pension fund, with some US$95 billion worth of assets, announced that it was divesting from their entire Israel Bond holdings over their links with the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
