The University of Ghent (UGent), the Brussels’ French-medium Free University (ULB) and the University of Liège (ULiège) are among a number of universities that the US state of Florida has put on to a blacklist. The Sunday freesheet 7/7 reports that the universities have been blacklisted as they participated in a boycott of Isreal due to the country’s actions in Gaza.
The newspaper reports that the decision to blacklist the universities was announced on 30 September by Florida’s State Board of Administration (SBA). The decision prohibits public institutions in Florida from cooperating with or investing in organisations “that engage in discriminatory or anti-Semitic boycott campaigns against Israel or territories under Israeli control”.
This also affects student exchange programmes, joint scientific work and academic cooperation between universities. Directly affected are Ghent University, the French-Medium Free University of Brussels and the University of Liège, as well as the Brussels municipality of Elsene.
Ralf Pais, Vice-President of the Jewish Information and Documentation Centre (JID) in Belgium, believes that Florida’s stance represents a moral turning point: "Florida is demonstrating a moral clarity that Europe has lost. Where the “old continent” is changing its perspective, Florida is drawing a red line: hatred, even when hidden behind academic discourse, will no longer be tolerated. This is not a political debate, but a question of justice. Boycotting Israel is a very simple form of discrimination."
“Claims to the contrary are hypocritical” Mr Pais continued. Florida had the courage to say this loud and clear, while Europe remains silent. Miami’s decision will have repercussions in Brussels, Paris and elsewhere in Europe. The era of unpunished academic boycotts is over.”