(JTA) — The University of Amsterdam has suspended a student exchange with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, saying the institution has failed to distance itself from human rights violations in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
The Dutch university announced last week that it was cutting the program following advice from an internal committee on projects with its partners in Israel, China and Hungary. The school’s executive board requested the inquiry after pro-Palestinian demonstrations roiled the campus last year.
The university also decided not to enter collaborations with more than 20 Hungarian institutions that have been sanctioned by the European Union because they are seen as too tightly controlled by the Hungarian regime. And it determined that Chinese doctoral students who go to the Netherlands through the China Scholarship Council will be allowed to continue, but the university said it would enact new measures to protect their academic freedom from China’s government.
The guidelines all aim to prevent the University of Amsterdam from “contributing to violations of human rights, misuse of knowledge for undesirable military purposes or serious damage to the environment through educational or research collaborations,” said the administration.
The University of Amsterdam joins a wave of European schools that have severed ties to Israeli institutions and Israel-linked companies, often as concessions to student activists.
Diverging from the US
The trend marks a sharp divergence from the United States, where schools have virtually universally rebuffed students’ demands to sever ties with Israeli institutions, citing principles of academic freedom. The demands came during a wave of student activism last year for which the new Trump administration is now punishing both students and their schools.
The exchange program — which had been in place since 1986 — usually sees about 10 students at the Hebrew University and 10 at the University of Amsterdam, the Dutch university told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
"Hebrew University regrets UvA’s decision to end their student exchange program, calling it fundamentally wrong. The allegations are unfounded, based on fragmented and unreliable arguments of the BDS movement that seeks to weaponize academia. Had UvA consulted the Hebrew University before making its decision—which it did not—it would have learnt the actual facts. Hebrew University called UvA to renew their collaboration, emphasizing that academic institutions should build bridges, not barriers, especially in times of conflict."
But Dutch students have not participated since Oct. 7, 2023, pursuant to a travel advisory from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Israeli students were allowed to complete their semester in Amsterdam last fall, but no new exchange students were accepted, according to the advisory report.
The committee pointed to international bodies that have investigated Israel for war crimes against Palestinians since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. They decided that the Hebrew University has not sufficiently distanced itself from these allegations.
They also rebuked the Jerusalem university for research and training programs that support the Israeli defense industry and the Israeli army, such as the Talpiot program for training security-technological leadership, the Havatzalot program for training intelligence officers and Tzameret, a military medicine track.
Another qualm for the committee was the status of academic freedom at Hebrew University. One professor, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, was suspended and urged to resign after she signed a letter accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, and said it was time to “abolish Zionism.” Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian legal scholar, was also detained and investigated by Israeli police for incitement to terrorism, in a move that the university condemned. She reportedly resigned last year.