Brussels – Republic of Palestine (Exclusive)
Belgian universities witnessed a wave of student escalation today, as activists occupied university buildings across multiple cities, including Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, and Liège, in a growing movement demanding a comprehensive academic boycott of Israeli institutions.
At Ghent University, around 150 activists occupied a building on Campus Coupure, part of the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, announcing their intention to remain for an open-ended period until their demands are met—chief among them the immediate termination of all academic cooperation with Israeli institutions.
Organizers stated that the action comes in response to the continuation of academic partnerships with Israeli universities, despite negative assessments issued by the university’s human rights bodies. They emphasized that these collaborations are partially funded by European public money, describing them as a “direct contribution to sustaining the structures of occupation.”
The mobilization quickly spread to other institutions, with student groups at the University of Antwerp, the Free University of Brussels (ULB), and the University of Liège initiating similar escalation steps, including sit-ins and building occupations, all centered on the demand to sever academic and research ties with Israeli institutions.
Protesters stressed that an academic boycott is not merely symbolic, but a concrete and effective pressure tool targeting the knowledge infrastructure that underpins what they describe as Israel’s settler-colonial project. They pointed out that several Israeli universities play an active role in developing infrastructure and technologies linked to the Israeli military.
Activists outlined a set of key demands:
The immediate termination of all existing academic partnerships with Israeli institutions
A complete halt to any new cooperation agreements
Institutional and governmental pressure to exclude Israel from European research programs, particularly Horizon Europe
Belgian academics and activists assert that the expansion of these protests reflects a profound shift in student political consciousness. No longer confined to symbolic solidarity, students are now engaging in direct, sustained pressure targeting complicit institutional structures. This escalation places university administrations under increasing political and ethical scrutiny, turning continued cooperation with Israeli institutions into a matter of public accountability.
These developments come amid a broader surge in student-led mobilization across Europe, where calls for academic boycott have intensified in response to the ongoing war on Gaza and systematic violations against the Palestinian people. Universities are increasingly emerging as critical arenas of political confrontation and pressure in the current phase of the struggle.
