Norwegian university cuts all ties with Israel over violations of international law

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – Norway’s University of Stavanger (UiS) on Thursday decided to terminate all institutional agreements and cooperation with Israeli institutions in response to its brutal assault on the Gaza Strip.

The university's board of directors has decided to sever ties with Israel "because of the war in Gaza, which violates international law," UiS said in a statement.

UiS has promised not to enter into any new agreements "as long as hostilities continue."

The decision comes after students and faculty called for an academic boycott of Israel, as well as the termination of relevant purchase agreements.

Student Sofia Abdullah told public broadcaster NRK that she is pleased that UiS took the students' demands seriously.

“But we want to go even further. We want there to be a full academic boycott. But this is a good start, and it should be an inspiration for other universities in Norway,” said Abdullah.

Razzan Abou-Watfa, the leader of Students for Palestine Stavanger, is pleased with the board's decision on Thursday. She has no doubts that the board's decision was important.

“It was a big step for us. We are optimistic and hope that UiS will use the word boycott and have a full academic boycott. Not only until the war ends, but the occupation,” Abou-Watfa told NRK.

She hopes other universities in Norway will be inspired to follow in the footsteps of UiS.

At UiS and five other study centers in Norway, tent camps have been set up in solidarity with Palestine in recent weeks.

The protests erupted around the globe after campus encampments have shaken US universities in recent weeks.

Pro-Palestine campus protests have been persistent in the US since April 17, when students at Columbia University in New York launched an encampment in solidarity with Gaza and demanded that their school divest from Israel.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested at US campuses since last month amid heavily polarized debates over the right to protest, the limits of free speech and accusations of antisemitism.

Demonstrations and sit-ins are also being held on campuses in parts of Europe, including France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, amid a wider call against Israeli attacks on Gaza that have killed almost 36,600 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 83,074 amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.