Spanish universities to break ties with Israeli institutions ‘not committed to peace’

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The confederation of Spanish universities (CRUE) announced on Thursday that it will cut ties with Israeli universities and research centers “that have not expressed a firm commitment to peace and compliance with international humanitarian law.”

The decision came as students across Spain began camping out on university campuses this week, as part of a wider global wave of pro-Palestine student protests.

In a nod to the protests, CRUE also vowed to intensify cooperation with Palestinian research and higher learning institutions and expand cooperation, volunteer and refugee aid programs.

CRUE, which represents 76 private and public universities in Spain, also vowed on Thursday to take action against antisemitic or Islamophobic conduct within the universities.

The announcement comes a day after the University of Barcelona voted to cut all ties with Israel and the University of the Basque Country made a similar move in April.

On Wednesday, Ireland’s Trinity College agreed to divest from Israel after student protests.

But the treatment of protesters in Spain and Ireland stands in stark contrast to Pro-Palestinian student protests elsewhere.

The wave of student protests kicked off at Columbia University in New York, where police cleared buildings and arrested around 300 students.

From there, more incidents of protesting students being arrested have repeated in dozens of American colleges like the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), George Washington University or U.T. Austin.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that 2,700 people had been arrested or detained on campuses across the country.

Similar scenes have played on in Europe, where students have set up encampments and are also calling for universities to cut ties or divest from Israel.

In Amsterdam, police clashed with protesters, arresting around 125 students, as they tried to clear out student barricades. German police also cleared an encampment where hundreds of students were protesting.

Meanwhile, at the Complutense University in Madrid, where students remained camped out, a group of musicians and entertainers showed up on Thursday offering live music, a concert for the radio program ‘Carne Cruda,’ and their support to the Palestinian cause.