UGent academics disrupt university's opening ceremony with demand for Israeli boycott
A group of academics of Ghent University (UGent) has disrupted their own university’s opening ceremony of the academic year, which was held indoors for fear of large protests. The police had to remove a group from the hall before the ceremony could continue. Activists also protested outside.
The opening of the academic year at UGent began, just like last year, with loud protests. A group of around a hundred activists gathered in front of the Ufo building before the start, where Petra De Sutter officially took over the reins as rector from Rik Van de Walle. This took place behind closed doors on the advice of the police. Last year, the opening procession had to turn back due to protests.
Inside, a group of activists disrupted the opening ceremony, including a dozen people who work or conduct research at UGent. They chanted slogans describing the situation in the Gaza Strip as genocide and demanded that the university cease all academic cooperation with Israeli institutions. The police escorted the activists outside, after which the ceremony continued.
“We believe that the university is tarrying, this has been going on for over a year and a half,” Stefaan De Neve, professor at the UGent’s faculty of bioengineering, told VRT NWS. "The board points to possible damage claims and legal proceedings, but we have a very good law faculty, so I don't think we need to worry about that. UGent does not only have a scientific but also a moral duty. We are asking that something finally be done."
"UGent does not only have a scientific but also a moral duty"
The activists want the university to implement a total boycott of Israel. They believe that Ghent University is now complicit in the genocidal violence in Gaza by not completely severing all ties with Israeli institutions or companies. The protest outside continued during the ceremony, and the police eventually arrested three activists.
Rector Petra De Sutter reiterated that she takes the activists' demands to heart and wants to engage in dialogue with them. “We cannot remain silent about what is happening in Gaza,” she said. “We want to continue discussing this and thinking about how we can get out of it. However, that cannot be done in one go.” De Sutter emphasises, as did her predecessor Rik Van de Walle, that she is counting on European support for this.
#FlandersNewsService | Pro-Palestine protest action at UGent's opening ceremony of the new academic year © BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER + © BELGA VIDEO JONAS D'HOLLANDER
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