Newsletter - September 2025
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to present to you a number of updates and activities.
In this newsletter:
- Suspension exchange programs
- State of PACBI in the NL
- Union members in solidarity with Palestine
- In de klas, in de wereld
- Palestine Poster Workshop
- Start with Silence
- What else can you do?
- Calendar
- Read more
Suspension exchange programs
On 4 September, the College van Bestuur formally announced that Leiden University suspends its two student exchange programs with Israeli universities..
As we argued at the time of the commission’s advice to the CvB, this decision is an important step in the right direction. It is also a testament to the hundreds of students and staff who have tirelessly mobilised to demand that the university take action and cut its ties with all those institutions and companies complicit in genocide.
There remains much to be done. The university continues to maintain important links with similar (and at times the same) Israeli institutions named in the current decision, as well as companies that collaborate with the Israeli military, through research, investment, and procurement.
All these ties need to be cut. Only pressure from the Leiden community got us this far. Only pressure will get us the rest of the way. Join us.
State of PACBI in the Netherlands
There have been several developments at other Dutch institutions for higher education in the Netherlands too.
After the Royal Academy of Arts (KABK), the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, the Hogeschool Rotterdam, and the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) had severed ties with complicit Israeli institutions in 2024, more institutions seem to follow suit, albeit haltingly.
In the opening week of this academic year, the words of rector magnificus Wilco Hazeleger announcing a full boycott at Utrecht University quickly traveled the world. However, UU staff pointed out “there is a critical mismatch between the university’s claims and its actions.” Indeed, though UU has terminated its student exchange programs and committed itself to not enter any new collaborations, it also decided to continue 22 research collaborations.
On 11 September, the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW) called upon our Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to exert pressure on the EU to exclude complicit Israeli Institutions from EU Horizon projects.
In the fields of culture and sports, support for a boycott is growing as well, with the withdrawal from the Eurovision contest, and public calls for exclusion from the football World Cup forming the most recent and well-known examples in the Netherlands.
This all serves to show that there is growing momentum. Only pressure will get us the rest of the way. Join us.
Union members in solidarity with Palestine
Our Palestinian colleagues have repeatedly called upon us, as fellow trade unionists and fellow academics, to speak out and take action against the obliteration of their institutions and the assault on their lives and society. Solidarity is the foundation on which a trade union rests. It is unforgivable that we, as union members, have failed so far to extend our solidarity to Palestinian colleagues, ignoring their direct pleas for help, and opting to remain silent.
There are many reasons for a labour union to take action. Given the international nature of academic work, scholasticide wherever it occurs, forms a direct assault on all scholars. As a recent UN report demonstrated, corporations and organizations, including academic institutions, should disengage from Israeli occupation and genocide according to human rights due diligence. Leiden University’s failure to live up to this basic standard further erodes the universal character of solidarity and science, within the University and beyond. It furthermore compromises the credibility of researchers and lecturers, especially when human rights are fundamental to their work, and damages the reputation of our institution.
For this reason, union members at Leiden University seek to mobilize the unions to pressure our board for a full boycott of complicit institutions and to demand that our national representatives put full divestment from illegal settlements and from military and dual use companies on the table in negotiations with our ABP pension fund.
FNV has recently agreed to our call for a member meeting to discuss a demand for academic boycott. FNV members who would like to get involved or be informed about FNV’s line of action can send an email to: [email protected]
AOb members who would like to get involved or stay updated can send an email to: [email protected]
CNV members who would like support in order to start their own action can send an email to: [email protected] .
In de klas, in de wereld
ICLON classes about Israel/Palestine for secondary educational teachers
In the classroom, in the world’ is a new cross-curricular programme series in which ICLON, Leiden University, brings together experts from various disciplines to develop valuable teaching materials for secondary education (VMBO, HAVO and VWO).
ICLON aims to support teachers in this way by equipping them to deal with complex topics in their classes, in an informed manner. We are starting the series this autumn with three meetings on Palestine/Israel. What insights do our Leiden academics have on these sensitive topics? What would be a good approach for teaching these topics?
On Wednesday 24 September, Prof. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of International Public Law, will give a lecture on Israel/Palestine from the perspective of international law.
On Wednesday 1 October, Dr Christian Henderson, assistant professor of International Relations / Modern Middle East Studies, will give a lecture in which he will discuss the history, the policies of Western states, the regional situation and possible future scenarios.
On Tuesday 14 October, Dr Sai Englert, lecturer in Political Economy of the Middle East, will give a lecture in which he will make international comparisons between Israel’s actions in Palestine and those of other settler colonies throughout history.
Teachers of all subjects in further education are welcome to attend!
Information and registration here.
Palestine Poster Workshop
History, Graphic Design, Political Solidarity
Last chance to sign up for our second Palestine Poster Workshop tomorrow!
Friday 19 September 2025
Lecture on design history of posters for Palestine | 11:15-12:45 Lipsius 1.28
Atelier | 13:15-16:30 Herta Mohr 1.80
Judith Naeff and Andrea Reyes Elizondo
More information and registration: https://leidenscholarsforpalestine.org/palestine-poster-workshop-2-history-graphic-design-political-solidarity/
Start with Silence
Many colleagues opened the first classes of this semester with a moment of silence in solidarity with Palestinian scholars and students and in protest against the unacceptable delay of our administration in cutting ties with complicit Israeli institutions.
“During the summer months, my resistance to the idea of going back to work at a university with so many ties with complicit Israeli institutions grew stronger with the day. This action was an important way for me to communicate my feelings of despair and indignation at the passivity of our Executive Board. Most of my students welcomed the action, they experienced the minutes of silence as an impressive moment of protest. However, the action also led to discomfort: some of my colleagues received critique from students on taking a political stance in the classroom as lecturers. This led to interesting and very important discussions, both with students and amongst colleagues, on the role and responsibilities of university lecturers.” Janna Houwen, LUCAS
“It’s been very empowering to begin my classes with the silent action, to be able to make visible our position as lecturers to the students, in a coordinated effort. My first year students have responded with curiosity and respect, and my second year students share a sense of gratitude and validation of their own voices, which the university management insists on silencing and criminalising.” Paulina Rabah, International Studies.
“Everyone participated in the two minutes of silence and in each group some students shared their personal experiences. Someone said that her partner has become estranged from family members in Israel. Another student’s partner fled Srebrenica 30 years ago and the news about the genocide brings back bad memories. There was a student who had given online Spanish lessons to people in Gaza. One day he saw her name on a list of people who were murdered that week. More generally, students in teacher education are eager to discuss how to integrate Gaza in their classes and grapple with various school policies on the topic. I was glad to be able to mark the start of this semester like this and I am grateful to know I have colleagues who take action in the university and beyond.” Arthur Pormes, ICLON
What else can you do?
- Learn more about PACBI and the Leiden ties to complicit institutions
- Sign our petitions and pledges
- Join the weekly silent sit-in to stand with our slain colleagues (every Tuesday 12:00 at Rapenburg 70)
- Join our collective. Send an email to [email protected]
- Talk about Palestine and the boycott campaign in your department, program, institute, faculty and union.
- Check the calendar below and follow @leidenscholarsforpalestine (IG) for more actions and events.
