Student organisation demands Ashoka University to cut ties with Tel Aviv University

NEW DELHI: A student organisation of Ashoka University has demanded it to cut ties with Tel Aviv University for allegedly being complicit in the Israel-Gaza war. Ashoka University Student Government said, “In light of the evidence presented regarding Tel Aviv University's actions, we urge our institution to sever all ties with it. We stand in solidarity with protesting groups around the world.”

As part of partnership with Tel Aviv University, Ashoka University has ongoing faculty visits for teaching, student mobility, research collaboration, short-term study opportunities and joint programmes. The students organisations said the information has been sourced from the official website of International Partners. The student organisation said, “Tel Aviv University's close ties with the Israeli military and its support for the occupation of Palestinian territories raise serious ethical questions.”

It claimed the university has ties with Israeli weapons manufacturers such as Elbit Systems. Professors from Tel Aviv University have been involved in drafting the Israel Defence Forces code of ethics. The student organisation said institutions such as Tel Aviv University are stifling conversation around the Palestinian people and to prevent Palestinian scholarly work.

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‘Funding from Israeli weapon manufacturers’

The university also receives funding, research grants and benefits from partnerships with weapons manufacturers such as Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and routinely partners with Israeli intelligence agencies Shin Bet and Mossad. “By maintaining ties with a university linked to systematic human rights abuses, Ashoka University is complicit in these violations,” the organisation added.

Ashoka University must take a stand and demonstrate its commitment to ethical conduct and human rights, it added. “Students across universities are now actively calling on their institutions to boycott Israeli universities and exchange programmes, to have open dialogue about the war on Gaza,” the Ashoka University Student Government said.