As in other universities, the mobilization against Israeli barbarity in Gaza and Lebanon resumed at Sorbonne University at the start of the school year. At the initiative of the Palestine Sorbonne University committee, a motion was drafted to be proposed to the CA (board of directors) in connection with the mobilization in Paris-1.
This motion of course denounces the war crimes and genocidal policy of Israel, but it also and above all aims to denounce the partnerships of our university with several Israeli universities as well as the agreements with several complicit companies. Indeed, Sorbonne University has agreements with industries directly involved in the sale of arms to Israel: Safran Défense, Thales and Dassault Aviation. Under cover of “discovery of professions and professional integration”Safran is particularly active in advertising on the campus of the Faculty of Sciences. Safran is directly involved in the design and sale of drones that are currently bombing the Middle East. Far from being neutral, this development is based on university research carried out by artificial intelligence, computer science and robotics labs on campus. The current mobilization therefore aims to stop this cooperation and denounces the “complicity” of the university.
Refusal of the motion
Initially, the presidency of the university flatly refused to allow the motion to be examined at the October CA, taking the pretext of the opinion of the college of ethics (under the supervision of the Ministry of ESR) of June 22, 2024 which refuses to call into question academic or industrial partnerships for political reasons, on the grounds of “neutrality” (neutrality here consisting of maintaining the status quo and the law of the strongest).
But the mobilization did not give up and during the following board meeting, on November 14, the motion was presented again, supported by the Palestine committee, the Solidaires student unions, Raised Fist, SUSIE (local branch of the Student Union) and the CGT, Sud and FSU staff unions. A petition signed by many colleagues was circulated. On the day of the CA, several hundred people mobilized in Jussieu, and the Clignancourt campus was blocked.
A motion… but no end to partnerships
This mobilization required the presidency to put this point on the board's agenda and gave rise to 1 hour 30 minutes of discussion. The presidency refused to put the motion to a vote but still had to take the situation into account. She proposed her own motion, recognizing that “the situation in the Middle East is a source of concern and fear for our entire community… recalling the importance of respect for international law, and the need for an immediate and lasting ceasefire to restore peace in the region ». But this motion is in line with Macron's position, which places the Palestinians and the State of Israel back to back and on an equal footing. The elected representatives therefore abstained on this motion.
The fight for real commitment in solidarity with Palestine and the fight for an end to partnerships with criminal industrialists will continue. The mobilization must be massive and lasting. This complicity must end.
Antoine Boulangé
