Students block Sciences Po Strasbourg to protest against a partnership with an Israeli university

Students blocked the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Strasbourg on Monday January 6 to protest against its partnership with Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. Trash cans marked with inscriptions “Down with Zionism” et « Fuck Israel » were placed in front of the entrance to the establishment, alongside a banner proclaiming “Israel genocide Sciences Po complicit”reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

On site, a student, member of the Palestine Sciences Po Strasbourg committee, explained that “the building is blocked for the day [au minimum] » and that a general meeting was planned for the end of the morning to decide on the follow-up to be given to this action.

“There is clear support from Reichman University for the actions being carried out in the Gaza Strip, for the students who are in the Israeli army”denounced this student, Léo. This blockage is organized due to the “undemocratic vote” to reconnect “a partnership with a university complicit in genocide”said Lucille, a student.

The partnership between the IEP of Strasbourg and Reichman University, established in 2015, was suspended in June in the context of the conflict in Gaza. But members of the establishment's board of directors renewed their support for this partnership during a vote on December 18.

The text was voted on with fourteen votes for, one against and four abstentions, while fourteen members of the board of directors did not take part in the vote. Five teacher-researchers announced their resignation from the board of directors after this vote, which they described as “denial of democracy” by denouncing “numerous pressures, both internal and external”.

“Academic freedom”

“I'm not surprised by the blockage, I expected it”declared to AFP the director of the IEP of Strasbourg, Jean-Philippe Heurtin.

“I think it is an error of judgment on the part of the students and a certain number of colleagues who think that Reichman University is indeed subservient to the government of [Benyamin] Netanyahu, which from my point of view is not the case. I think that it is a university that has managed to preserve academic freedom, which is the only thing that matters to us in this context”he added.

As part of this partnership, students from Reichman University were hosted at the IEP in Strasbourg, which sent two students per year to Israel. These exchanges ceased during the Covid-19 period and after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In June 2024, the Strasbourg IEP justified the suspension of its partnership with Reichman University by regretting its positions “deeply hawkish and devoid of any humanist perspective” in view of “the ongoing war in Gaza” during a board meeting of the establishment.