The EU Commissioner for Research denies
any ethical or legal issues with Horizon
research funding to Israel
Press release, 1 November 2025
In the context of the acute genocidal phase in Gaza since October 2023, a group of European academics has been pressuring the EU Commissioner for Startups, Research & Innovation to exclude Israel from the European research funding programmes. They circulated two petitions and published an open letter in July 2025, leading to a meeting with some members of the Commissioner’s cabinet in Brussels on October 15. There, a delegation of academics reminded the Commissioner’s cabinet of EU’s legal obligation to prevent and punish genocide. They illustrated their demands with a long list of problematic Israeli partners and projects. One week later, the EU Commissioner confirmed keeping on ignoring these facts by stating in a letter that the EU ethics screening did not identify any activities in these projects going “beyond the required exclusive focus on civil applications”. Moreover, the cabinet members made it very clear that they consider the EU actions in general to be lawful and showed no intention of being convinced of the contrary.
The Israeli military/security industrial complex has been the major apparatus used to maintain the 58 year-long occupation, apartheid and oppression of Palestinian people. Since 1997, the EU has been feeding this system with €3 billion of funding through research programmes including the current Horizon Europe scheme. This is on the top of €8 billion channelled to Israel’s weapon companies. Civil society and academics have repeatedly raised ethical concerns due to the gross human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Even after 7 October 2023, €126M went to 130 new projects involving Israeli partners. As a consequence, a group of academics has been requested from EU to suspend all ties with Israeli research institutions and to disclose the ethical reviews of projects involving Israeli partners and the monitoring procedures and practices of such projects. Their petition in July 2025 has been endorsed by 75 organisations and 4,500 university staff, academics and students. During the meeting with the EU Commissioner’s cabinet members on 15 October, they reminded the EU’s obligation to prevent and punish genocide, including through cooperation in ensuring accountability. They also highlighted that the Commission has both the legal authority and contractual tools to act. The Commissioner’s cabinet was additionally reminded that its inaction punishes European universities and researchers that are stuck in projects violating their own moral and legal obligations. The delegation selected a (large) subset of problematic Israeli partners and projects to illustrate the issue of dual use in the intricated Israeli academic, industrial and governmental networks. Several of those projects are openly applicable to military goals even in the publicly available documentation of the own EU Cordis website.
Unfortunately, the Commissioner’s (cabinet’s) did not budge. Mr. Schwarz stated that “everything that EU does is legal unless proven otherwise”. He furthermore invited the academics to submit any proof of the contrary, promising their experts would be mobilized to review it. Which is ironical considering that such evidence was sent already months before to the EU, and completely ignored, as confirmed a week later in a letter from Commissioner Zaharieva answering not our meeting but our open letter of 15 July: “I would like to confirm once again that all projects listed in your letter went through an ethics screening as part of the evaluation process (be it for Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe), and the evaluators did not conclude that any of the proposed activities in those projects go beyond the required exclusive focus on civil applications.” Finally, the cabinet’s members explained that the EU’s strategy is to mostly focus on the fact that a ceasefire was reached and to monitor Rafah to ensure passage of humanitarian aid. Two weeks later, this strategy has not been reaching obviously convincing results. The academics take note of the lack of reactivity of the EU Commissioner and its team and condemn its denial of the accumulation of evidence that has thoroughly been presented for months not only by them but also by others, including some media. They therefore conclude that pressure must further be increased. Professor Ivar Ekeland, former President of Université Paris-Dauphine, member of the Academia Europe and leading the delegation of academics: “We intend to keep on identifying and publicizing legal violations attached to Europe-Israel research collaborations, as well as further mobilizing their academic, civil, political and media networks, with the goal of forcing the EU to take responsibility for its role in the on-going genocide, apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian people.”
For more information, please contact: ECCP (Europe): eccp.brussels@gmail.com, AFP (Ireland) academicsforpalestine@gmail.com; AURDIP (France) contact@aurdip.fr; BA4P (Belgium) info@bacbi.be; BRICUP (UK) j.rosenhead@lse.ac.uk; Dutch Scholars for Palestine (Netherlands), dutchscholarspalestine@gmail.com; RUXP (Spain) lera@us.es
Plus de 500 artistes belges lancent un appel au boycott des institutions culturelles israéliennes
Boycotter la culture israélienne pour soutenir les Palestiniens : en cette journée de solidarité avec le peuple palestinien, un collectif d’artistes belges lance un appel au boycott des institutions culturelles israéliennes. Et ils sont déjà plus de 500, du monde du théâtre, de la danse, du cinéma ou de la musique à avoir signéune tribune de soutien au peuplepalestinien. Parmi eux, des grands noms comme Baloji, Jaco van Dormael ou Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. continue ...
Together we are ending this genocide! BDS impacts in the second half of 2024
As painful and devastating as the ongoing massacres are, the failure of Israel’s live-streamed genocide to force Palestinians to surrender, compounded with its fast growing worldwide isolation, is a sign that its 76-year-old regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid is shaking, and we are closer to liberation. With miraculous steadfastness and determination, the Palestinian people continue to fight for justice, liberation, and our inalienable rights. continue ...
SOLIDARITY
FRANCE
La Palestine en souffrance : des professionnel.le.s lèvent la voix
Nous, professionnel.le.s francophones de la santé mentale, du soin, et de l’accompagnement psycho-social interpellons nos organisations professionnelles, toute autorité compétente et l’opinion publique en général sur la situation catastrophique qui affecte les populations palestiniennes, et plus récemment les populations libanaises, notamment les enfants. Nous nous inquiétons sur les répercussions à court, moyen et long terme que cette catastrophe risque fortement de provoquer. continue ...
BELGIË
PalestinaMuseum vzw
We zijn een organisatie die door het houden van tijdelijke tentoonstellingen in bestaande cultuurhuizen het publiek wil informeren over de geschiedenis en cultuur van Palestina. Op lange termijn willen we een Palestina museum in België oprichten. Het zal een museum, documentatiecentrum, herdenkingsplaats en gemeenschapscentrum worden waar bezoekers en Palestijnen elkaar kunnen ontmoeten en informeren. De kernwaarden zijn respect voor mensen, feiten en cultuur. Dit in samenwerking met andere instellingen en musea in de wereld die het verhaal brengen over Palestina. continue ...
NEDERLAND
Campagne "Niet In Mijn Naam"
CULTURE
Palestina en laGeste
laGeste focust op lichaam, dans en inclusie in de vorm van creaties, residenties en workshops.
Nieuwsbrief december 2024
Beste lezer,
Hoe schizofreen! Terwijl wij binnen de muren een tedere voorstelling maken over aanraking in een inclusieve wereld - O amor natural van Andrew Graham - moeten we machteloos toekijken op het disproportionele geweld van Israël, of het nu in Gaza is, in Libanon of in Syrië. Het gaat maar door. Ongelimiteerd. Hoe lang wordt dat gedrag nog getolereerd ? Wij hebben maar één wens voor 2025. Dat aan dat geweld een einde komt. continue ...
Anti-Palestinian repression in the art world
A wave of anti-Palestinian repression has swept the Western art world in the aftermath of October 7th, 2023. From Amsterdam to San Francisco, artists who have criticized Israel’s brutal war on Gaza have seen their exhibitions canceled, their work deinstalled, and other opportunities rescinded. continue...
Kulturkolonialkrieg gegen Palästina: In Deutschland werden die Stimmen der Unterdrückten zum Schweigen gebracht – mit verheerenden Folgen. continue...
Comment documenter l’histoire de Gaza, son patrimoine et ses œuvres d’art détruits par la guerre ?
Le projet Gaza Histoire est une initiative qui mobilise une équipe d’historiens, archéologues, politistes, géographes et sociologues mettant à profit leurs expertises respectives pour faire l’inventaire du patrimoine culturel détruit ou endommagé par la guerre génocidaire qui anéanti Gaza.continue...
BOOKS
Een boek over de gezichten en stemmen van Gaza, over de sensatie van een glas drinkbaar water, over zingen als verzet en woorden als enige pijnstiller.continue ...
For READ PALESTINE WEEK (Nov. 29-December 5) 2024, we are releasing a new publication, And Still We Write: Recent work by Palestinian poets & actions you can take to stop genocide now. Publishers for Palestine have come together to create this free booklet of poetry, prose, artwork, and resources for action, now available for online dissemination and coming in print. Please read and share as widely as you please ! continue ...
In her latest book, the novelist and essayist considers the use of fiction and literary criticism in times of war and conflict continue ...
MUSIC
'Make Freedom Ring'
A classical musicians' collective for Palestinian freedom
As the situation in Gaza deteriorates further, we continue to bring people together in support of relief efforts and humanitarian aid for Palestinian children. On December 16th, we present a concert at the KühlhausBerlin. This time, our artists Michael Barenboim, Raúl da Costa, Candice Breitz, and more. Full programme to come soon. continue ...
FILM
No Other Land, filmer pour résister
Basel Adra and Yval Abraham. Voorstellingen: Imagix Tournai 17-12 à 19h en Lumière-Antwerpen 17-12 om 17u.continue ...
RESOURCES
Gaza “has become a graveyard for children,” UNICEF says
The children’s agency stated, “Day after day, week after week for nearly 14 months now, Gaza has been nothing short of hell on earth. No child should have to endure such atrocities and carnage, and no parent should have to bury their child.”
“Gaza has become a graveyard for children and families,” UNICEF added.
“The overall humanitarian response in Gaza is teetering on the brink of full collapse. The lives of virtually all children are at risk or have been shattered by unimaginable trauma, loss and deprivation. Their safety and access to essential humanitarian aid are not being facilitated as explicitly demanded by international law.”continue ...
Of Land and Bread – Projection soutien
18-12-2024 Galerie de la Reine Bruxelles
On est très heureux de vous annoncer la projection du film Of land and bread réalisé par Ehab Tarabieh et produit par B’tselem, le 18 décembre à 18h30. La projection sera suivie d’un dîner à prix libre (vegan) organisé par la Cantine 100 dal. Cet évènement a pour objectif de soutenir quatre cagnottes de personnes bloquées à Gaza. Moataz , Yazan, Amjad et Zain vivent actuellement les répercussions des politiques coloniales occidentales, qui tous les jours lacèrent des populations civiles. continue ...
Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, the organization said in a landmark new report published today.
L’implication d’Israël dans la chute d’Assad ne fait pas l’ombre d’un doute. Echanges de bons procédés entre les rebelles syriens et Tel-Aviv ? Les nouvelles autorités à Damas semblent vouloir la paix avec l’Etat colonial. Ce dernier a déjà profité des événements pour mener une campagne de bombardements sur le territoire syrien et en a annexé une partie. continue ...
Gideon Levy Exposes Israeli "Barbarism" - Israel's most courageous journalist on Israel's crimes
Q&A with UN-Mandated Experts: Human Rights Violations in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
AGENDA
CHOOSE LIGHT PROJECT (nog te bevestigen)
18 januari Ancienne Belgique: ‘Choose Light’ event met muzikale en andere interventies. “ Wij kiezen de kant van het licht, de kant van het internationaal recht en van mensenrechten voor iedereen. En wij kiezen kant tegen etnische zuivering en genocide.” Organisatie van AB en 11.11.11
Jonathan OFIR: "Getting
away with murder: Why Israeli police left Bedouin
teacher to bleed to death in 2017."
Some murder cases are so full of lies, that every attempt
to hide them
from public view only brings more attention to the crime.
Such is the
case of the extrajudicial execution three years ago of
Israeli Bedouin
citizen Yaqub Mousa Abu al-Qia’an.
(Mondoweiss, March 1, 2020).
Julie PUTSEYS: "Palestijnse
empowerment op Israëlische scholen." Geen
gelijke kansen zonder evenwaardig onderwijs. Zo denkt
de Arabisch-Israëlische professor Dalia Fadila er
alleszins over. (MO*, 10 Jan
2016).
C.J.WERLEMAN: "The
road to hell is paved with 'national security'".
Israel
is turning the West’s fixation on the Islamic State
group into an
opportunity to expand its apartheid laws and
militarisation of the West
Bank (Middle East Eye, Jan 1, 2016).
Gideon LEVY: "So
These Are Israel's New Heroes?"
Israel's
recent military operations in Palestinian hospitals
are a blatant
violation of the Geneva Convention, and make you
wonder how low the
country can sink (Haaretz, Nov 21, 2015).
Noam SHEIZAF: "Jerusalem,
in context"
(+972,
October 19, 2015). "The current events in Jerusalem
have a political
history and context. Attempts to attribute the
violence to some kind of
Palestinian pathology while ignoring other factors
is a recipe for
making things worse."
Amira HASS: "Fodder
for the Next Shin Bet 'Shooting and Crying'
Documentary"
"Israeli
forces spent eight hours blowing up a Palestinian
family's house piece
by piece, all to arrest a wanted man - who turned
out to be so dangerous
that they released him two days later" (Haaretz,
September 8, 2015).
Kelly LYNN: "Israeli
army night raids spread fear in West Bank."
"Night raids, a common tactic in the occupied West
Bank, are used to
intimidate the Palestinian community, residents
say." (aljazeera.com,
August 15, 2015).
Gideon LEVY: "Mohammed
Allaan’s Blood Is on Our Hands".
"A state in whose prisons hundreds of people are
confined without trial
is not a democracy, and all the excuses about
'security' will not help"
(Haaretz, August 16, 2015).
Bradley BURSTON: "A
Special Place In Hell":
"News Flash: We were all wrong. Israel is perfect,
after all. Moral: Criticize at your peril" (Haaretz,
June 9, 2015).
