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To whom it may concern,

We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff, and alumni of McMaster University, come together in support of this petition demanding that our university, McMaster, divest and/or boycott all academic institutions in Israel. Our motivation stems from our deep commitment to justice and the principles of human rights. How can we, as students and faculty members, stand idle as we witnessed all 12 universities in Gaza being bombed and leveled to the ground? How unfair is it that, we started the winter 2024 semester with the privilege of attending all our classes, some excitedly awaiting graduation, some tirelessly working to perfect and defend their theses, when the Minister of Education in Gaza declared the end of the 2023 academic year due to Israel’s annihilation of the student population in Gaza? How can we let this happen while universities in Israel are built upon occupied Palestinian land, serving as landmarks of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that has continued for over 75 years? We recognize the crucial role that academic institutions play in shaping societal values and promoting ethical behaviour, and so McMaster’s complicity in apartheid and genocide serves as a barrier to its role...

Israel’s academic institutions have been one of the pillars of Israel’s regime of oppression, playing a major role in planning, implementing, justifying, and whitewashing Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. Some examples of the latter include The University of Haifa training hundreds of senior officers in the IDF in modern social science and branches of strategic thinking. The Talpiot program at the Hebrew University consists of three years of study followed by six years of work for IDF research and development programs, during which the students also undergo military training.

Israeli universities are developing high-tech devices that the IDF has become dependent on. The Haifa Technion University helped to develop the D9 remote-controlled bulldozer which was deployed for the destruction of Palestinian homes. Additionally, the same university had a research partnership with Elbit Systems Ltd which during 2008-2013, led to the electronic detection devices used in the Israeli separation wall, and this also supplied drones to the IDF for use in combat. This list is not exhaustive, however, these documented facts make it imperative to call for a full academic boycott immediately. 

There is currently a university-wide student exchange agreement between McMaster University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Freeman Family Foundation Bursary for Study at Hebrew University has established a Bursary for McMaster University students to study for a summer, semester, or academic year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rafael Barak, Ambassador of Israel to Canada and DJ Schneeweiss, Israeli Consul General to Toronto and Western Canada, have met with McMaster University “to discuss ways to create deeper research and academic collaborations between McMaster and some of Israel’s leading post-secondary institutions.” McMaster has sought to join its U15 counterparts by engaging in trips to Israel to expand and explore research and academic cooperation with Israel’s research universities. 

Furthermore, in 2015, The McMaster Student Union voted to follow the guidelines of BDS, which includes within its demands a full boycott of academic institutions within occupied Palestine. By having a partnership with an Israeli university, McMaster is not upholding the decision of students to follow the BDS movement’s core tenets. This university has numerous programs for studying topics such as international relations, global politics, and systems of oppression, but is failing to take the proper actions that align with the theories researched in an academic context.

McMaster University must aim to contribute to the global movement for justice; upholding and prioritizing the adherence to international and our humanity demands bold action in the face of genocide. Fostering an open dialogue is important, but taking a principled stance is crucial to bringing about change and is far more vital to consider than using the excuse of preserving academic freedom to justify not severing ties with Israeli universities. The fear of potential consequences of boycotting do not take precedence when these same Israeli institutions contribute to repeated violations of international law, and when these institutions have the blood of over 30,000 Palestinians on their hands. The university claims maintaining these ties is in the name of academic freedom, but that goes against the nature of what academia is for - progressing humans and the life around them. When life is destroyed, ethnic populations are annihilated, when health care systems are targeted, and when academic institutions are reduced to the ground, academic freedom stands for nothing. There is no academic freedom in the face of genocide.