Erasmus University added to Florida boycott list

The pension fund of the US state of Florida has placed Dutch universities on a blacklist over their stance on Israel. Erasmus University is among them. But what does that mean?

Last week, it was reported in Flanders that Belgian universities had been blacklisted in Florida. And indeed, Dutch universities also appear on that same list. They were added in September.

Who issued the blacklist?

It’s a list compiled by the SBA (State Board of Administration), a pension fund of the state of Florida. The board consists of the governor, the attorney general, and the chief financial officer (a kind of finance minister).

What sort of blacklist is it?

The list includes institutions and companies that the pension fund and other public bodies in Florida are prohibited from doing business with because they ‘boycott’ Israel. As of this year, academic boycotts are included as well.

Which Dutch institutions are on the list?

The universities of Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Nijmegen, Delft, Utrecht, Tilburg and the University of Amsterdam are on the list, as well as the Rietveld Academy and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

Who else is on it?

Companies such as Unilever appear on the list, as well as the governments of Scotland, Qatar, Kuwait and other countries. A large number of universities from different countries have also been newly added.

What are the immediate consequences?

At the moment, not much is happening. As far as is known, this pension fund – which manages some 200 billion dollars – does not specifically invest in Dutch higher education. But it might invest in companies that collaborate with Dutch universities. In that case, the policy could trickle down.

Is this linked to American politics?

Florida is a Republican state, and Republicans in the United States have launched a broadside against education and science. Blacklisting universities fits within that agenda. This list might just be the beginning.

What else could happen?

The Dutch magazine Computable paints a bleak picture: research in the fields of chips, quantum computing, photonics and artificial intelligence could be at risk. If other states start using similar lists, companies like Microsoft and Google might no longer be able to provide services to higher education in the Netherlands.

So should we just avoid taking a stance against Israeli universities?

You could argue that boycotts do not benefit the academic community, which thrives on international collaboration. On the other hand, all universities in Gaza have been bombed to rubble, making collaboration there impossible. Moreover, an increasing number of experts are accusing Israel of genocide. That’s why academic society KNAW has recently taken a stand.

Some Dutch universities are not on the list.

If the list makers start digging deeper, more names are likely to appear. Groningen, for example, has just paused a research project involving an Israeli professor who served as a reservist in Gaza.

And from the entire university of applied sciences sector, apparently only the Rietveld Academy was noticed.

In universities of applied sciences, cooperation with Israel is less common, but for instance, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences has temporarily suspended student exchanges, and the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague has cut ties with an Israeli art academy.