{"id":136150,"date":"2022-02-16T15:22:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T14:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=136150"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:07","slug":"universities-want-more-time-to-process-information-request-regarding-ties-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/02\/16\/universities-want-more-time-to-process-information-request-regarding-ties-to-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Universities want more time to process information request regarding ties to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A research institute advocating for the rights of Palestinians wants Dutch universities to provide documentation regarding their ties to ‘organisations that propagate support for the state of Israel’. The universities have asked for more time to process the request.<\/p>\n

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In May, students hung banners for a boycott of Israel on the facade of Erasmus University College.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

All fourteen universities in the Netherlands have received a request for information and documentation from The Rights Forum, a research institute concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, founded by former prime minister Dries van Agt.<\/p>\n

Ties to Israeli organisations<\/h2>

The Rights Forum wants to learn more about any \u2018institutional ties with Israeli universities, institutions and companies, and with organisations that propagate support for the state of Israel\u2019. Among the organisations mentioned in the request are the Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) and the Central Jewish Consultative Committee, as well as the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n

The request has been made under the Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA), which allows anyone \u2013 regardless of motive \u2013 to request information from public and semi-public institutions. This includes most Dutch universities.<\/p>\n

The request \u2018does not cover informal, occasional research collaborations between individual academics, unless these contacts eventually led to institutional collaboration\u2019.<\/p>\n

Absurd<\/h2>

The request has met with considerable resistance, with the Forum being accused of anti-Semitism. The New Israelite Weekly has condemned<\/a> the GIPA request, calling it \u2018absurd\u2019 while also expressing its disapproval of how some universities are handling it. The news magazine asserts that these universities have blithely forwarded the GIPA request to all their employees, \u2018including Jewish employees, who felt threatened and intimidated by it\u2019.<\/p>\n

The CIDI has also expressed outrage<\/a> at the GIPA request, stating that it contains leading questions \u2018that suggest ill intent on the part of Jewish organizations, both in the Netherlands and abroad\u2019. The CIDI calls on universities to \u2018speak out strongly against this illegitimate approach and take steps to regain the trust of their employees\u2019.<\/p>\n

Slander campaign<\/h2>

According to The Rights Forum, these responses are part of a concerted smear campaign<\/a>. Criticism of the state of Israel should not be conflated with anti-Semitism, the research institute argues, noting that there has been a \u2018long-standing debate\u2019 about the involvement of academic institutions in Israel\u2019s arms industry and the country\u2019s colonisation of Palestinian territory, among other matters. The Rights Forum states that the purpose of the GIPA request is to collect concrete data.<\/p>\n

The Forum says it submitted the request at the behest of a group of students and academics who feared repercussions for their careers if they did so themselves. It argues that criticism of Israel often lead to protests and campaigns by pro-Israel organisations accusing those involved of anti-Semitism. The criticism currently being levelled against the GIPA request is an example of this, the Forum says.<\/p>\n

Unrest<\/h2>

University association UNL acknowledges on its website<\/a> that there has been \u2018considerable unrest\u2019 following the GIPA request, but states that the GIPA covers almost<\/a> all universities, which means they have a statutory duty to cooperate. \u201cUniversities may not distinguish between requests that they deem morally or otherwise acceptable or suitable and those that they do not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GIPA does offer some grounds for exemption<\/a>, and universities are allowed to omit names and personal information. Moreover, the universities will ask stakeholders for their views on the disclosure of certain documents and correspondence. \u201cThese points of view will be a factor in the eventual decision-making process regarding publication.\u201d As this is bound to take time, the universities are asking for an extension in order to process the request.<\/p>\n

Parliamentary questions<\/h2>

Meanwhile, the VVD and the ChristenUnie have submitted parliamentary questions<\/a> to the Minister of Justice and Security, asking her if she finds \u2018this kind of intimidating GIPA request, with this anti-Semitic connotation, permissible\u2019.<\/p>\n

No decision has yet been made on the universities\u2019 extension request, says The Rights Forum director Gerard Jonkman. \u201cBut it seems reasonable to accommodate them if they need more time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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