{"id":183767,"date":"2025-11-26T15:43:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=183767"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:59","slug":"college-van-bestuur-afzeggen-eva-illouz-was-fout-van-onze-kant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/11\/26\/college-van-bestuur-afzeggen-eva-illouz-was-fout-van-onze-kant\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Board: Cancelling Eva Illouz was \u2018a mistake on our part\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision to cancel sociologist Eva Illouz as a speaker at a lecture organised by the Erasmus Love Lab was \u2018a mistake on our part\u2019, rector magnificus Jantine Schuit admits in an open letter to Illouz. \u201cA feeling of discomfort and doubt should never be a reason to withdraw an invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Eva Illouz is professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmrei-Marie<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The letter<\/a> was published on Friday on the Erasmus University website. Earlier, the Erasmus Love Lab team had withdrawn an invitation to the French-Israeli Eva Illouz<\/a> for a lecture that was due to take place on 21 November. That decision was made \u2018democratically and not unanimously\u2019, the Love Lab informed Illouz.<\/p>\n

The reason given for the cancellation was that the team \u2018did not feel comfortable\u2019 with the sociologist\u2019s visit. In addition to her position at the \u00c9cole des hautes \u00e9tudes en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris, she is also affiliated with the Hebrew University. EUR has frozen ties with that university at an institutional level due to the risk of involvement in human rights violations in Gaza. Individual ties, such as in this case, have not been frozen. The French-Israeli sociologist described the cancellation as \u2018a bona fide antisemitic decision<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Apology<\/h2>

Following the cancellation, a faculty spokesperson said the matter concerned \u2018an issue between individuals\u2019 on which the faculty or the university would not normally comment. Nevertheless, rector magnificus Jantine Schuit has now issued an apology to Illouz on behalf of the Executive Board. She calls it \u2018a mistake on our part\u2019. \u201cIt raised legitimate questions and indignation given the background of the current highly sensitive geopolitical situation\u201d, the letter states.<\/p>\n

In the letter, Schuit suggests that the academics may have started to question the invitation \u2018in light of your affiliation with the Hebrew University\u2019. \u201cThey need not have doubted it, because EUR has not imposed any restrictions on working with academics based on such affiliations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rector invites Illouz to take part in a dialogue session on academic freedom. Illouz told NRC<\/em> that for her, the matter is now settled<\/a>. It is not clear whether she has accepted the invitation.<\/p>\n

It is also unclear whether the Love Lab team supports the letter and believes itself that cancelling Illouz was the wrong decision. The project leader declined to respond to EM\u2019s questions on the matter and referred to the university\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Withdrawal \u2018not permitted\u2019 on grounds of discomfort<\/h2>

The spokesperson also did not answer questions about the Love Lab\u2019s involvement in drafting the letter. However, she did say that the Executive Board and the academics involved are \u2018still in discussions to evaluate exactly what happened\u2019.<\/p>\n

She also emphasised the Executive Board\u2019s position that invitations should not be cancelled lightly. \u201cThat an invitation was withdrawn due to feelings of discomfort and doubt turned out, in hindsight, to be unjustified. An invitation may not be withdrawn due to feelings of discomfort and doubt. For that, we have offered our apologies. The Executive Board recognises that we still have steps to take in providing greater clarity on how we deal with inviting external academics to seminars and conferences. We have learned from this\u201d, the spokesperson explained.<\/p>\n

Eva Illouz is professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University and the \u00c9cole des hautes \u00e9tudes en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris. She was recently excluded from the prestigious Israel Prize, the country\u2019s highest cultural honour, after signing a petition calling for an investigation into war crimes in Gaza. She also criticised left-wing academics in a pamphlet for downplaying the terrorist attack by Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t