Block all forms of bilateral academic cooperation with Israeli institutions. This is the request contained in the motion approved today by the Department of Physics at the University of Cagliari against the Tel Aviv government's policies in the Gaza Strip.

The position remains based on "the fundamental value of scientific collaboration as a space for free dialogue , a bridge between peoples, and a bearer of peace and solidarity." At the same time, it is emphasized that " the Department cannot remain indifferent to the violation of fundamental ethical principles such as respect for human dignity and the fundamental principles of international law."

Hence the threefold request : to the Italian Government to suspend the Agreement on Industrial, Scientific and Technological Cooperation with Israel; to the Academic Senate of the University of Cagliari to express itself against any present or future agreement with Israeli academic institutions; and to professors and researchers not to participate in calls for tenders for joint bilateral projects "as long as these violations persist.

The Department justifies its decision with "the impossibility of ignoring the very serious violations of international law taking place in the Gaza Strip ", where the current Israeli military campaign has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries , "including a shocking number of children , women and defenceless civilians, as well as journalists, medical personnel and humanitarian workers".

Cities "have been razed to the ground, hospitals and universities have been hit indiscriminately, in an escalation of violence that has taken on the characteristics of a humanitarian catastrophe and genocide. This situation has already been condemned by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and numerous humanitarian organizations, which openly speak of war crimes and crimes against humanity."

(Unioneonline/vf)