Reflection by Marileen Dogterom on the Academy’s role in times of geopolitical conflict

This month marks a year and a half since Hamas launched an attack on Israel, resulting in many casualties and hostages. Israel’s subsequent attack on Gaza, which it is now re-intensifying, has claimed many civilian lives and led to a serious humanitarian crisis in the area. The International Court of Justice has determined that Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories violate international law on several points, and evidence is mounting that in Gaza, these violations are widespread and systematic. The academic community and academic freedom continue to be severely affected throughout the region, whereas Gaza’s academic infrastructure has been destroyed completely.

It is against this background that the Academy, and I as its president, face three questions that – when taken together – may lead to dilemmas: What is our role in maintaining open lines of communication with scientists and scholars in conflict areas, particularly in Israel and the Palestinian territories? How can we continue to stand up for scientists, scholars and science systems under threat? And how do we live up to our responsibility to society when it comes to scientific collaborations that might contribute to serious violations of international humanitarian law?

Importance of open lines of international communication

With regard to science diplomacy, I continue to consider it our role, in situations of international geopolitical conflict and war, to maintain ties with scientists and scholars in the relevant academic communities in order to promote academic freedom and open communication in science and scholarship. Keeping these lines of communication open may also help to generate solutions, ideas and conversations about how things may be done differently. In the case of Israel and the Palestinian territories, this means that we will continue to stay in contact with individual Israeli and Palestinian scientists and scholars as much as possible. We will also continue to advocate for dialogue, including through the networks of international organizations (ALLEA, IAP and ISC) that the Academy – alongside its Israeli and Palestinian counterparts – is a member of.

Standing up for science and scholarship (and their practitioners) under attack

It is also important for the Academy to continue defending individual scientists and scholars and their freedom to do their work, wherever they are in the world. The Academy does this by standing up for international scientists and scholars who are under attack, often in cooperation with its international partners. For example, we frequently respond to calls by the International Human Rights Network of Academies & Scholarly Societies to petition government representatives about threats posed to individual or groups of scientists and scholars, or their freedom to do their work. In the context of the war in Gaza, the Academy supports the NIAS Safe Haven Fellowship programme, which welcomes researchers from both Gaza and Israel. The recent statement by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) also fits in with this tradition. In that statement, the Academy and its European sister organisations expressed their grave and ongoing concern about recent developments affecting academic freedom in the United States.

Responsibility with regard to scientific collaborations

The Academy is not only an organisation that champions open, free and safe science systems, but also a research organisation consisting of scientific institutes where international collaboration takes place. With respect to establishing these collaborations, the Academy values academic freedom above all else, because science and scholarship cannot move forward unless knowledge is shared openly across international borders. Academic freedom is therefore a crucial guiding principle in science and scholarship that must be well protected. At the same time, the Academy stresses the importance of acknowledging its responsibility to society within the context of these collaborations. This comes into play when dealing with matters to do with knowledge security and protecting our national security, but certainly also in case collaborations potentially lead to contributions to violations of international law.

With regard to the current situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories, this means that our institutes, like the Dutch universities, must continuously reflect on existing collaborations with academic partners that may contribute to violations of the fundamental rules of international humanitarian law. Assessment frameworks that we and others have developed or are currently developing should help determine whether a particular collaboration can still be defended.

The decision to suspend existing collaborations with academic partners must be taken on a case-by-case basis. Such decisions are always complex and made more difficult by the fact that the Israeli military is deeply embedded in the whole of society, including Israeli universities. On the other hand, Israeli universities enjoy a large degree of autonomy, allowing them to adopt a critical stance towards the actions of the Israeli government.

Finally

The wider academic community in the Netherlands and its research are firmly embedded in society. Increasingly, researchers and administrators are being called upon to reconcile academic freedom and their responsibility to society, also when it comes to for example partnerships with the fossil fuel industry.

It is therefore important that we, as an academic community, continue to examine ourselves with a critical eye and reflect on our actions. For example, why did we make quick decisions about ending collaboration with Russian partners after the invasion of Ukraine, but not about collaborations within the context of the war in Gaza? Every situation is different, but what have we learned for the future? How can the academic community ensure that our decisions concerning such collaborations benefit society and international law in the longer term, while also guaranteeing academic freedom? Questions such as these require constant self-reflection and dialogue – two endeavours to which the Academy will continue to contribute.

Marileen Dogterom
Academy President