The rector of the University of Porto will suspend military cooperation projects with Israel, if they exist

The rector of the University of Porto (UP) committed this Wednesday to check current projects with potential military use by Israel and, if they exist, to immediately suspend them, a source at the university said.

António Sousa Pereira’s commitment was made to the emissaries of the student body in defense of Palestine, who presented him with an open letter demanding the end of partnerships with Israeli universities, as part of a protest they organized this Wednesday in front of the UP Rector’s house.

According to a source in the UP, the rector “promised to immediately suspend current projects that have the potential for military use, but believes that they do not exist.”

At the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, Sousa Pereira “clarified that UP has no relationship with the Israeli state” and that the research units identified in the students’ open letter “are part of international consortia in which Israeli institutions have teaching and research activities.” but without direct connection with the state,” the source added.

In Luz, Vasco da Silva, a student at the Faculty of Economics in Porto, identified the INESC TEC [Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Tecnologia e Ciência] (…) and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, which is currently centralized in the I3S Institute, which has partnerships with Israeli pharmaceutical companies (…) and has projects for Israeli agriculture, which depends on the destruction of Palestinian agriculture” .

The student also accused the institute of collaborating on projects related to “drones being used in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

Also, according to a source at the university, the rector “undertook to send a letter to all governing bodies of the UP, making it clear that he does not agree with cuts to scientific institutions that do not represent the position of the government, remembering that in this country there are large sections of society opposed to the current Israeli government “

Sousa Pereira, the source added, reminded the team’s emissaries “that UP accepts students from Palestine, Israel, Iran and maintains relations with countries, always at the academic level,” and that “education, teaching and international cooperation are more effective.” weapon in the struggle for peace than to sever ties with institutions that are not directly related to government.”

Vasco da Silva, for his part, said that in the coming days “it is possible to unite different forms of struggle,” explaining that this “will include protests, rallies, everything that needs to happen in order for these relations to be broken.”

“The University of Porto has shown the country and the world that it is possible to cut off Israeli science that colludes with genocide,” the student said.