The Government of Madrid will protect the professors and researchers who are affected by the decision taken yesterday by Spanish universities to review and suspend agreements with Israeli institutions and entities that do not publicly express their rejection of the violence in Gaza. This is a statement signed by the 77 Spanish universities, public and private, within the framework of the Conference of Spanish University Rectors (CRUE) in which they express their “deep sadness” for the conflict and demand the cessation of operations military personnel of the Israeli army and terrorist actions.
The Minister of Education of the Madrid Government, Emilio Viciana, qualifies in a letter sent to the CRUE yesterday morning that this statement represents a failure of “legal security”, an “act of censorship” and “ideological control” and a “lack of humanity”.
In the missive, the councilor questions this kind of pronouncement pointing out that “it is strange that [the rectors] did not speak out in matters that are closer and more committed” such as the Amnesty law. He criticizes, in particular, the paragraph of the joint statement in which the universities undertake to “review and, if necessary, suspend collaboration agreements with Israeli universities and research centers that have not expressed their firm commitment to peace and compliance with international humanitarian law”.
Emilio Viciana understands that the agreements are merely academic, so it breaks legal certainty, and furthermore, the political ideas that scientists have should not be part of these agreements, nor can they be forced to express themselves in no sense “These kinds of forced signatures remind us too much of dictatorial regimes”, assured Viciana.
Finally, he considers that the press release of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities carries an implicit threat to the labor rights of university staff. “It is unconstitutional to deprive someone of their salary, a subsidy or deny them an agreement for ideological reasons”.
In the same vein, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, warned from Girona against the “politicization” of university campuses because in this way “we will go from pointing with the Star of David, a Jew, to now, starting to point out the Israeli business to pursue it”.
“They are the same international movements as always on the part of the left and which are now becoming strong in university life, on the campuses of all universities, something that is senseless”, he said. And he added: “We cannot use the campus to expel anyone (…). Will they take Einstein out of universities?
