Illustration Shutterstock A renewed petition has been made by a group of WUR employees calling on the executive board (EB) to take a position in the Israel-Hamas war. The group consists of 32 employees and PhD students from the Philosophy and Knowledge and Technology and Innovation groups. The group has sent the EB a letter.
A petition calling on the EB to pronounce their support for Palestine was launched earlier this month by students and employees. Additionally, Resource published an open letter from two concerned teachers. In the latest letter, the EB is accused of having double standards because WUR took a stand in the Ukraine–Russia conflict. ‘Silence is also a political choice’, say the authors of the letter.
Refusal to take a position in this conflict is not to be mistaken for carelessness or indifference
Arthur Mol, rector magnificus WUR
Still, the EB remains silent, says rector Arthur Mol in a reply to the authors. ‘But, refusal to take a position in this conflict is not to be mistaken for carelessness or indifference.’ According to Mol, an independent scientific institute such as WUR has no business taking a position in a political conflict.
Ukraine
The fact that this was the case in the Ukraine issue is the result of the Dutch government insisting (at the behest of Minister of Education Dijkgraaf) that all ‘formal and institutional partnerships with Russia and Belarus be put on hold’, says Mol. Moreover, the conflict is taking place on the European continent, and there is a broad consensus within WUR and the Netherlands at large on the position taken.
Mol underscores the value of an open dialogue within WUR on this and similar conflicts throughout the world. The EB taking political positions reduces the room for dialogue, he says. WUR facilitates dialogue by allowing meetings such as those by Wageningen 4 Palestine. Studium Generale also focused on the conflict this week.
