The last year and a half of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has devastated Palestine’s entire education system in a systematic programme of scholasticide. This has resulted not only in the destruction of every university in Gaza but also in the killing of hundreds of academic staff and of thousands of students. UN experts report that most educational facilities, including public libraries, have been damaged or destroyed, leaving the children and students of an entire population without access to education.

Israel’s horrific aggression against Gaza has provoked widespread revulsion. The need to show solidarity with Palestine has never been greater, and for academics the most effective action is to boycott Israel’s higher education institutions, all of which are deeply complicit in Israel’s apartheid regime.

The Academic Commitment for Human Rights in Palestine

As scholars associated with UK universities, and responding to the call from Palestinian civil society, we declare that we will not:

  • accept invitations to visit Israeli academic institutions;
  • act as referees in any of their processes;
  • participate in conferences funded, organised or sponsored by them, or otherwise cooperate with them.

We will, however, continue to work with our Israeli colleagues in their individual capacities.

This commitment is our response to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the intolerable human rights violations inflicted on all sections of the Palestinian people. We will maintain this position until the State of Israel complies with international law, and respects universal principles of human rights.

We are now asking you, if you are a UK academic, whether currently employed or not, to honour these call from our Palestinian colleagues by:

  • Sign the commitment below  
  • Encourage your your academic and teaching friends, your work colleagues and your associates to sign too.
  • Add a link to this commitment in your email signature

Sign the Commitment

Add your name


A full statement of the case for an academic boycott is available in the booklet Why Boycott Israel’s Universities? published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) see: https://www.bricup.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRICUP-Why-Boycott-Israeli-Universities-Second-Edition-May-2025.pdf