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A top university of Belgium cuts ties with Israeli institutions due to Gaza bombings

Belgium’s University of Ghent has announced it is cutting ties with three Israeli educational and research institutions, citing a conflict with its human rights policy, according to the rectorate.

“We now view these three partners as problematic based on the Ghent University human rights assessment, contrasting with the positive evaluation at the beginning of our collaboration,” said Rik Van de Walle, University of Ghent’s rector, on Friday.

Van de Walle specified that the university is ending its collaborations with the Holon Institute of Technology, MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, and the Volcani Center, which specializes in agricultural research.

This decision comes amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at the university against Israel’s operations in Gaza, affecting four current projects. The Israeli institutions have yet to comment.

The university’s investigation raised concerns about MIGAL and Volcani’s affiliations with Israeli ministries and the Holon Institute’s support for the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, deeming these collaborations “undesirable,” according to the findings.

Protesters at the university welcomed the decision but described it as only a first step, pledging to continue their occupation until the university severs all ties with Israeli institutions.

Meanwhile, Amal Clooney played a crucial role in aiding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in evaluating evidence that led to the decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders.

The prominent British-Lebanese human rights lawyer shared a statement on the Clooney Foundation for Justice website, an organization she co-founded with her husband, American actor George Clooney.

Both she and the foundation had previously faced criticism on social media for their silence regarding the civilian casualties in Gaza.

Clooney revealed that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had invited her to join an expert panel to “evaluate evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza.”

The statement coincided with Khan’s announcement that he was pursuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with leading figures from Hamas.

“Despite our diverse personal backgrounds, our legal findings are unanimous,” Clooney stated, highlighting that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh committed acts of “hostage-taking, murder, and crimes of sexual violence.”

Regarding Netanyahu and Gallant, Clooney noted that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” they engaged in “starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution, and extermination.”

Khan expressed his gratitude to Clooney in his statement announcing the pursuit of the arrest warrants.

Additionally, Clooney and other panel members authored an opinion piece in the Financial Times on Monday, advocating for ICC prosecutions for war crimes related to the conflict.

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I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.

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