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The Petition and Letter for Academic Boycott at OIST 沖縄科学技術大学院（OIST）における学術ボイコットへの呼びかけ・署名運動

和訳文はこのリンクを通して読んでください。

Written by OISTers for Ethics and Humanity

[email protected]
Signatures from both OISTers and general public welcome!
OISTに所属しない一般の方でも署名できます。
Here is the signature form. Your signature will be added to the end of the letter with online updates, publicly. This form does not collect e-mail addresses and signatures can be anonymous. Only one response per person is allowed.　
署名フォームは次にあります。署名はレターの末尾に追加され、オンラインで公開されます。このフォームでは電子メール アドレスは収集されず、署名は匿名でもかまいません。回答は一人につき 1 回のみとさせていただきます。

Signature form here 署名書

Scroll to find the submit button at the bottom. 提出ボタンは最後にあります、スクロールしてください。

Name (you can write Anonymous) 名前（匿名も可能）

Do you agree with the demands below? 要求に賛同しますか？

Do you agree with the demands below? 要求に賛同しますか？
A

Are you affiliated with OIST? If so, what is your position? (PhD Student, Faculty, Postdoc, Admin, Staff, RUA, Intern, Special Research Student...)

OISTに所属していますか?

Any general public and OIST member can sign, including sections such as OIST Innovation, Child Development Center, Ganjuu etc. 一般社会の方も署名は可能です！
Are you affiliated with OIST? If so, what is your position? (PhD Student, Faculty, Postdoc, Admin, Staff, RUA, Intern, Special Research Student...) OISTに所属していますか?
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K

Email - optional for us to later update you on the status of the letter (anonymously with bcc) メール

Any comments or messages to share with us? 
We will summarize and relay the anonymous messages as well. コメント、メッセージなど

Scroll to find the submit button at the bottom. 提出ボタンは最後にあります、スクロールしてください。

Note 1: The Israeli ambassador visited our institute on 19 September 2024. We protested this visit (1,2). Our statement of condemnation of the decision can be found on our Instagram page (3). OIST stated that the purpose of the visit was “to promote academic exchange and dialogue. … and to discuss future collaborations between researchers and universities” (4). This again ignores the Israeli state and its institutions’ role in sustaining the occupation and genocide of the Palestinians. The protest is not a mere matter of free speech: it is a rejection of OIST’s shameful complicity and a demand for the fulfillment of OIST’s ethical duty to reject partnerships that perpetuate oppression. In light of this blatant normalization, we again demand a full academic boycott of Israeli institutions until Israel halts its unlawful actions.

Note 2: Also on 18 September, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (5,6), requiring all governments reconsider their partnerships with Israel and place sanctions. Academic institutions must also heed this call. In line with this resolution, we reiterate our demand for a full academic boycott of Israeli universities and institutes.

The Letter

Dear OIST Community, Board of Governors and Board of Councilors, and President,

OIST, as an institution dedicated to social progress, cannot remain passive in the face of Israeli genocide against Palestinians. Silence is not neutrality—it is complicity. If we truly oppose violence and uphold human rights, we must act against the Israeli occupation and genocide, as acknowledged by the UN, international courts, and human rights organizations.

As scientists in Japan, we are required to pledge adherence to the national Security Export Control (SEC) framework which prevents contributions to military development in the name of world peace. This pledge must be consistent with our actions. As our policy states (7): “…Great care must be exercised not to violate national laws and regulations and relevant United Nations resolutions, intentionally or unintentionally. The Security Export Control Officer should be consulted to ensure full compliance with these regulations.”

We call on our researchers—students, staff, and faculty—to reconsider collaborations with Israeli institutions, challenge our institute's complicity, and join the demands for academic boycott. We each have a responsibility to ensure the ethical use of science. Let us stand up.

Our Demands

1. We urge our administration to work towards the removal of the Weizmann Institute of Science from the BRIDGE Network.  
1.a If that is not possible, we demand OIST withdraw and distance itself from the BRIDGE Network. 

2. We demand a clear statement in OIST Policy, Rules and Procedures (PRP) affirming that OIST is committed not to participate or collaborate in military research, either directly or indirectly via partnerships with institutions involved in military research that threaten world peace. 

3. Along with submitting this letter, we demand a meeting with the administration, namely the Board of Governors, Board of Councilors and the President to discuss the prospects of our demand in detail. 
To substantiate our demands, in the remainder of this letter we discuss:  

1.      The moral imperative and obligation for the boycott, based on the lawful recognition of the illegal Israeli occupation, genocide and scholasticide (or educide) being enacted on the Palestinian people.

2.      The Weizmann Institute’s complicity in the occupation and genocide through their research, outreach and industry relationships involving major Israeli weapons manufacturers and official social media content and statements in multiple open letters jointly penned by their executives.

3.      The BRIDGE network and the problematic inclusion of the Weizmann Institute of Science, as it contradicts the principles of the network, as well as threatening our institution’s position and moral and ethical credibility.

Please read and join us in our demands by signing this letter at the end. We recommend you also read the FAQs about the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) academic boycott to avoid any misunderstandings:
FAQ by PACBI (1, 2), by Writers Against the War on Gaza (3) annd Anthroboycott (4)
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Academic Boycott as a moral imperative and an obligation within legal frameworks 

For nearly a year, we have witnessed countless atrocities and been deeply disturbed by the inhumanity and depravity inflicted on our fellow global citizens. Beyond “plausibly” violating the Genocide Convention as a culmination of decades of illegal occupation and oppression (8–10), Israel's actions are threatening global stability and dismantling any semblance of order based on international laws, rules and accountability.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has unequivocally determined in an advisory opinion that all states are legally obligated not to recognize any situation resulting from Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, nor to provide any form of aid or assistance that sustains its occupation (11). This requires all governments to reconsider partnerships with Israel as long as it persists in its unlawful occupation.

The phase of naïve hope for good-faith dialogue must end; it is now imperative to take collective action through sanctions and boycotts to render such genocidal operations unsustainable. This is not only a moral imperative, but also an obligation with a firm grounding in international law that has recognized Israel as an illegally occupying apartheid state.

Additionally, as an academic institution, we have a responsibility to recognize the "scholasticide"—the systematic targeting of Palestinian scholars, students, and educational institutions. This campaign is rooted in historical ethnic cleansing dating back to the Nakba of 1948 and aims to undermine Palestinian progress by annihilating their higher education sector and denying them their fundamental rights (12).

The most recent deliberate attacks on civilians and education in Gaza have led to the deaths, injuries, displacement, and imprisonment of countless academics and students, constituting a profound encroachment on academic freedom (13). Just between October 7, 2023, and January 27, 2024, over 4,000 students and 200 educators—including professors, deans, chairs, and presidents— were killed (13,14). We must stand up for these individuals, who, each with ambitions and a story, are our counterparts, our colleagues in the global academic community.

Concurrently, Israeli universities have long supported and legitimized these policies through collaboration with the state and military, including working with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and conducting research to design and reinforce state policies (15,16). We must reject involvement with these genocidal apparatuses and apply boycotts and sanctions. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has led the nonviolent, rights-based campaign to challenge Israel's ongoing occupation and genocide, urging global civil society to act where governments have failed (17,18). We are not an anomaly in joining this demand: many academic communities across the globe have already heeded the PACBI call to boycott and taken organized action with varying but increasing success.

The BRIDGE network and the Weizmann Institute of Science

The BRIDGE (Basic Research Institutions Delivering Graduate Education) Network was inaugurated in 2019 with OIST as a founding member along with the Francis Crick Institute, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Weizmann Institute of Science and The Rockefeller University (57). The official charter states that it aims to enhance collaboration and exchange between its members and that “the combined expertise … shall be used to the benefit of science and society” (58).

However, due to their research partnerships with Israeli weapons manufacturers and open justification of their state’s genocidal actions, including Israeli universities in such institutional collaborative networks, in our case the Weizmann Institute of Science, contradicts the Network’s mission of benefiting society.

Additionally, beyond contradicting the network’s mission, OIST’s institutional position and values are compromised by this partnership. We urge a reevaluation also based on OIST’s position of not collaborating with the military or accepting military-related funding (59) and our pledges to security export control (7). It is contradictory to have such a position and pledge while maintaining an openly collaborative relationship with the Weizmann Institute, which actively collaborates with the Israeli war industry whose weapons are used to commit genocide and enforce an illegal apartheid regime against Palestinians. By associating with such institutions, OIST is indirectly linked to these atrocities and numerous violations of international law.

Moreover, given the two specific aims of the network (58) — 1. addressing issues of common concern and 2. developing unified positions toward third parties (both national and international)—we risk compromising our moral and ethical stance. This could happen either by being influenced by their positions or by becoming complicit through our collaboration if we fail to challenge their actions. As per the PACBI guidelines, excluding Weizmann will reaffirm our commitment to these principles and ensure our collaborative network does not endorse injustice.

https://storage.tally.so/9c1896d1-d92f-46d8-878a-8e82ce73bbc3/20190606-BRIDGEnetwork-Hoke-Henzinger-Collins-Nurse-Zajfman.jpeg
Press conference for the BRIDGE Network, June 5, 2019 (https://www.oist.jp/image/bridge-network) From left to right, Mr. Franklin Hoke, Associated Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs of Rockefeller University, Dr. Tom Henzinger, President of IST Austria, Dr. Mary Collins, Provost of OIST, Paul Nurse, President of the Francis Crick Institute and Dr. Daniel Zajfman, President of the Weizmann Institute.

The Complicity of Weizmann Institute of Science

So how exactly is the Weizmann Institute complicit?

Academia-Industry relationships with major Israeli weapons manufacturers, which are directly involved in the genocide

The Weizmann Institute's collaborations with Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industries make it complicit in war crimes and illegal occupation practices. Both companies supply military technologies used in the enforcement of Israel's occupation and settlement expansion, including surveillance and drone systems. Examples of these collaborations are:

a. The Weizmann Institute held an industry-academia brainstorming session with the Elbit Systems (19). The public release for this meeting says:

“Over the past few months, we have discussed with Elbit's team how to integrate Weizmann Institute's scientific innovation to accelerate the company's development, and we decided to focus on military camouflage as a main challenge we can address together. We met with leading researchers at the Weizmann Institute Dvir Gur, Lia Addadi, Dan Oron, Assaf Gal, Filipe Natalio for a joint industry-academia brainstorming session. We discussed the potential of synthetic biology and metamaterials in helping soldiers and vehicles avoid detection by advanced technologies in various conditions. It was a great meeting that sparked exciting possibilities for a fruitful collaboration!”

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b. Michael Federmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elbit and biggest owner, was a member of the Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute (20,21).

c. The Weizmann Institute has a collaboration with both Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industries for a Space Telescope project through a $16 Million contract (22).

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d. The Weizmann Institute initiated with Elbit a program to train high school pupils in electro-optics (23).

The "Physics & Industry" program was a collaboration between the Weizmann Institute's Davidson Institute and Elbit Systems. According to its project report (23), it led to over 200 students being accepted into advanced technological units during their army service in the Israeli military. Many graduates later pursued academic careers in engineering and medicine, with long-term connections maintained. This partnership underscores the deep entanglement between Israel’s educational institutions and its defense sector, preparing students for military roles and reinforcing militarization through academic-industrial collaboration.

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Research and Outreach that support the military and settler activities of Israeli state.

a. The Weizmann Institute and its non-profit educational arm, Davidson Institute of Science Education, offer a Gap Year program (“mechina” or “mechinot”) for high school seniors, to prepare them for “meaningful military service” (24,25)

This program is one of the many “mechina” programs - officially recognized gap-year pre-military training programs for high school graduates (25,26), authorized by and therefore coordinated with the Ministry of Defense. The official webpage of this “Israel’s first and only science mechina program”  (27) itself reads (24):

“The one-year gap year scientific training program seeks to: … Prepare participants for their military service. Students become familiar with the nature and requirements of various IDF units, work on combat fitness, conducting tours, and develop their … leadership skills.”

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Notably, mechina students go on to join elite commando units and take up high-level roles in the IDF (28–31) as recognized and praised by the government. According to the representative organization of all fifty-four mechinot in Israel, Joint Council of Mechinot (JCM) (26):

“Between 40 and 60 percent of the members who graduate in every IDF flight school class are mechina alumni, as are between 19 and 25 percent of those who complete every naval officer training class. Mechina graduates account for some 10 percent of IDF soldiers honored every year by the president and are well represented in the ranks of soldiers honored by their units as well.”

Thus, the Weizmann Institute and its Davidson Institute play a crucial role in the nation's ideologization and militarization of the Israeli youth by preparing them for military service through gap-year programs which reinforce the brutal displacement of Palestinians, while funneling graduates into “elite military units” with pride and recognition.

b. Illegal archaeological research activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) that support illegal settlement expansion

Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have been involved in illegal archaeological activities and settlement projects in the oPt, contributing to the ongoing displacement and marginalization of Palestinian communities.

In the West Bank, Israeli universities, including the Weizmann Institute, have participated in controversial excavations and research at the Qumran caves and other sites (32,33). Despite international laws, such as the 1954 Hague Convention and UNESCO guidelines, which prohibit occupying powers from conducting archaeological work in occupied territories (34), Israeli institutions have continued to explore and claim artifacts from these areas. The Weizmann Institute, alongside Tel Aviv University and the Israeli Antiquities Authority, conducted research on scrolls and artifacts from Wadi Murabba’at (35).

These actions violate international regulations by involving the systematic seizure and research of artifacts from Palestinian lands, contributing to a scholarly ecosystem that supports Israeli nationalist agendas.

In East Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute is part of a broader network collaborating on archaeological projects in the City of David (Ir David) and Silwan (36). This area is illegally occupied since 1967 and is subject to Israeli efforts to legitimize and expand settlements through archaeological and tourism ventures. The City of David site is managed in part by the settler organization Elad, and serves as a tool for promoting a revisionist historical narrative and justifying the expansion of illegal settlements (37). According to the annual report of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) (38), “the designation of national parks and archaeological sites and their promotion for Israeli and international tourism continues to contribute to consolidating Israeli civilian presence and control over land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

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Therefore, archaeological work in this area is closely tied to efforts that facilitate the eviction of Palestinian families and the establishment of Israeli settlements in their place, and their active exclusion from the extraction of economic resources (39). This context underscores how academic research in which Weizmann Institute is actively partaking is being used to support and legitimize illegal settlement activities, further exacerbating the displacement and disenfranchisement of Palestinian communities.

Staunch and vocal support for the Israeli state and Israel Defense Forces’ operations in Gaza and West Bank, oPt and spreading state propaganda

a. Open letters calling on international counterparts to “stand with Israel”

In multiple open letters, the executives and academics of the Weizmann Institute, within their official capacities, have called on the international academic community to stand with Israel with a highly biased narrative that mirrors the Israeli state propaganda.

Weizmann Institute’s former president who is pictured on the OIST website for the BRIDGE network (40), Prof. Daniel Zajfman, now chair of the Israel Science Foundation, co-signed an open letter titled “Israel’s Gravest Crisis” (41), which defends Israel’s military actions as self-defense and calls for unwavering support for its research and education. At the same time, current president Prof. Alon Chen and other Israeli university leaders issued a letter (42,43) condemning perceived anti-Israel sentiment in academia, framing it as unjustified and anti-Semitic. Both letters perpetuate Israeli state propaganda, depicting Israel as a victim and Palestinian lives taken as collateral damage in the efforts of “self-defense”.

The executives and academics of the Weizmann Institute openly discussed the aims of these letters in zoom series published on their official YouTube channel, and excerpts are read out by the current President Prof. Alon Chen (44). They repeatedly express “disappointment” in the responses they have seen worldwide from university administrations and characterize student campus protests as ignorant and “morally confused”. They talk of information slides that their communication section has prepared that their scientists can take to the conferences to present or argue with “the facts”. In the same video, answering a question about “how to confront and address all kinds of accusations”, Prof. Ruth Scherz-Shouval from the Department of Biomolecular Sciences described how they “respond only with facts”.

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Despite their supposed commitment to facts as scientists, it is striking that throughout the video they use references that are almost exclusively sourced from Israeli state propaganda, rather than other reputable, third-party intergovernmental agencies such as UN and WHO. They also fail to acknowledge the well documented war crimes and the illegal occupation by the Israeli state and the IDF.

Furthermore, framing Israel’s actions as self-defense as done so repeatedly in the letters and other official communications discussed above, directly contradicts the established legal framework of self-defense. In 2004, the ICJ ruled that Israel could not invoke self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter to justify the construction of its Wall in the oPt (56). Much more recently, in July 2024, the ICJ went further, stating that Israel’s very presence in the oPt is unlawful, and as such, any justification of its occupation as an act of self-defense is void (11).

We call out this deliberate distortion of the law on self-defense, shamelessly echoed by the Weizmann Institute's representatives and public relations apparatus and condemn it for what it is: an attempt to legitimize the ongoing unlawful genocidal aggression.

b.      Via public relations channels on social media

A short walk through the social media accounts on Instagram (45) and Facebook (46,47) of the Weizmann Institute of Science also demonstrates their staunch support for the Israeli state and Israel Defense Forces (IDF). On Instagram, there are multiple recent posts celebrating the students serving as reserve soldiers who acknowledge and thank the institute for its support (48–50).

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In the video “Truth among colleagues” (51), Professor Michal revisits their call for declarations condemning the October 7th attack, stating in an Instagram post that they are “continuously issuing such calls” and warning that “silence is really … dangerous, and in times like this, leadership needs to provide a moral compass… a terrorist attack on civilians is a war crime, it’s not a political issue.” While professing a supposedly apolitical stand against injustice, their focus remains singularly on the Israeli hostages, with numerous posts counting the days since October 7th wishing for their return (52–54), yet not a single mention is made of the brutal genocide or scholasticide of Palestinians. The contradiction is glaring: their commitment to the hostages’ safe return stands in direct opposition to their unwavering support for the Israeli government and army, which have repeatedly undermined ceasefire negotiations.

In the video “Standing by our values: a message from Prof. Roee Ozeri” with a speech by Professor Roee Ozeri, who is also the Vice President of Development and Communications, he claims that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “clash of values” (55). He presents Israel as a symbol or “lighthouse” of enlightenment and progress, claiming “the global jihad has been the worst enemy of Palestinians”. This rhetoric mirrors Israeli state propaganda, aiming to deflect criticism and absolve Israel of its responsibility in the 76-year-long systemic oppression and the current brutal genocide against Palestinians.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Weizmann Institute's partnerships with the Israeli occupation and military-industrial complex, along with its endorsement of state propaganda and illegal activities, compromise its commitment to ethical and human rights principles. Its involvement in controversial archaeological projects, support for military technologies through Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industries, and preparation of students for military service directly contribute to the perpetuation of the illegal occupation, systemic oppression and the currently ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

We urge our administration to remove the Weizmann Institute from the BRIDGE Network, as its inclusion undermines the Network's mission and threatens our moral and ethical standing as an institution. We call on our community to support this demand by signing this letter and request a meeting with the executives to address these critical issues.

References

Find the references in this separate document: click here.