Condemning NYU’s “go local” plan at the TLV campus
GSOC-UAW condemns NYU’s decision to use the Tel Aviv Academic center for their “Go Local” plan as a way to tackle government restrictions on travel in and out of the U.S. Using the Tel Aviv academic center is discriminatory and in violation of NYU’s own policies. GSOC members have voted to close the center at Tel-Aviv, and now demand that NYU immediately remove the center as a “Go Local” site and take steps to close the center entirely.
NYU’s Tel Aviv academic center is in collaboration with Tel Aviv University, built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Sheikh Muwanis. The university plays a major role in sustaining Israel’s illegal occupation and military offensives, through supplying research, legal and technological infrastructure, and resources to the Israeli military and government. It has contributed to the design and execution of war crimes against Palestinians.1 GSOC condemns NYU’s relationship with an institution that legitimize Apartheid and builds on the subjugation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
While NYU students who are citizens of Israel will be able to attend classes, enjoy the facilities, and maintain in-person contact with professors and instructors, Palestinian NYU students living in the West Bank and Gaza will be prohibited from using the same learning facilities. The NYU academic center in Tel Aviv is also not open to other NYU students, including Palestinians with international passports, citizens of neighboring countries in the Middle East, and students of all nationalities who have expressed criticism of Israeli policy or are active in the BDS movement.2 We condemn these inequalities and call on NYU to uphold its own professed commitment to the principles of nondiscrimination and equality. While NYU claims to enforce non-discrimination policies and to ensure safety for students and workers, it fails to extend these values to Palestinians, and violates its own non-discrimination policy.
1 Tel
Aviv
University
–A
Leading
Israeli
Military
Research
CentrePrepared
By
SOAS
Palestine
Society (2009)https://pacbi.org/pics/file/SOAS-Palestine-Society-Paper-TAU-Military-Complicity-Feb-2009.pdf
2 Israel regularly bars US citizens of Palestinian descent as well as activists that had been involved in BDS activities from entering Israel, now legally permitted under the 2017 travel ban law.
GSOC stands in solidarity with Palestinians who are directly affected by Israel’s Apartheid laws and are subjected to human rights violations on a daily basis, and we affirm their right to education and academic freedom.
In solidarity, GSOC-UAW Local 2110
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Find NYU’s announcement email here