(Adnkronos) – Stop Erasmus agreements with Israeli institutes. This is the decision of the Academic Senate of the University of Palermo, which decided to suspend the agreements “in the context of the Ka171 and Ka220-Hde programme” due to the “failure of the essential safety guarantees to which any parties involved in cooperative partnerships they would be exposed in this particular and delicate moment of international crisis”. As regards the broader topic of agreements with universities, research centers and companies, the University aims to establish “procedures based on maximum transparency of due diligence, starting preliminary work for the development of an ad hoc regulation on dual use, which should be completed by the summer break”. Alongside these initiatives, support measures for the Palestinian education system are currently being studied aimed at “guaranteeing the right to study through the establishment of humanitarian corridors and scholarships and the organization of cultural moments of information and training”, also in collaboration with national and international networks, addressed not only to the university community but to the entire city to “deconstruct the stereotyped and ideological interpretation of the clash between civilizations and religions which polarizes the current public debate, making use of the indications, requests and proposals that come from the teaching staff and students.” The initiatives that make up the policy document approved by the Academic Senate will be presented at a public meeting to be held on June 19th. “We are talking about nothing. The word ‘boycott’ has never been used in my University and never will be. There is no boycott of Israel, we have simply made official a situation that has been going on for some time. Our priority is the protection of students and teachers”. Massimo Midiri, rector of the University of Palermo, told Adnkronos. A decision that today the University Minister, Anna Maria Bernini, criticized, underlining that universities “do not take sides” and are “bridge builders”. Words that the rector of Unipa “fully” agrees with. “I fully agree with the minister in the concept that the University must be a bridge of diplomacy – underlines Midiri – so much so that the Academic Senate has decided to launch a bipartisan cultural study on the topic. It is our duty to listen to all voices and we are trying to get opposing factions to talk, a convergence operation that can only be achieved in a cultural environment.” Midiri reiterates that “it is not a revocation or an interruption, but a suspension”, a temporary stop, explains the number one of Unipa, linked to two reasons. First a fact. “These agreements, both the exchange of students and that of data and information between universities, had been at a standstill for some time now – he underlines -. We have done nothing more than make official a situation that already existed”. Finally, ensure the safety of students. “The other reason is related to safety. There is too much excitement and the main objective for us is always to make the lives of our students safe.” In short, underlines Rector Midiri, the interruption decided by the Academic Senate is a “temporary” interruption linked to the worsening of the crisis which “we hope can find a solution in the next few days”. “Nothing has been definitively interrupted – he concludes -, once the crisis is over we will restart contacts. And in the meantime we have started a process of bipartisan cultural study on events that deserve a surplus of reflection because there is also a lot of ignorance about the genesis of the facts”. —[email protected] (Web Info)
