NEW YORK (EJP)---The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged the European Union to disqualify any university that adopts an anti-Israel academic boycott from participating in the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme.
The Jewish group, which fights against anti-Semitism worldwide, said the board of Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, a participant in the Erasmus program, is slated to consider an anti-Israel academic boycott resolution on November 12.
While Norway is not a member of the European Union, the Trondheim institution benefits from its participation in Erasmus, the ADL said.
In a letter to European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Maros Sefcovic, ADL national director Abraham H. Foxman noted the Commissioner’s “unique position to have a positive influence” in working to counter anti-Israel academic boycotts.
“Academic boycotts are clearly antithetical to the spirit and purpose of the Erasmus program to enhance academic cooperation,” said Foxman., calling the EU Commissioner to make clear that “there is no place within the Erasmus program, or any of the E.U.’s Lifelong Learning programs, for institutions that adopt a policy of boycotting Israeli academics and institutions.”
Erasmus is the EU’s flagship education and training programme, enabling more than 180,000 students to study and work abroad each year, as well as supporting cooperation actions between higher education institutions across Europe.