1,256 students and alumni of Morocco's Mohammed VI Polytechnic University have urged the university to sever partnerships with Israeli institutions, according to a petition they signed. In a press release sent Thursday to Yabiladi, the signatories also call on professors and students from other Moroccan universities to join the movement against what they term «academic normalization». This is not the first attempt by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University students to end academic normalization. In May, students and alumni submitted a letter to the university's presidency, calling for the termination of its partnerships with «Israeli institutions involved in occupation, apartheid, war crimes, and genocide against the Palestinian people», the press release reads. Despite being invited to a dialogue and meeting with a university representative, the administration refused to terminate these partnerships, the press release added. «This initiative reflects our desire for our university to take a principled stance in history. As representatives of the university, we cannot remain silent about the current situation, given our concern for the ethical and humane position of our institution», the statement reads. The university's students and alumni also declare that they reject and distance themselves from the «agreements between our university and its Israeli partners, who are involved in occupation, apartheid, war crimes, and genocide in Gaza». «We are determined to continue our efforts through all legitimate means and firmly oppose the ongoing partnerships between our university and those engaged in such activities», the statement added. According to the signatories, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University has reportedly established the «largest number of partnerships and hosted visits from high-level delegations» from Israeli institutions. The university even created a special position, «Chargé d'affaires to the president in charge of Israeli partnerships», the students say. These partnerships, the statement details, include eight Israeli universities and higher education institutions, Israeli companies, and research centers, such as: Bar-Ilan University, Ben-Gurion University, Tel Aviv University, Academic College of Western Galilee, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Institute of Technology (Technion), Reichman University (Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center), and Sapir College. In May, professors and employees of Abdelmalek Saadi University in Tetouan signed a similar petition, demanding the cancellation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between their university and the University of Haifa in Israel in September 2022. The petition was signed by over 600 professors and staff from 12 university institutions.
