The University of Campinas (Unicamp), one of Brazil’s most prestigious public universities, announced on Tuesday (30) that it has terminated its cooperation agreement with Israel’s Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), citing opposition to what it described as genocide in Gaza.
The partnership was originally established to promote academic cooperation. But in a statement, Unicamp’s rector Paulo Cesar Montagner said the escalation of Israeli military actions had reached “an unacceptable level of violations of human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.”
The decision was announced during a meeting of Unicamp’s University Council and later published on the institution’s official website and social media. The rector recalled that Unicamp had already expressed concern over the situation in Gaza on two previous occasions.
Students camped outside the university’s administration building throughout the day, demanding a vote on a motion to end the partnership with the Israeli institute. The motion was not voted on, as the agreement had already been formally rescinded.
Faculty and students had also approved a motion condemning what they described as atrocities committed by Israel. “We are for life. We are against genocide,” said Débora Jefrey, director of Unicamp’s School of Education.
