As signatories of this pledge, we; staff, research students, and associations at the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich, Empa, Eawag, PSI, ZHdK, ZHAW, and other institutions of higher education and research in Zurich, individually, but within our responsibilities as members of the academic sphere, commit to the actions outlined below. We are acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people to end Israel’s regime of occupation, settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide in Gaza (1–5), guided by numerous statements from the management of our institutions placing emphasis on individual academic freedom in making decisions on research collaborations and relationships. We are more broadly motivated by a commitment to ethics-driven research, but highlight the case of Israel due to the inaction and complicity of our institutions throughout two years of a livestreamed genocide.
As members of the academic community, we also see a particular need to speak out and act in solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza, who are victims of what has widely been described as a “scholasticide” (6). In the year following October 2023, at least 117 university staff members and 681 university students were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza (7), and all 12 universities in Gaza were damaged or destroyed (8), along with 90% of school buildings (9), cultural centres, archives, libraries, and museums (10). In response, in 2024 the ICC issued arrest warrants for Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity (11). The situation in Gaza has deteriorated since October 2024, leading to a catastrophic health emergency (2) and widespread famine as confirmed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) (12). As a result of independent investigations, The United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) declared that Israel’s policies and actions met the legal definition of genocide (4,5). In spite of these reports and measures, the Israeli government openly announced its plans to illegally annex the West Bank (13), and in August 2025 launched a ground invasion into Gaza city despite widespread international condemnation of the mass Palestinian suffering caused by the resulting siege (14).
The catastrophic consequences of Israel’s disregard for human rights - not only in their genocidal war against Gaza, but also in maintaining an apartheid state (15) - as determined by the ICJ - demands institutional and individual action. As legal observers - including 31 law professors in Switzerland (16) - have made clear, public institutions around the world, including universities, have a duty to respond to Israel’s actions to avoid institutional complicity (1,5). Inaction in the face of these international crimes only serves to accelerate the systematic dismantling of transnational structures established to guarantee human rights following the evils of two World Wars and the Holocaust.
The complicity of Israeli academic institutions in the violation of Palestinian human rights has been extensively documented (1,17,18). Institutions such as the Weizmann Institute, Technion University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of Haifa are embedded within the Israeli military-industrial complex, developing military technologies and surveillance infrastructure central to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, as well as hosting their military academies and educating the Israeli officer class. Israeli universities also develop the moral, academic, and legal frameworks to rationalise or deny Israeli crimes against Palestinians (19) while systematically discriminating against Palestinian students and staff and actively participating in the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands (17,20).
A list of academic institutions and their role in the violation of Palestinian rights is provided in Table 1. In view of their structural ties with the Israeli military, Table 1 highlights the importance of immediately halting any material support provided by researchers in Switzerland to these institutions:
Table 1: Academic institutions in Israel with direct ties to the military, which develop technologies used in the expansion of illegal colonies and the violation of Palestinian human rights, have campuses on occupied territory in violation of international law, or are otherwise involved in developing the legal and normative framework to justify the ongoing genocide and apartheid.
Aware of these facts, several universities worldwide have cut ties or initiated an urgent re-assessment of collaborations providing material support to Israeli academic and research institutions (47–53). In stark contrast to these concrete steps taken by universities in compliance with their responsibilities under international law, our institutions have responded to attempts to highlight their complicity with heavy repression, threatening academic consequences and in the case of ETH Zurich, launching criminal proceedings against its own students for a peaceful, non-disruptive sit-in. This represents a clear violation of the fundamental human right to peaceful assembly, as outlined in a recent report by the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of assembly and association (54).
The Genocide, Apartheid and Geneva Conventions are Jus Cogens to which Switzerland is a signatory State. It is therefore our duty as members of State institutions to ensure full compliance with these norms. In light of this and the ICJ and ICC advisory opinions and rulings calling upon States to ensure an end to the apartheid system, the illegal occupation of the occupied Palestinian Territories and the genocide unfolding in Gaza we must take all relevant actions to ensure that our Institutions are in line with these binding demands.
Zurich Declaration of Conscientious Objection
On the basis of the facts outlined above, we - staff, research students, and associations at the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich, Empa, Eawag, ZHdK, ZHAW, and other institutions of higher education in Zurich - use our academic freedoms to commit to the following pledges:
- As individual members and associations within the academic sphere we refuse to engage in any capacity with companies involved in weapons manufacturing or otherwise profiting from the arms trade, which includes but is not limited to:
- Direct research collaborations with such companies.
- Research projects wholly or partially funded by such companies.
- Attendance at conferences sponsored or held in partnership with such companies.
- Similarly, we commit to a clear policy of refusing to work in any capacity with companies or organizations1 that profit from the violation of international human rights. In particular, we highlight the participation of companies in the violation of Palestinian human rights, as per the UN Database “Business Enterprises Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolutions 31/36 and 53/25” and the Report by the UN-Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide” from June 16, 2025.
- Recognising the deep structural ties between the Israeli academic institutions and the Israeli military-industrial complex, we commit to avoid providing the institutions listed above2 with direct or indirect financial support. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Refusing to write or collaborate on (national or international) funding grants listing the highlighted Israeli academic institutions, recognising how such grants contribute financially to complicit institutions via overhead contributions and shared facilities. We highlight that this does not rule out individual research collaborations, but prevents the transfer of money and material support to institutions complicit in genocide.
- Participating in individual or institutional research exchange programs involving any financial benefit to the highlighted Israeli academic institutions (including but not limited to unpaid research work where the costs are borne by the University of Zurich or ETH Zurich).
- Attendance at conferences, schools, or workshops hosted by Israeli academic institutions from which they receive any financial benefit (for example, in the form of registration or accommodation fees).
- Provision of funding for the attendance at conferences or workshops hosted by Israeli academic institutions from which they receive any financial benefit (for example, in the form of registration or accommodation fees)
- We will support initiatives that enable access for Gazan students to academic institutions in Zurich, foster collaboration with Palestinian scholars and researchers, and which aim to rebuild Gazan academia, following the admirable example initially set up by the ETH Support Group Ukraine and the workshop on “Rebuilding and Strengthening Ukrainian Science and Innovation in Support of Economic Recovery”
- For example, we highlight the fundraiser for students in Gaza, endorsed by Students for Palestine Zurich, which raises money to cover fees for university students in Gaza to try to ensure the continuation of Gazan academia: https://chuffed.org/project/sfp-gaza-fundraiser.
- We will speak out against attempts to silence and criminalise Palestine solidarity work on Zurich campuses, and will support those facing repression within the framework of their constitutional rights following the recommendations made by the UN-Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly for universities worldwide on the 2nd of October 2024 (55). This includes calling on ETH Zurich to drop the criminal charges against the peaceful sit-in protesters of May 2024.
- Where possible, we commit to avoiding the future purchase of products and services of companies1,3 that are complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights within our roles as members of the university sphere. This includes a commitment to not provide consumer goods linked to the violation of Palestinian rights at events held on campus.
This call is unchanged by the ceasefire agreement in Gaza: Israel has a documented history of violating and nullifying ceasefire agreements (55,56), including the Gaza ceasefire agreement signed in January 2025 as well as the current ceasefire agreement, which in any case did not address the occupation in the West Bank or the wider apartheid regime. This pledge will continue to take effect until these violations of the rights of Palestinians cease.
1 See Appendix A
2 See Table 1
3 Due to their near unavoidability, the use of Microsoft services such as Outlook and Word, Cisco Secure Client, and Google services such as the Google Search Engine and Google Drive are exempt from this pledge, although it is encouraged to seek alternatives.
References
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Appendix A
The following is a non-exhaustive list of companies and institutions explicitly named in reports by (a) the OHCHR (A/HRC/60/19) (57) and (b) the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories (1) as being involved in violations of Palestinian human rights.
The following companies and institutions have been highlighted as legitimate targets to avoid with respect to research collaborations and sponsorships as well as a consuming/using their products where possible.
The following companies and institutions have been highlighted as legitimate targets who‘s goods and services should be avoided.
