Wageningen Encampment

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University’s campus was strategically laid on the Mount Scopus in 1918 and opened in 1925. It was then expanded in West Jerusalem, by setting-up its Giv’at Ram campus on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Sheikh Badr, whose residents were expelled by the Haganah paramilitary in 1948. It also expanded into occupied East Jerusalem, resulting in repression of the Palestinian village of Issawiyeh. The establishment of Hebrew University has served as a model for other universities in territorial conquest and expansion of Isralian settlements across historic Palestine.

In 1948, the Hebrew University played an important role in the 1948 actions of the Haganah Zionist militia by developing typhoid-dysentery bacteria as a biological weapon to poison Palestinian water sources in the context of the biological department at HEMED, the Science Corps.

Furthermore, the National Library embedded at the Hebrew University still displays thousands of books and other items stolen from Palestinians during the war of 1958 into the early 1950s.

Since the 60’s and until present, Hebrew University has played an important role in destroying and ignoring evidence of the early Islamic history of the city of Jerusalem and only highlighting its Jewish roots. This also happened in other locations, for example in Susiya.

After the 1958 war, Mt. Scopus has officially had the status of a demilitarized enclave. However, it has been repeatedly used for military purposes since then, facilitated by Hebrew University. Furthermore, Hebrew University offers training programs for Israeli security forces: Havatzalot, offering soldiers Middle East expertise, and Gamla, a program for Intelligence Corps officers. Havatzalot students’ campus dorm at Hebrew University is designated as ‘closed military base’. Hebrew University’s Talpiot program is the Israeli military’s most elite Atuda program, for soldiers that are trained at the Air Force Command and Leadership School on the Giv’at Ram campus, but also in military bases and security state facilities. Hebrew’s University commercialization company Yissum claims global leadership in technologies used for “homeland security”.

Hebrew University also provides training to the national police and Shin Bet. Finally, its criminology department is a pioneer in ‘counterterror policing’, producing ‘field-proven’ strategies violating fundamental rights of Palestinians.
Source: Maya Wind, Towers of Ivory and Steel, 2024, Verso

Projects:

• CAPITALISE: Horizon 2020 project coordinated by Wageningen University with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Agricultural Research Organisation of Israel – The Volcani Centre as partners on ‘Combining approaches for photosynthetic improvement to allow increased sustainabiliuty in European agriculture’. Collaboration runs until 30 November 2024.
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• nanoPaInt: Horizon 2020 project where Wageningen University collaborates with Technion Research and Development Foundation and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on ‘Dynamics of dense nanosuspensions: a pathway to novel functional materials’. Collaboration runs until 31 December 2024.
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• SURREAL: Horizon 2020 project where Wageningen University collaborates with Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on urban envitonments and health. Collaboration runs until 31 December 2024.
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• HARNESSTOM: Horizon 2020 project where Wageningen University collaborates with Top Seeds International, Phenom Networks, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalemon on the value of tomato genetic resources. Collaboration runs until 30 September 2024. 
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• WUR has an exchange agreement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The dormitories of HUJI are located in illegali occupied land in the West-Bank stolen from Palestinians.
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• WUR is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS), where Hebrew University of Jerusalem is a partner.
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• AgroServ: Horizon Europe project where Wageningen University & Wageningen Research collaborate with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Institute of Science on ‘Integrated services supporting a sustainable agroecological transition’. Collaboration runs until 31 August 2027.
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• EMPHASIS-GO: Horizon Europe project where Wageningen Research collaborates with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on ‘European Infrastructure for multi-scale Plant Phenomics and Simulation for food security in a changing climate’. Collaboration runs until 31 October 2025.
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