Pro-Palestinian students set up a tent camp at the University of Copenhagen

A group of students on Monday pitched tents outside the University of Copenhagen.

The pro-Palestinian demonstrators accuse the University of Copenhagen of “investing in genocide” and demand, among other things, that the university stop its investments in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel and an academic boycott of Israeli universities.

In connection with the setting up of the tent camp and the demands from its residents, the University of Copenhagen has issued a statement – a response – on the social media platform X, which reads in part:

“The conflict in Gaza evokes strong and understandable emotions. Our students and staff are welcome to express their views on the conflict, and also to do so at the university. We uphold and cherish freedom of expression and academic freedom. The university leadership cannot and should not express an opinion on behalf of the university’s staff and students on political matters, including the ongoing conflict.”

“The university’s task is, essentially, to make itself available as a place where even difficult questions can be discussed, always with respect for others’ perspectives, even if that perspective may seem far from one’s own, and with respect for the university’s mission as an academic learning community.”

Furthermore, the statement says, among other things, that “the University of Copenhagen as an institution has no, and will have no, stance on the ongoing conflict in Gaza,” and “the University of Copenhagen’s researchers have academic freedom and decide for themselves whom they collaborate with under guidelines set by the government.”

The statement also says that the university as an institution has no – and will have no – stance on the conflict in Gaza, that the university’s researchers have academic freedom and decide for themselves whom they collaborate with under guidelines set by the government, that the university’s ethical investment policy is decided by the board and follows 10 conventions originating from, among others, the UN and OECD.

The University of Copenhagen also writes that they will not accept “that the tent camp leads to harassment of staff and students or that anyone’s safety is jeopardized.”

Finally, the university’s statement on X concludes:

“The demonstrators are thus welcome to express their opinions at the university, but we expect them to observe common academic principles on university grounds: seek dialogue, not conflict; make room for perspectives other than their own, and seek enlightenment through argumentation.”

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