University of Valencia condemned for discrimination against Jews

ACOM welcomes the forceful ruling that upholds our appeal and annuls the “Pronunciamiento del Consell de Govern de la Universitat de València” of 28 May 2024 (“Compromís de la UV amb Palestina”). The decision confirms, once again, what we said from day one: it was a boycott agreement—ideological and openly discriminatory on the basis of nationality—incompatible with the Constitution and with the duty of neutrality incumbent on every public university.

The court holds that the agreement introduced direct discrimination against Israeli universities, without legal basis or proportionality, breaching Article 14 of the Constitution and Law 15/2022 on equal treatment. It further underlines that the University adopted a political stance improper for an academic institution bound by the principles of objectivity and neutrality set out in Article 103 of the Spanish Constitution. There is no legal framework that supports such a restriction, which even contradicts the University’s own Statutes proclaiming pluralism, dialogue and diversity.

The judgment does not merely annul the agreement: it recognizes ACOM’s right to have the University publicize the annulment with the same reach it gave to the contested text, and it orders costs against the institution.

This decision comes in a context in which the Government has tolerated and promoted the stigmatization of Jews and the importation of boycott policies into public institutions; and, beyond this specific case, it reinforces the basis of the criminal complaint that ACOM has recently filed before the Supreme Court against the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and several ministers for attacking the principles of equality, institutional neutrality and respect for the rule of law. The ruling is unequivocal: weaponizing public institutions to discriminate against Jews or to ban Israeli institutions is unlawful, violates equality and breaches the neutrality that must govern the Administration.

We recall that ACOM has ongoing proceedings against decisions by the universities of Burgos, Málaga, Granada and Barcelona, among others, which have ended or suspended relations with Israeli academic institutions.

At ACOM, we will continue to act—in the courts and in the public square—to defend equality before the law and to stop anti-Israel discrimination in our institutions. Faced with intolerance, faced with antisemitism, we will not stop.