TU Delft: Commit To Your Own Code of Conduct and Values!

This petition is specifically intended for current and former members of the TU Delft community, including students, staff, alumni and former staff. Because of the international nature of the university community, this petition is primarily in English. Please find the Dutch version here: https://www.degoedezaak.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Petitie-TUDelft4Palestine-Nederlands.pdf

We, the students, staff, alumni and former staff of TU Delft, call upon our University Executive Board, leadership and community to align our institution's actions with its own Code of Conduct, institutional values, and the motto: 'impact for a better society' (Strategic Framework 2018-2024). TU Delft pledges adherence to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which underpins our institution's ethical framework.

Recently, an academic event titled "Architecturing Destruction in Gaza, Palestine," organized by BK scholars for Palestine, was abruptly canceled following targeted online harassment, and violent rip off of posters. This cancellation, citing safety concerns without exploring safe alternatives, not only silenced our colleagues but also betrayed our university's commitment to free speech, safety, and academic integrity. This incident starkly demonstrates the necessity of upholding our Code of Conduct, especially when it is most challenging to do so.

Immediate Actions We Demand:

1. Reaffirm Commitment to Social Justice:
Align actions with public advocacy for peace and justice. The ICJ has ruled that Israel must stop human rights violations, prevent genocide, and ensure access to humanitarian aid. This ruling has direct implications for our institution. This should be clearly addressed publicly, otherwise we all end up being unwillingly silently complicit in the ongoing atrocities.

2. Address Safety and Censorship:
Address recent safety and censorship issues at the Faculty of Architecture concerning the canceled Gaza event. This reflects a significant lapse in our commitment to academic freedom. The faculty of Architecture and the University should clearly show that acts of violence and censorship are unacceptable at the TU Delft. What happened at the faculty of Architecture should be investigated and the responsible parties should be held accountable using all the established measurements that follow this clear violation of our Code of Conduct.

3. Respect International Law:
Disengage from academic and corporate partnerships contributing to or ignoring ongoing human rights violations. Which involves the next point.

4. Review and Disclose Ties:
Transparently review and disclose all ties with Israeli universities and corporations engaged in ethnic cleansing, colonialism, apartheid and genocide, as detailed in Dr. Maya Wind's investigation in the book "Towers of Ivory and Steel." Examples of these institutions are the Technion in Haifa, the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Bar-Ilan University, Ariel University, and Hebrew University. TU Delft has a legal duty in fact to disclose all their partnerships as part of the Freedom of Information Request submitted by The Rights Forum.

5. Support Targeted Palestinian Academia:
Form partnerships and provide scholarships and fellowships to affected Palestinian students. Recognize and condemn “scholasticide” (this is the killing of the Palestinian academia, destruction of Universities as a means of ethnic cleansing) and take action to support Palestinian academic institutions and scholars.