Not just an academic matter
Written by
Howy JacobsI have always opposed blanket boycotts of countries whose governments implement policies contrary to basic human rights and dignity, or that conduct military operations in violation of international law [1]. The civil population of such countries – usually ruled by unelected regimes – are little more than innocent bystanders in such actions, and include victims as well as perpetrators. Making them suffer for the sins of their governments is close to being a violation of those same principles. Frequently it also has little or no effect on the governments concerned: in fact, it may even embolden them to double down on their actions, creating in them a self-righteous attitude that ‘we stand alone against a hostile world’.
This does not mean that I am happy to visit places where basic human values are not respected. There are still many countries where people are openly persecuted for their faith, their political views, their sexual preferences or other aspects of their behaviour. Or which expose their citizens to cruel punishments, including the death penalty. I certainly have no wish to place myself at personal risk: there are plenty of other destinations to travel to, whether for tourism, science, business or any other professional or recreational activity.
However, the wars that currently rage across the world have been marked by gross violations of international humanitarian law that cry out for justice. As an academic scientist I am especially concerned and aggrieved by attacks on the premises of universities where only peaceful research and scholarship are undertaken. Some of these have affected valued colleagues with whom I have interacted for many years. An Iranian missile attack on the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel in the ‘12-day war’ of June 2025, reduced to rubble a laboratory building that housed several such colleagues, destroying not only their scientific equipment and infrastructure, but also many years of lab records, stocks of plasmids, cultured cells, and unique fruit-fly strains. Russia has repeatedly attacked university facilities in Kharkiv, including a missile strike that set fire to biology and chemistry labs of Karazin National University early in the conflict, and a well documented drone attack on a laboratory building of Kharkiv State Biotechnological University in September 2025.
CNN has reported that ‘at least 21 universities’ in Iran have suffered damage in strikes unleashed by the United States and/or Israel since the start of the Iran war in February 2026 [2]. While some targeted institutions may have been sites of military-sponsored research, and hence arguably legitimate targets – albeit in a war broadly considered illegal in its entirety by many – it is almost inconceivable that no purely civilian targets were hit.
We do not know how many, if any, of these attacks on academic facilities were deliberate. Some may have resulted from mistargeting or jamming action. Some may have been due to falling debris from interceptions. But the parties to an armed conflict nevertheless have a duty to avoid aerial bombardments that are close to civilian facilities, including institutions of learning and science. Such care was undoubtedly missing in all the above cases and countless others. In short, they are all
prima facie war crimes.
What can we academics do to protest such acts and seek restitution? The answer is obviously ‘painfully little’. One even imagines that when conflicts such as the above are finally resolved by diplomacy, the warring parties will set aside consideration of such incidents, since guilt is shared, and the international community has no significant tools for enforcement. But on a personal level, I feel that I cannot, at least for the time being, participate in academic events or activities sponsored directly by the governments of countries that have committed such violations of fundamental human values. I stand by my opposition to blanket boycotts. But I can’t stomach the idea of appearing to condone those who deserve to be brought to justice and punished for their barbarity against my fellow scholars and researchers.
Having said all this, at the same time I stand in solidarity with my many colleagues in the affected countries – and elsewhere – who have to endure not only the opprobrium brought upon their nation by the actions of their own government, but suffer also from internally repressive policies that in some cases directly threaten their own academic freedom and resourcing.
Horrific actions in war are nothing new, as the survivors of Auschwitz, Dresden and Hiroshima can testify. But the mechanisms set up after 1945 to prevent attacks against innocent civilians, including those in academia, have clearly failed. When the dust of current conflicts finally settles, we need, collectively, to devise far more effective ways of preventing future such horrors against us and against so many others.
References
[1] Jacobs H (2009) Boycott everything. EMBO Rep 10:1183. doi: 10.1038/embor.2009.228
[2] https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/31/middleeast/iran-university-campus-attacks-intl
