The UAB in favour of peace in the Middle East and against the genocide of the Palestinian people

Support page for human rights and international law

Faced with the serious situation in Palestine, UAB expresses its full solidarity with the affected population and demands a peaceful resolution to the conflict based on a culture of peace and respect for international law.

Support for refugees

Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS)

Join the FAS to become an active part of social transformation!

At the UAB we encourage our members to participate in activities focused on social action, cooperation for development, volunteering and much more.

Reception of people

The UAB launches the #UABRefugi for students from Palestine grants programme, which is added to the ordinary grants offered by the #UABRefugi programme.

Economic aid
Academic guidance
Administrative relocation support

Given the difficulties for these people to travel to the UAB, a letter to the president of Spain was written to request that they facilitate the necessary actions for the arrival of these students, in the same way as was done with students from other conflict zones.

#UABRefugi programme for students from Palestine

Extraordinary allocation of €148,000 for scholarships and grants. Information on application process and criteria.

More information >

Institutional stance

Statements and endorsements

Institutional letters and messages

In June 2024, a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was sent, with copies to other authorities, urging the European Union to implement an immediate block on the participation of Israeli institutions in all projects financed with European funds.

Rector Lafuente, in addition to the letter to President Pedro Sánchez also sent a letter to CRUE and a second letter to the president of the European Commission calling for the State of Israel to be excluded from European programmes and for sanctions to be applied.

In July, UAB Vice-Rector for Research Assumpció Malgosa wrote a letter addressed to the university community in which she underlines the University's commitment to ethical and responsible research regarding the situation in Palestine.

The ACUP issued a new statement in which Catalan public universities request to suspend collaboration with Israeli institutions in European projects (July 2025).

In September, the UAB expressed its "strong support" for the Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian mission.

Statement of the UAB Senate on the situation in Gaza (30 May 2024)

Given the serious escalation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank—a situation that the International Court of Justice in The Hague has considered plausible to be tantamount to genocide—the UAB expresses its full solidarity with the affected population, and demands a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on the culture of peace and respect for international legality.

Full statement

«I can not help but reiterate my condemnation and that of my Governing Team of this genocide being perpetrated in the Gaza Strip, on the other side of the Mediterranean, and once again we demand compliance with international law and an end to the colonization of settlements, occupation, looting, expulsion, and apartheid carried out by the State of Israel in Palestine.

Javier Lafuente (05/ 22/ 2025)

Rector of UAB

Human rights policy of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The Governing Council of 5 June 2025 passed the Human Rights Policy of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona with the aim of guaranteeing that all institutional activities and relations of the UAB respect and protect the internationally recognised human rights. A policy based fundamentally on the UAB's new Statutes, Code of Ethics, Climate Policy and its 2023-2024 University Social Responsibility Plan, as well as on the main national and international human rights frameworks. The UAB is specifically committed to respecting and promoting human rights in its relation with suppliers, marking the essential principles in human rights by which all UAB suppliers must abide.

The UAB demands institutions break off relations with Israel until respect for human rights is guaranteed in Palestine

The UAB suspended the only collaboration agreements it had with universities in Israel (those of Bezalel and Tel Aviv) and no new collaboration has been initiated. Instructions were also given to ensure that any new research and technology transfer activities would not contradict the UAB's firm commitment to the culture of peace.

In accordance with the Declaration of the UAB Senate on the situation in Gaza approved on 30 May 2024, and in view of the deterioration of the situation in Palestine due to the systematic violence exercised by the Israeli army against the civilian population, the Governing Council of the UAB, the supreme governing body of the University, issued a new statement.

Statement of 10 June 2025

Academic and cultural activities

Awareness-raising and denunciation actions on our campus

Talk on the causes and consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Faculty of Political Science and Sociology (26 October 2023)
Conference by Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories - Faculty of Political Science and Sociology (10 April 2024)
Artistic creation workshop Estan matant escoles: aquí i allà, aleshores i ara. Faculty of Education (13 November 2024)

Interview with Shurouq, Palestinian student of the master's degree in Translation and Intercultural Studies, in commemmoration of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Faculty of Translation and Interpreting (November 2024)
Exhibition "No News from Palestine" at the Communications Library and General Newspaper Archive (November 2024)
Photography exhibition giving voice to Palestinian women, highlighting their daily resistance and struggle against occupation. Periodicals Room of the Humanities Library (January 2025)
Screening of No Other Land, film by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, winner an Oscar for best feature documentary, followed by a debate organised by the Fundació Autònoma Solidària and UAB associations for solidarity with Palestine (19 March 2025 at the UAB Cinema Hall).

Two UAB researchers share their stories of resistance, loss and dreams in a video published by the UAB Refugee Programme.. Eddy Yazmin and Israa Abushaker, PhD researchers who have received a #UABRefugi grant, explain in a heartfelt interview what it is like to continue their research at university after fleeing from their country.

News

UAB expresses support for the Global Sumud Flotilla

UAB expresses its firm support for the humanitarian mission of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has sailed from Barcelona to Gaza aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver urgent humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population.

The 10th edition of UAB Barcelona Summer School ends with a theatrical performance calling for an end to war

The closing of the tenth edition of the UAB Summer School on Friday 1 August on the campus lawn, consisted of an emotional theatrical performance by students calling for the end of wars and genocide, followed by the awarding of diplomas to nearly 600 students from about 50 countries who participated in this international summer school.

The UAB Senate debates on the situation in Gaza, the anti-harassment protocol, and the ombudsperson's report

The UAB Senate met on 22 May in an ordinary session to debate the follow-up commission of its Declaration on the situation in Gaza and the corresponding 2024 annual reports on the application of the anti-harassment protocol and the ombudsperson’s reports.

UAB approves a new human rights policy covering all its activities and relationships

UAB demands institutions break relations with the State of Israel until it guarantees respect for human rights in Palestine

Statement of the UAB Senate on the situation in Gaza approved on 30 May 2024 in views of the worsening of the situation in Palestine due to systematic violence by the Israeli army against civilians.

UAB with Palestine

One more person from Palestine benefits from the #UABRefugi scholarships

A PhD student from Palestine will join UAB in the 2025/26 academic year thanks to the #UABRefugi scholarships. This comprehensive support model for refugees is currently being reinforced with special funding to assist university students suffering under the armed conflict initiated in October 2023 and the genocide committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinian population. In total, five people have already benefited from this aid.

The UAB launches a legal and academic support campaign for Palestinian refugee students

The UAB launches a new crowdfunding campaign to provide support to Palestinian refugee students. The initiative aims to offer them legal and academic support, and training opportunities that allow them to continue their studies in a safe and inclusive environment.