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Collège de France Cancels Palestine Colloquium, Triggering Academic Backlash

University leaders call the move political pressure on research.

Overview

  • The administrator Thomas Römer scrapped the 13–14 November event citing safety concerns and a duty to preserve campus serenity while reaffirming the institution’s political neutrality.
  • Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste praised the cancellation as responsible and said he conveyed this stance to the administrator in recent days.
  • LICRA had denounced the program as an antizionist gathering and alerted the minister, while CRIF’s president and the Grand Rabbi of France criticized the colloquium’s orientation.
  • The meeting was co-organized by historian Henry Laurens and Carep Paris, which press reports say is financed by the Doha Institute and Qatar Charity, a characterization Carep contests.
  • France Universités and the Snesup union condemned the decision as harmful to academic freedom, and Laurens said organizers are seeking another venue after an offer from LFI’s Mathilde Panot to host it at the National Assembly.