SULF shares the concern expressed by the SULF Doctoral Candidate Association regarding colleagues and students affected by the conflict in Gaza and the surrounding areas. The devastation that the education sector has suffered is a tragedy, and we fully support the Doctoral Candidate Association’s call for Swedish higher education institutions and the state to offer safe refuge for researchers and students who are or have been forced to flee.
This work is crucial, and we believe that Swedish higher education institutions must have the capacity to provide protection to many of the academics whose work and lives are under threat. We also support the SULF Doctoral Candidate Association’s call to promote an academic environment free from discrimination, where there is no place for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and any other form of prejudice.
SULF has long been committed to the protection of academic freedom and works actively to support teachers and researchers in need. For example, the Association provides financial support to CARA, the Council for at Risk Academics, and we have been a member of Scholars at Risk for many years. Our work in Scholars at Risk helps Swedish higher education institutions to be able to offer security to researchers fleeing war and oppression. SULF is also a member of Education International (EI), a global trade union federation whose vital work includes support for researchers and teachers round the world who are victims of conflict and oppression.
”Our role is best fulfilled by working together with others to safeguard and promote academic freedom and solidarity …”
However, SULF is a trade union organisation at national level, and taking a position on specific conflicts is not part of our assignment. Our international solidarity efforts through our membership of and work in EI, which in turn is part of Global Unions, focus on places and situations where academia is under attack or where researchers and university teachers need protection. Our role is best fulfilled by working together with others to safeguard and promote academic freedom and solidarity, regardless of where conflicts take place or which parties are involved.
When it comes to individual support, this is provided in accordance with SULF’s statutes and objectives. As a trade union and professional organisation, SULF focuses on the relationship between employers and employees. We offer labour law support and other advice to SULF’s members when the need arises. This of course includes issues that may arise if the conflicts in Gaza lead to problems between employers and employees in Sweden.
SULF’s commitment to academic freedom and human rights issues is deeply rooted in our trade union solidarity, and we will continue to work to support researchers and teachers affected by conflicts around the world – without adopting a political position or taking a side in a specific conflict – and within the framework of the objectives stated in the Association’s statutes. We look forward to continuing to work together with our trade union colleagues around the world to defend the values that unite the global academic community.
Sanna Wolk
President of SULF
Håkan Lindqvist
1st Vice President
Helén Persson
2nd Vice President
Haro de Grauw
3rd Vice President
