Jordanian students protest against apparent UAE-Israel scholarships

Jordanian students were angered at discovering that a United Arab Emirates university was allegedly attempting to send them to Israeli universities through a scholarship programme.

The University of Jordan said on Tuesday that a delegation from the Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi would visit the university to hold an introductory symposium on graduate studies and scholarships available to students.

It later appeared that Israeli institutions, including the Weizmann Institute of Science and Hebrew University, were partners in the scholarship programme.

القصة إنه جامعة بن زايد الإمارتية على ما يبدو قاعدين بلفوا عالجامعات الأردنية وبعملوا ندوات بعرضوا فيها منح وبروجوا للتطبيع مع "الجامعة العبرية" و "معهد وايزمان للبحث العلمي".

طلاب الجامعة الأردنية وقفولهم بالمرصاد وانسحبوا من الندوة وعملوا وقفة احتجاجية أمام كلية الاي تي.
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— Sameer Mashhour 🇯🇴🇵🇸 (@sameermashhour) November 16, 2021

This prompted several students and faculty members to withdraw from the seminar in protest. Some gathered at the university to denounce the Emirati programme.

It was reported that other colleges in Jordan began taking pre-emptive measures in preparation for the visit by the Emirati delegation.

A scheduled visit to the Hashemite University on Wednesday was cancelled, as Twitter users used the Arabic hashtag "normalisation is betrayal".

عاجل|| الجامعة الهاشمية تلغي زيارة وفد جامعة بن زايد التطبيعي وذلك بعد تحرك ومطالبة القوى الطلابية بذلك. حيث كان موعد الزيارة يوم غد الأربعاء.

عفية عشباب الجامعة الهاشمية على تحركهم، والشكر لإدارة الجامعة على الاستجابة.#التطبيع_خيانة pic.twitter.com/eIhPmA9QMf

— Sameer Mashhour 🇯🇴🇵🇸 (@sameermashhour) November 16, 2021

No official statement was issued from any of the host or visiting universities.

Despite signing a peace treaty in 1994, most Jordanians - whose country hosts one of the largest Palestinian communities - are still strongly opposed to Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territories.

The UAE normalised ties with Israel last year. The two countries have since boosted cooperation in several fields.