NTNU's Choice: Ignore UN Warnings or Stand with the International Students’ Movement Against Colonialism?

Through the U.S., Kongsberg Gruppen supplies Israel with military technology, which is used to kill and harm Palestinian civilians. The official death toll in Gaza and the occupied West Bank is rapidly approaching 40 000, with the numbers hiding unimaginable suffering, destruction and land grab. Against this background, NTNU's ongoing partnership with Kongsberg Gruppen is clearly in conflict with NTNU's stated principles of academic independence and ethical integrity.

 By aligning with regimes that violate human rights (as highlighted in recent UN reports), NTNU loses its independence and risks supporting colonialist oppression. Thereby, the university also risks repeating past mistakes. The Academic Network at NTNU and Students for Palestine most strongly urge NTNU to uphold international human rights standards, and remind of its eventual apology to the Saami people after years of unfair treatment through NTNU's harmful research. 

 NTNU's Ethical Responsibilities and the Need for Strategic Clarity 

In its June 18 meeting, the NTNU board stated that questioning the Norwegian state's considerations on export licenses for weapon exporters is beyond their mandate, and thus recommends the continuation of the agreement with Kongsberg Gruppen. We question NTNU's mandate and its role relative to the state, and suggest a review of NTNU's own strategy document for clarity.

The Norwegian government has recognized Palestine and provides funding to UNRWA, but remains passive on divestment from weapon companies linked to genocide.The UN has warned institutions, including Norway's Oljefondet, against continuing arms transfers to Israel (directly or indirectly), referring to risks of complicity in human rights violations and atrocities. Despite this, the Norwegian state has not acted. Why should NTNU uncritically follow a government that ignores UN warnings and risks complicity in genocide for financial and strategic reasons? NTNU’s current approach contradicts fundamental ethical commitments as well as their own stated objectives.

In fact, NTNU's strategy document states the following: Our activities build on fundamental democratic values, and we represent an unprejudiced and independent voice. The hallmarks of our academic culture are debate, critical reflection, fact-based knowledge, impartiality, and ethical integrity. We challenge conventional ideas and solutions. How can conventional ideas be challenged if we do not dare to question Norwegian state policy? How can ethical integrity be ensured if we allow the risk of complicity?

NTNU further states: We use our knowledge to benefit society. We commit ourselves to solving global challenges. Our activities promote development, human rights and intercultural dialogue. With what right can we claim to be doing this while continuing wide-scale agreements with weapon exporters (indirectly) transferring weapons to a party (Israel) that violates international human rights and international humanitarian laws? 

We are an agenda setter for change processes and sustainable development, NTNU proclaims. Now is the moment to set the agenda and contribute to developing a world where justice and human rights are governing principles. Clearly and consistently siding with the students’ protests would be a good starting point.

On the History of Student Activism at Universities 

Students around the world are protesting the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This is also the case for NTNU: Students for Palestine run an ongoing protest camp at Gløshaugen and recently a united student parliament demanded that NTNU freeze the agreement with Kongsberg Gruppen. Protests have emerged at many other universities, with demands of a ceasefire, divestment from funds, and cutting of ties with Israel. Critics dismiss these protests as naive, thereby ignoring the protests' deep historical roots. 

Historically, universities have not been concerned with issues like slavery and racism, before student protests emerged in the late 1950s during the American civil rights movement. In the 1960s, students recognized universities’ ties to the military-industrial complex, contradicting their stated values of diversity and equality. Major protests, like the 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement, highlighted universities’ roles in producing ideologically compliant workers to support wars like the one in Vietnam. Students' voices should be heard, and as Harvard Lecturer Erik Baker says, the real scandal is not that there are student protests, but that there has not been much student protests throughout the history. 

In the 1980s, students successfully pressured universities to divest from South Africa's apartheid government, leading to significant policy changes. Today’s protests against Israel, however, face brutality. The historical success in divesting from South Africa raises the question: why won't universities do the same now? And to bring the question closer to home: Why doesn’t NTNU listen to its students’ demands of setting the agreement with Kongsberg Gruppen on halt?

The students’ demands are not driven by interests, but by ethical commitment. Why doesn’t NTNU support the students’ act of taking a principled stance? As our university’s own past shows, the act of aligning with human dignity sets us on the right path towards a more just future.

A Call to Ethical Actions: Defining NTNU's Legacy, and Learning from History 

The Saami people, indigenous to parts of Trøndelag, share experiences of colonization and discrimination. Since 2007, Saami rights have been protected by international law, but they still face violations, such as the expansion of wind farms on their lands. NTNU’s former Chancellor Anne Borg apologized in 2023 to the South Saami people for historical research used to deny their rights. 

These historical cases show how NTNU always has a choice between supporting injustice or endorsing equal human rights and dignity. Borg’s apology to the Saami people was a sign of justice, and it’s a stance NTNU should adopt in the case of Palestine as well. Hence, NTNU stands at a crossroads: Will it continue to align with regimes that perpetuate human rights violations, or will it stand with the international students’ movement against oppression? 

Our university’s actions today will define its legacy; upholding ethical integrity and supporting global justice is not just an option but a responsibility. NTNU can honor its own principles and contribute to a fairer and more humane world, rather than continuing to align with forces undermining human rights and international law. The time for decisive action is now.