{"id":191783,"date":"2026-06-24T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T12:34:17","slug":"det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that a screensaver displaying an image of the cartoon character Betty Boop alongside the text \u00bbDeath death to the IDF\u00ab had been shown at the Faculty of Law. The image and the university leadership\u2019s subsequent response have generated numerous headlines over the past two weeks in both Uniavisen and national media outlets.<\/p>\n

Given its prominence in the Danish media sphere, the episode is a good opportunity to learn more about what the IDF is and does, why anyone would want it to cease to exist and about UCPH’s relationship to the IDF – now in its third year of a continued genocide on the Palestinian people.<\/a><\/p>\n

The IDF, i.e. Israel\u2019s military forces, was established in 1948 shortly after the Nakba<\/a> where 700,000 Palestinians were displaced<\/a> and ethnically cleansed in order to clear Palestinian land for the subsequent creation of the state of Israel. The IDF was made by unifying three underground terrorist groups<\/a> who led the ethnic cleansing and whose leaders formed the new Israeli government.<\/p>\n

Since then, the IDF has been a fundamental tool for upholding Israel\u2019s apartheid system<\/a> as well as expanding and maintaining Israel\u2019s illegal occupations<\/a> in Palestine.<\/p>\n

The IDF uses some of the most advanced and deadly war technologies in the world. This includes the AI tools Gospel and Lavender<\/a> which recommend which buildings, equipment, and people to bomb, as well as autonomous fleets of drones used for surveilling and firing ammunition at people.<\/p>\n

Since October 2023, the IDF has killed more than 72,000 people in Gaza<\/a>, including at least 21,000 children, has caused an estimated 4,000 child amputees<\/a>, and left more than 58,000 children without one or both parents<\/a>. Although a \u2018ceasefire\u2019 was announced in October 2025, the IDF has killed at least 983 Palestinians in Gaza<\/a> since then.<\/p>\n

The IDF has systematically and deliberately targeted and killed civilians in Gaza<\/a> and the West Bank<\/a>. In Gaza, IDF soldiers have used sniper attacks, drones, tanks, and bombs to kill children playing<\/a>, people queuing for food aid<\/a>, and refugees in camps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IDF soldiers have used their social media platforms to publicly celebrate and display their violent attacks on civilians. Among these are videos of destruction of civilian homes<\/a>, humiliation of detained Palestinians<\/a>, snipers shooting fleeing civilians, and soldiers gunning down and torturing people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since October 2023, the IDF has killed at least 247 journalists, 540 aid workers – including 373 UN staff -, and 1722 health workers<\/a> in Gaza. During the same period, the IDF has destroyed 81% of all structures in Gaza<\/a>. The IDF has attacked all of the 37 hospitals, leaving 20 of them completely non-functional<\/a>, and bombed all 12 universities in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Across Palestine, the IDF continues to arrest people without charge – including children<\/a> – who are kept in Israeli prisons where they are raped, starved, beaten, tortured, and killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many universities acknowledge the growing evidence of Israel\u2019s genocide of the Palestinian people<\/a> and have already cut their academic ties to Israel<\/a> or are in the process of doing so. Among these are universities in Norway<\/a>, the Netherlands<\/a>, Belgium<\/a>, Spain<\/a>, and Ital<\/a>y.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite the UN encouraging the cancellation or suspension of academic relations to Israel<\/a>, UCPH refuses to implement an academic boycott of Israel and criminalises its own students for demanding an end to the university\u2019s complicity. The university has many ties to Israeli universities and institutions<\/a> that are complicit in apartheid,<\/a> colonization, and occupation<\/a> of the Palestinian people as well as in conducting war crimes against Palestinians<\/a> and violations of international law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This includes ongoing collaborations<\/a> with universities such as the Ben-Gurion University, the Technion Israel Institute Of Technology, and the Tel Aviv University which run programs and trainings for soldiers and collaborate with the IDF and its supplying military industry.<\/p>\n

Unlike universities such as the University of Amsterdam<\/a> and the University of Helsink<\/a>i, UCPH has refused to cancel the student exchange program with the Hebrew University which runs training programs for soldiers and is partially located on occupied Palestinian land.<\/p>\n

Additionally, UCPH continues investing in companies that are complicit in Israel\u2019s war crimes, such as Palantir, which supplies Israel with AI-powered military tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Considering all this, it is hardly surprising that someone would want the IDF to cease to exist. A meme on a screensaver is not extreme. What is extreme, however, is that the UCPH management keeps on legitimizing and enabling the IDF, given its continued commitment to crimes against humanity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Signed by:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agnete Vienberg Hansen, Ph.D. student at the Department of Economics, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Anastassia Vybornova, Ph.D. in Data Science, ITU, previously employed at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Buthaina Shaheen, Ph.D. in global political sociology with focus on Palestine, previously employed at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Christine Borgvold Naaby Hansen, Ph.D. student at the Technologies in Practice Section, ITU<\/em><\/p>\n

Fernando Racimo, associate professor at SUND, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Kristoffer Willert, postdoc, Business and Social Science, SDU<\/em><\/p>\n

Line Kvartborg Vestergaard, Ph.D. in anthropology, employed at SAMF, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Nikoline Borgermann, Ph.D. in biochemistry, employed at SUND, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

Teresa Santos, Ph.D. in conservation genomics, former guest researcher at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n

 
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Det ekstreme er, at K\u00f8benhavns Universitet fortsat legitimerer Israels forbrydelser mod menneskeheden, skriver syv debatt\u00f8rer i dette indl\u00e6g.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":191637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[6825,6131],"class_list":["post-191783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-gaza-en","tag-israel-en","expression-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Det ekstreme er, at K\u00f8benhavns Universitet fortsat legitimerer Israels forbrydelser mod menneskeheden, skriver syv debatt\u00f8rer i dette indl\u00e6g.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maria Brus Pedersen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maria Brus Pedersen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Maria Brus Pedersen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb\"},\"headline\":\"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":850,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gaza\",\"israel\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/\",\"name\":\"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"Uniavisen har f\u00e5et tilsendt to billeder af illustrationen fra to forskellige undervisningsgange.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"University Post\",\"description\":\"Independent of management\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb\",\"name\":\"Maria Brus Pedersen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Maria Brus Pedersen\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/maria_brus\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist","og_description":"Det ekstreme er, at K\u00f8benhavns Universitet fortsat legitimerer Israels forbrydelser mod menneskeheden, skriver syv debatt\u00f8rer i dette indl\u00e6g.","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Maria Brus Pedersen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maria Brus Pedersen","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/"},"author":{"name":"Maria Brus Pedersen","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb"},"headline":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist","datePublished":"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/"},"wordCount":850,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","keywords":["Gaza","israel"],"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/","name":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-24T08:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-26T12:34:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440,"caption":"Uniavisen har f\u00e5et tilsendt to billeder af illustrationen fra to forskellige undervisningsgange."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It\u2019s not extreme to wish for the IDF to cease to exist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b7dd1ffcbe0d2c4ea49ef92a35a7b7eb","name":"Maria Brus Pedersen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Maria Brus Pedersen"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/maria_brus\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"expression":{"term_id":16,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":2072,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"alignleft","feature_color":"","article_updated":"","layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":191636,"id":191636,"title":"Death to the IDF","filename":"mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","filesize":373823,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/det-er-ikke-ekstremt-at-oenske-at-israels-militaer-ophoerer-med-at-eksistere\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933\/","alt":"","author":"109","description":"","caption":"Uniavisen har f\u00e5et tilsendt to billeder af illustrationen fra to forskellige undervisningsgange.","name":"mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":191625,"date":"2026-06-24 08:29:04","modified":"2026-06-24 08:29:29","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-480x270.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-1280x720.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-2048x1152.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1152,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-290x163.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":163,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-700x394.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":394,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-990x557.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":557}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"A meme shown on a classroom screensaver at the University of Copenhagen has sparked debate."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Perspektive","text":"What is truly extreme is that the University of Copenhagen continues to legitimize Israel's crimes against humanity.","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Af ni akademikere ","contributor_title":"Heraf syv tidligere og nuv\u00e6rende ansatte p\u00e5 KU. Navne fremg\u00e5r i bunden af indl\u00e6gget ","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that a screensaver displaying an image of the cartoon character Betty Boop alongside the text \u00bbDeath death to the IDF\u00ab had been shown at the Faculty of Law. The image and the university leadership\u2019s subsequent response have generated numerous headlines over the past two weeks in both Uniavisen and national media outlets.<\/p>\n<p>Given its prominence in the Danish media sphere, the episode is a good opportunity to learn more about what the IDF is and does, why anyone would want it to cease to exist and about UCPH’s relationship to the IDF – now in its third year of a continued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2025\/09\/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds\">genocide on the Palestinian people.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The IDF, i.e. Israel\u2019s military forces, was established in 1948 shortly after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/about-the-nakba\/\">Nakba<\/a> where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org.au\/nakba-day-77th-anniversary-we-must-listen-to-palestinian-voices-and-take-action\/\">700,000 Palestinians were displaced<\/a> and ethnically cleansed in order to clear Palestinian land for the subsequent creation of the state of Israel. The IDF was made by unifying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OCGtHMxNrXY&t=53s\">three underground terrorist groups<\/a> who led the ethnic cleansing and whose leaders formed the new Israeli government.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the IDF has been a fundamental tool for upholding Israel\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/case\/186\/advisory-opinions\">apartheid system<\/a> as well as expanding and maintaining Israel\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cjerjzxlpvdo\">illegal occupations<\/a> in Palestine.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF uses some of the most advanced and deadly war technologies in the world. This includes the AI tools <a href=\"https:\/\/artificialweapons.com\/case-studies\/israel-ai-targeting-gaza\">Gospel and Lavender<\/a> which recommend which buildings, equipment, and people to bomb, as well as autonomous fleets of drones used for surveilling and firing ammunition at people.<\/p>\n<p>Since October 2023, the IDF has killed <a href=\"https:\/\/app.powerbi.com\/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxNTYzMDYtMjQ3YS00OTMzLTkxMWQtOTU1NWEwMzE5NTMwIiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtNGIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCIsImMiOjh9\">more than 72,000 people in Gaza<\/a>, including at least 21,000 children, has caused an estimated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rescue.org\/eu\/press-release\/children-gaza-need-protection-hunger-and-injuries-surge-irc-data-shows\">4,000 child amputees<\/a>, and left <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ochaopt.org\/content\/reported-impact-snapshot-gaza-strip-10-june-2026\">more than 58,000 children without one or both parents<\/a>. Although a \u2018ceasefire\u2019 was announced in October 2025, the IDF has killed at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/13\/gaza-post-ceasefire-deaths-hit-983-as-israeli-attack-targets-refugee-camp\">983 Palestinians in Gaza<\/a> since then.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF has systematically and deliberately targeted and killed civilians in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/8\/21\/israeli-data-shows-83-percent-of-gaza-war-dead-are-civilians-report\">Gaza<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfam.org\/en\/press-releases\/more-palestinians-killed-israeli-military-and-settlers-across-occupied-west-bank\">West Bank<\/a>. In Gaza, IDF soldiers have used sniper attacks, drones, tanks, and bombs to kill <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/International\/israeli-strike-kills-boys-playing-gaza-beach\/story?id=24583817\">children playing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2025\/07\/1165396\">people queuing for food aid<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/may\/27\/global-shock-after-israeli-airstrike-kills-dozens-in-rafah-tent-camp\">refugees in camps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>IDF soldiers have used their social media platforms to publicly celebrate and display their violent attacks on civilians. Among these are videos of <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/videos\/world\/2024\/02\/20\/exp-israel-soldiers-jeremy-diamond-pkg-022009aseg1-cnni-world.cnn\">destruction of civilian homes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-68249962\">humiliation of detained Palestinians<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/longform\/2025\/4\/16\/israeli-soldiers-filmed-themselves-destroying-gaza-see-the-video-evidence\">snipers shooting fleeing civilians, and soldiers gunning down and torturing people<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since October 2023, the IDF has killed at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ochaopt.org\/content\/reported-impact-snapshot-gaza-strip-10-september-2025\">247 journalists, 540 aid workers – including 373 UN staff -, and 1722 health workers<\/a> in Gaza. During the same period, the IDF has destroyed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1616491\/gaza-war-infrastructure-damage-destruction\/\">81% of all structures in Gaza<\/a>. The IDF has attacked all of the 37 hospitals, <a href=\"https:\/\/app.powerbi.com\/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxNTYzMDYtMjQ3YS00OTMzLTkxMWQtOTU1NWEwMzE5NTMwIiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtNGIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCIsImMiOjh9\">leaving 20 of them completely non-functional<\/a>, and bombed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2024\/04\/un-experts-deeply-concerned-over-scholasticide-gaza?ref=vashtimedia.com\">all 12 universities in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Across Palestine, the IDF continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-67600015\">arrest people without charge – including children<\/a> – who are kept in Israeli prisons where they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phr.org.il\/en\/palestinian-deaths-behind-bars-eng\/\">raped, starved, beaten, tortured, and killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many universities acknowledge the growing evidence of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2025\/09\/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds\"> Israel\u2019s genocide of the Palestinian people<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/academicsforpalestine.dk\/academic-boycott\/boycott-map\/\">have already cut their academic ties to Israel<\/a> or are in the process of doing so. Among these are universities in <a href=\"https:\/\/bdsmovement.net\/news\/five-norwegian-universities-cut-ties-with-israel-over-gaza-genocide\">Norway<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uva.nl\/en\/content\/news\/news\/2025\/06\/no-new-horizoneurope-collaborations-with-israeli-partners-for-the-time-being.html\">the Netherlands<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ugent.be\/en\/news-events\/collaborations-israeli-partners-update-22-october-2025.htm\">Belgium<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bdsmovement.net\/news\/76-universities-spain-suspend-ties-with-complicit-israeli-universities\">Spain<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/italys-university-of-turin-to-exit-israel-research-pact-amid-gaza-protests\/\"> Ital<\/a>y.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/statements-and-speeches\/2024\/09\/un-experts-warn-international-order-knifes-edge-urge-states-comply\">despite the UN encouraging the cancellation or suspension of academic relations to Israel<\/a>, UCPH refuses to implement an academic boycott of Israel and criminalises its own students for demanding an end to the university\u2019s complicity. <a href=\"https:\/\/academiccomplicity.eu\/horizon\/DK\/00408\">The university has many ties to Israeli universities and institutions<\/a> that are complicit in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/documents\/mde15\/5141\/2022\/en\/\">apartheid,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2022\/10\/1129942\">colonization, and occupation<\/a> of the Palestinian people as well as in conducting <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2025\/06\/1164496\">war crimes against Palestinians<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/documents.un.org\/doc\/undoc\/gen\/n24\/272\/75\/pdf\/n2427275.pdf\">violations of international law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This includes <a href=\"https:\/\/academiccomplicity.eu\/horizon\/DK\/00408\">ongoing collaborations<\/a> with universities such as the Ben-Gurion University, the Technion Israel Institute Of Technology, and the Tel Aviv University which run programs and trainings for soldiers and collaborate with the IDF and its supplying military industry.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike universities such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uva.nl\/en\/content\/news\/news\/2025\/03\/uva-follows-committees-advice-on-three-international-collaborations.html?cb\">University of Amsterdam<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.helsinki.fi\/en\/news\/higher-education-policy\/university-has-reassessed-its-collaboration-israeli-universities\">the University of Helsink<\/a>i, UCPH has refused to cancel the student exchange program with the Hebrew University which runs training programs for soldiers and is partially located on occupied Palestinian land.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, UCPH continues investing in companies that are complicit in Israel\u2019s war crimes, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-humanrights.org\/en\/latest-news\/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes\/\">Palantir, which supplies Israel with AI-powered military tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Considering all this, it is hardly surprising that someone would want the IDF to cease to exist. A meme on a screensaver is not extreme. What is extreme, however, is that the UCPH management keeps on legitimizing and enabling the IDF, given its continued commitment to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2024\/10\/un-commission-finds-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-israeli-attacks\">crimes against humanity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signed by:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Agnete Vienberg Hansen, Ph.D. student at the Department of Economics, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Anastassia Vybornova, Ph.D. in Data Science, ITU, previously employed at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Buthaina Shaheen, Ph.D. in global political sociology with focus on Palestine, previously employed at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Christine Borgvold Naaby Hansen, Ph.D. student at the Technologies in Practice Section, ITU<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Fernando Racimo, associate professor at SUND, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Kristoffer Willert, postdoc, Business and Social Science, SDU<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Line Kvartborg Vestergaard, Ph.D. in anthropology, employed at SAMF, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nikoline Borgermann, Ph.D. in biochemistry, employed at SUND, UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Teresa Santos, Ph.D. in conservation genomics, former guest researcher at UCPH<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":47,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":47,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":334,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":6825,"name":"Gaza","slug":"gaza-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6825,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":6131,"name":"israel","slug":"israel-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6131,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":16,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":2072,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":682,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mixcollage09jun20261244pm4933-1-1280x720.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191783"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191788,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191783\/revisions\/191788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}