A Paris court overturned a ruling on Wednesday cancelling a conference on Palestine at the Collège de France, which was due to take place late last year.
The conference, titled "Palestine and Europe: The Weight of the Past and Contemporary Dynamics," was set to discuss Europe's historical and contemporary relationship with Palestine from historical, political, legal, and diplomatic perspectives, but was cancelled after protests from the French right, who deemed it lacking in "neutrality" and "anti-Zionist".
The ruling follows a hearing held two weeks ago to examine the basis of the legal challenge.
During the hearing, the rapporteur deemed the Collège de France's decision to cancel the conference "disproportionate," stressing the strong protection French law affords to academic freedom. Lawyer Raphael Kempf told The New Arab ’s sister site that the plaintiffs had "won their case before the Administrative Court" and that the judges had "annulled the cancellation decision".
Kempf described the ruling as "a major victory for academic freedom and the ability to speak about Palestine in France, and a defeat for those who sought to censor this conference".
The event’s cancellation last November raised questions about the boundaries of scholarly debate on Palestine and related issues in the country.
Kempf said that the court examined the grounds cited by the Collège de France’s administration to justify its decision - specifically, graffiti found near the institution - and concluded that these elements were insufficient to establish a threat to public order or to justify cancelling the conference.
The lawyer also pointed out that the offensive messages posted on social media appeared after the cancellation decision, meaning they "could not be used" to justify a decision that had already been made.
According to the lawyer, the court held that the fact that the conference had become a subject of "controversy" was insufficient grounds for cancellation or censorship, and that accepting this would set a precedent which could see the cancellation of any public event simply because it sparks objections or disagreement.
Commenting on the ruling, Nathalie Tehio, president of the Human Rights League of France, said the court’s decision holds significance beyond the conference itself, as it serves as a reminder that "academic freedom is not protected by cancelling controversial debates, but by enabling them to take place".
Salam Kawakibi, director of the Arab Centre in Paris, also told The New Arab that the ruling shows "that there is hope for protecting academic freedoms in the face of political pressure ," adding that the judiciary "did its job" by overturning the Collège de France's decision to cancel the conference.
The conference had been scheduled to take place at the academic institution on 13-14 November, and was jointly organised by the Chair of the History of the Contemporary Arab World at the Collège de France and the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Paris.
The symposium was set to feature 38 speakers - all researchers or doctoral candidates - while its closing debate was due to have speeches from former French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese , and former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell among other prominent figures.
Alerted by a letter from the pro-Israel association Actions Avocats, Philippe Baptiste, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, wrote a letter to Thomas Romer, the administrator of the Collège de France, expressing "doubt" that he was in a position to "guarantee a debate in which a plurality of ideas can be fully expressed".
"It is my role to ensure compliance with [the Education Code and the principle of academic freedom], including in the context of this symposium, even though I personally strongly disagree with the angle it has adopted," Baptiste claimed in order to justify the cancellation.
Romer announced the cancellation on 9 November, citing "controversy" and potential risks to security and public order.
This decision followed a political and media campaign against the event, driven by allegations of "bias" and a "pro-Palestinian" stance.
The conference organisers and academic freedom advocates viewed the decision as the result of political and media pressure — particularly following the involvement of Baptiste, who had expressed his disagreement with holding the conference at the Collège and went so far as to publicly welcome its cancellation.