Europeana Initiative statement on collaboration with institutions, organisations and other entities in Israel

The Europeana Initiative (composed of the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum, the Europeana Network Association and the Europeana Foundation) recognises the gravity and urgency of the situation taking place in Gaza, as a result of the ongoing military actions by the government of the State of Israel. Its resulting humanitarian and cultural catastrophe are unacceptable, and have been documented and condemned by trusted international and European bodies.

In line with our internal protocols and workflows, and given the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we are reviewing our position with regard to our collaboration with institutions, organisations and other entities in Israel. We are taking this step following the recent statement by the European Commission (2025 State of the Union Address by President Ursula von der Leyen on 10 September) and the European Parliament resolution (11 September).

We are reassessing our capacity to exert our influence through concrete measures. In doing so, we build on - and move beyond - our verbal statements at the EuropeanaTech 2023 and Europeana 2025 Conferences, where we condemned brutality and the loss of innocent lives on both sides.

This review will follow a two-phased approach, including:

Immediate actions, and
Longer-term steps to guide our work responsibly and consistently

Immediate actions:

The three interlinked organisations of the Europeana Initiative and our respective governance bodies are working closely together and have consulted the European Commission in considering our next steps, effective immediately.

Concretely, we are abstaining from engaging with new heritage institutions, organisations or entities supported by or directly linked to the government of Israel.

At the same time, we underline that the Europeana Network Association (ENA) membership is strictly personal, as defined in ENA’s Statutes and bylaws, and is not linked to any organisation or government (by contrast, our relationship with data providers is institutional). We believe it is important to remain in dialogue with individual peers and colleagues in Israel, as they are precisely the people who can contribute to change. Therefore, our review process recognises this distinction between individual network members on the one hand, and institutions, organisations and entities on the other.

Longer-term steps:

We aim to arrive at a principled and durable position that allows us to respond adequately, consistently and in alignment with our mission and guiding principles in this and any future conflict. This is essential in today’s context of ongoing harrowing conflicts in Europe and worldwide. For this we need more time and we will broaden the circle of consulted stakeholders and experts to determine the necessary measures.

Concretely, in the next couple of weeks, we will establish a Working Group to monitor the situation regarding Palestinian cultural heritage in general, and in Gaza in particular, and provide guidance as we move forward, including on the relations with our current data providers in Israel. This Group will also develop recommendations on how the Europeana Initiative should engage in similar situations that may arise in the future.

At the same time, we will explore ways to support, safeguard and promote Palestinian cultural heritage, including through collaboration with other heritage organisations already active in this area.

Moving forward:

Our review also considers how we can make our internal protocols and workflows more transparent, while ensuring that we enable dialogue around them across our communities.

The outcomes of these deliberations, along with the reasoning behind our decisions, will be communicated openly and transparently to our community. Our members and partners have been proactive in raising and discussing this matter, and the Europeana Initiative is addressing it with the utmost seriousness. In the meantime, if you have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach us at info@europeana.eu.

Last but not least, we wish to reaffirm our strong belief in the power of culture and cultural heritage to foster historical understanding, empathy and dialogue across communities — and to help build the inclusive, resilient and humanistic societies our world urgently needs.

With appreciation and commitment,

Harry Verwayen, General Director of the Europeana Foundation,

Sofie Taes, Chair of the Europeana Network Association

Kerstin Arnold, Chair of the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum

On behalf of the Europeana Initiative