/ This statement deals with the events at the occupation of lecture hall 1a on 14.12.2023. For various reasons, we have unfortunately only been able to publish it now. It is written with the status as of January 23, 2024 and is intended as a retrospective review of the events. The anti-Semitic attack on a FU student on February 2 is therefore not yet addressed in it. You can find our statement here: //https://astafu.de/node/589/
Since October 7, various groups and individuals at Freie Universität have taken positions on the
current escalation in Israel/Palestine and the Israeli offensive in Gaza. As AStA, we see it as our
task to support students in becoming politically active. At the same time, as students of this
university and especially as AStA, we are responsible for ensuring that everyone - especially
marginalized people and those affected by the situation in Palestine and Israel - can feel safe on
campus. We have not managed to live up to this responsibility in recent months, even within the
AStA, and we need to start working on this.
The general developments in the german society can also be seen here at the FU. We are
observing increasing anti-Semitism, police presence and violence on campus, the polarization of
debates, misrepresentations and racist propaganda, not only in right-wing media. In the following,
we try to trace the events of the last few weeks and then classify them.
What has happened in the last few weeks?
In recent weeks, there have been actions on campus that have positioned themselves against
Israel's military offensive in Gaza and criticized the responsibility of the German state in this. In
some cases, anti-Semitic statements were made.
On December 14, lecture hall 1a in the Rost- und Silberlaube was occupied by various students
and groups in solidarity with Palestine, who made their presence known to the outside world via
the new Instagram account "studentsforpalestine_fu".
The groups ArbeiterInnenmacht, Waffen der Kritik, Rotes Café, pa_allies, Migrantifa Berlin, Young
Struggle and Zora [1] were announced on the program with speeches.
Among other things, the occupiers demanded that the FU support a ceasefire, create a fact-based
and human rights-oriented academic discourse and reject the IHRA definition on anti-Semitism
[2]. Later that afternoon, the university made the decision to have the occupation forcibly evicted
by the police.
There are different accounts of the events at the occupation. From our information, based on
reports from those present and video recordings, the following picture results:
Temporarily, pro-Israeli students were refused entry to the occupied lecture hall due to the
provocative behavior of some people towards the occupiers. They had torn down posters and
disrupted the occupation by shouting. This behaviour was met by participants and organizers
(security and awareness) of the occupation partly with attempts at de-escalation and partly with
aggression.
The pro-Israeli students were then excluded. This exclusion not only affected the provocative
students, but also pro-Israeli students who wanted to approach the action peacefully.
As a condition of the university and through the efforts of some of the organizers of the
occupation, the space was then opened up, also explicitly for Zionist and pro-Israeli students. As
a result, a group of pro-Israeli students remained in the lecture hall until shortly before the
eviction.
Parallel to the official speeches, there were repeated confrontations between the group of pro-
Israeli students and pro-Palestinian students. At one point, pro-Israeli students put up posters
with portraits of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Some pro-Palestinian students tore them
down again and deliberately stood in the way to prevent them from being put up again.
The speakers shouted several times: "There is no room for Zionists here" [translated from german],
whereupon there was applause. There was a counter-speech by another speaker, who
emphasized that Zionists were also welcome, and there was little applause.
At the beginning of the occupation, pro-Israeli students called the police and at least two people
filed charges against each other. At around 3 pm, representatives of the university announced that
the occupation was to be evicted and set a deadline of 4 pm for students to leave the lecture hall.
The university management then called the police and had those students who were still in the
lecture hall forcibly evicted.
On anti-Semitism at the occupation
We cannot describe and analyze all antisemitic statements made in the context of the
occupation, but we want to show that antisemitic discourses and narratives were reproduced and
tolerated during the lecture hall occupation.
One speaker from Young Struggle made the following statements in their speech: "The Israeli state
has [...] no right to exist, because it is not based on a national claim, because there is no Israeli
nation. The Turkish state, on the other hand, has a right to exist because there is a Turkish nation,
because there is a Turkish working class that has a right to self-determination." [translated from
german]
In this, only the state of Israel is explicitly denied the legitimacy of its existence. The claim that
there is no Israeli nation is a narrative that negates several thousand years of Jewish history. The
statement that Israel does not have a working class is also false and a clear parallel to the anti-
Semitic narrative that demonizes Jews as the authors of capitalist exploitation and equates them
with capital.
One speaker relativized the Hamas attack against the Israeli civilian population by calling out "All
Palestinian resistance is legitimate", which was met with much approval.
This statement trivializes Hamas' eliminatory anti-Semitic ideology and ignores the fact that they
specifically targeted Jews in their attack on October 7, even though many non-Jewish civilians
were also killed. Hamas is not a progressive group and to portray it as such, even indirectly,
trivializes antisemitic murders.
We clearly condemn these antisemitic statements and call on all groups participating in the
occupation to address the situation and effectively distance themselves from antisemitic
narratives.
Some events at the occupation, for example the trivialization of the anti-Semitic murders by
Hamas, are part of an increasingly anti-Semitic climate at the university. If such narratives remain
unchallenged in speeches at the rallies and at the occupation, this means that Jewish students
can no longer feel safe in these places.
Against anti-Semitism on campus
Irrespective of the occupation, anti-Semitic incidents are becoming more frequent on campus.
Examples include the distribution of flyers from the Islamist group "Realität Islam", at least one
anti-queer pro-Hamas graffiti with a call for violence on a toilet and death threats against Jewish
students whose names were shared in group chats. There was also anti-Semitism at the FU before
October 7 last year, as evidenced, for example, by the actions of the conspiracy ideology
"Students Stand Up" [Studenten Stehen Auf] during the pandemic and the cases of right-wing
extremist ideology in teaching [3]. However, Jewish students report a change in the quantity and
quality of incidents.
It is important to acknowledge this and at the same time it is essential to differentiate between
the actors. We are not aware of any incidents where statements were directed against students
at pro-Palestinian rallies at the FU or at the occupation because they were Jewish.
Against police repression on our campus
The university's handling of the occupation was wrong. We strongly criticize the violent eviction
by the police and reject any use of the police on campus by the university management. Police
repression can in the worst case be life-threatening and traumatizing. Exposing migrant students
in particular to the danger of racist police violence is irresponsible on the part of the university
management. Instead, we call for a de-escalative approach and for political activity to be
permitted on campus. The raids on members of the feminist group Zora as well as Café Karanfil
and the Interbüro in december 2023 show how the narrative of "imported anti-Semitism"
legitimizes repression against internationalist political activists and structures. We stand in
solidarity with those affected by these raids against police repression.
For de-escalation and sustainable strategies against anti-Semitism and racism
Educational work on racism and anti-Semitism is neglected. The FU does not create safe spaces
for affected groups, instead relying on repressive measures such as calling the police. We see it
as the university's task to bring current research into society. It must also draw attention to social
grievances, such as the lack of funding for political education programs in the area of anti-
Semitism and racism, and support their expansion.
We would like to emphasize at this point that we do not want to discourage any individual from
contacting the police if they find themselves in an acutely threatening situation.
Following the police eviction, the FU filed charges against 20 people who were present during the
occupation. We call on the university management to withdraw the charges, as they will not solve
the FU's anti-Semitism problem. Instead, they will affect potentially precarious students and put
them in financial difficulties due to possible fines.
On the demand for exmatriculation
In recent weeks, there have already been rallies by the group "Fridays for Israel" on both the FU
and HU campuses. The Jewish Student Union, the Young Forum of the German-Israeli Society, the
right-wing conservative Ring of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) and the Young Liberals are
among those taking part in the rallies of this initiative independet from political parties [4] of
students and young people. The initiative plays down the war crimes against the Palestinians.
Individual participants in the rallies were involved in situations in which there were sweeping
provocations and targeted disruptions against organizers and speakers of Palestine-solidarity
events and a subsequent staging of this in right-wing media. For example, an interview was given
to the Bild newspaper. At an event at Café Galilea, there was an incident in which a participant
who reported on the situation of her relatives in Gaza was laughed at and filmed.
Fridays for Israel demands the de-registration of all occupation participants [5]. We consider this
development to be extremely dangerous, as the exmatriculation of political students provides a
pretext for excluding left-wing and internationalist students from the social sphere of the
university. There is a good reason why the Berlin Higher Education Act (Berliner Hochschulgesetz)
does not allow for forced exmatriculation. Political organizing at the university must not be
restricted by the fact that students can be excluded from studying because of political
statements. This demand also contradicts the right to education. For professions that require a
university degree, this is tantamount to a professional ban. For students whose residence permit
depends on their student status, the consequences would be even more far-reaching, as the loss
of a place at university could lead to the loss of a student visa and, in the worst case, to
deportation.
A university that washes itself clean
To claim that Freie Universität does not have an anti-Semitism problem, as President Günter
Ziegler did in an interview with the Tagesschau [7], denies those affected by anti-Semitic attacks
at the university their experiences. We have heard time and again from Jewish students that they
no longer feel safe on campus since October 7 due to anti-Semitic incidents and that this feeling
is steadily increasing. The university's framing fits in with its handling of discriminatory incidents
in the past. At the FU, racist lecturers have been tolerated for years and students' experiences are
not taken seriously. The university's primary interest should be to protect students from violence
and discrimination of any kind, not to avoid bad press through relativizing public relations.
Against all war crimes in Palestine, Israel and all violence against civilians
October 7 was an attack on civilians in Israel. Hundreds were taken hostage and massacred, it
was the largest mass murder of Jewish people since the Second World War. The attack was
accompanied by systematic rape, torture and other horrific acts of violence. We condemn these
dehumanizing crimes.
The Israeli operation "Swords of Iron" against the Palestinians in Gaza has resulted in more than
25,000 deaths, over 62,000 injured [8] and 1.9 million people displaced [9] since October 7. With
the threat of this humanitarian catastrophe worsening as Gaza is cut off from medical supplies,
food, electricity and drinking water [9], we see a political imperative to condemn these war crimes
and call for a ceasefire.
Freie Universität is not a neutral institution in this situation. The research carried out at Freie
Universität contributes in the poitics of the German government, which legitimize
arms deliveries and support for warring parties worldwide. Against this background, we call for an
end to all research that promotes wars worldwide. Freie Universität needs a civil clause.
References:
[1] The program oft he lecture hall occupation:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C00_XioM8ht/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTYzOWQz
NmJjMA==
[2] The demands of the lecture hall occupation:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C01GG6Ts7Zj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTYzOWQz
NmJjMA==x
[3] Statement of the AStA FU from 24.1.2022 "Exmatriculate right-wing ideology":
https://astafu.de/rechte-ideologie-exmatrikulieren
[4] Website of Fridays for Israel: https://fridaysforisrael.com
[5] The demand for exmatriculation of students from Fridays for Israel:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C03jdewMoes/?img_index=1
[6] AStA FU statement "Compassion, visibility and solidarity for all those affected by the violence
in Israel/Palestine!": https://astafu.de/node/582
[7] Footnote: Interview with Günter Ziegler in the Tagesschau:
https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/sendung/tagesthemen/video-1284362.html
[8] Number of people killed and injured in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza
(figures cannot be independently verified): https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145742
[9] Human Rights Watch report on the events in Israel/Palestine in 2023:
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/israel-and-palestine