Free University of Berlin, 17.02.2025
Last week, the president of the so-called "Free" University of Berlin, Günter Ziegler, announced that the event "Conditions of Life Calculated to Destroy: Legal and Forensic Perspectives on the Ongoing Gaza Genocide" featuring Francesca Albanese would not be allowed to take place in person on the university campus. The General Student Committee (AStA) of the "Free" University is outraged by this decision and is organizing an alternative event at the scheduled time to take academic exchange into its own hands.
"The 'Free' University was founded on the values of freedom and truth, yet President Ziegler defames student protests at the university while simultaneously calling for discussions in academic formats. Now, when professors organize such an event and students support it, he still disapproves. This university does not deserve its name." – Emilia Weber, AStA FU representative.
The invited speakers included Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories as well as a lawyer and expert in international law, and Eyal Weizman, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures and Director of Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths University of London. Both have successfully held similar events at other European universities without issue.
The event aimed to address the concrete mechanisms of the Gaza genocide, as well as the legal and forensic collection of evidence. The essence of academic freedom lies precisely in its protection—even when there is disagreement about the validity of certain hypotheses. As the official reason for the cancellation, Günter Ziegler cited "unpredictable" security concerns and accused students of wanting to bring conflict into the university space.
"To us students, this reason seems like a pretext to avoid engaging with the topic. At the same time, it places us under general suspicion, as if we were the ones making events unsafe. Is this really how our university president sees us?" – Vincent Schwarz, AStA FU representative.
Furthermore, AStA FU criticizes the restriction on academic and freedom of speech that comes with this decision, as it denies space for scholarly exchange and discussion on this issue. This is not the first time the "Free" University has made headlines for suppressing solidarity with Palestine: In May 2024, before a protest had even begun, the university administration ordered police to violently remove students and journalists from campus.
In response to the cancellation, the professors involved have found an alternative location and will stream the event. AStA FU is committed to bringing academic discourse back to campus and will organize a broadcast in the student space "GalileA."
Contact: oeffref[at]astafu.de