Demonstrations
After occupation at Humboldt University: Clean up and rework
In the evening, the mood at Berlin’s Humboldt University was heated. Photo
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
The management of Berlin’s Humboldt University has been sharply criticized for tolerating the occupation of rooms. Justice Minister Buschmann believes the lecturers are responsible.
After the evacuation of the parts of the city occupied by around 150 pro-Palestinian activists, At the Humboldt University in Berlin, the police now want to investigate the operation. The political debate about the tolerance of the occupation by the university management is also likely to continue. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) took the lecturers to task in general and called on them to encourage students to present arguments. The extent of the material damage at the Humboldt University has yet to be determined.
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied rooms at Humboldt University in protest against Israel and in support of the Palestinians. The group, called Student Coalition Berlin, demanded that Berlin universities, among other things, work for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza war and put pressure on the German government to impose an arms embargo on Israel and end all military, financial and diplomatic aid to Israel.
The university administration initially tolerated the occupation and relied on a dialogue between occupiers and scientists. In the evening, the police cleared the occupied building on the instructions of the Senate. Science Senator Ina Czyborra (SPD) gave the order in agreement with Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), said the university president, Julia von Blumenthal. Wegner thanked the police on Platform X for their efforts.
Some of the activists left the premises voluntarily, while others were escorted out by the police. Police said 150 pro-Palestinian activists were escorted out of the building, but there were no reports of injuries.
“Taken a good step”
In view of the eviction, Von Blumenthal expressed her regret that no agreement had been reached. At least she did not see the attempt at dialogue as a failure that evening: “I am not sure whether it would have succeeded, but I had the impression that we had taken a good step with this dialogue,” she said. She wanted to see the suffering of all those affected. At the start of the eviction, she said it was important to her to be there at that moment.
She wanted to show the students that she was also their president, even if she did not share many of the political demands and condemned the damage to property in the building “and condemned everything that was perceived as a threat, especially by our Jewish students, but also by other employees and students of the Institute of Social Sciences.”
Buschmann: No approval of criminal acts
In view of the protests, Federal Justice Minister Buschmann told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group: “There must be no threats, no insults, no approval of criminal acts.” Especially at universities, the stronger argument should count – and not the louder shouting. The Islamist Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza, and Germany has a special responsibility towards Israel.
Of course, those who do not agree with this attitude can also invoke freedom of expression. “The limit is reached when violence is exercised or incited, when personal rights are violated or symbols of terrorist organizations are used,” said the minister.
Buschmann added that he found some of the side effects of the protests at universities particularly painful. “That’s where young people are supposed to resolve conflicts – and with rationally verifiable arguments. Not by shouting at others or threatening them with their fists.” The Minister of Justice defended police operations in this context.
“Universities are special places – but they are not outside the law. Demonstrations on university campuses are subject to the same rules as other demonstrations,” he said. “That is why it is of course right for the police to intervene when there are violations of the law.”
Clear criticism of toleration
The CDU had criticized the toleration of the occupation as a possible encouragement for further crimes, the SPD faction had demanded that “the criminal acts and damage to property be put to an end.” The police union had also stated that universities, as places of exchange and discussion, were not a legitimate basis for shouting inhumane and anti-Semitic slogans.
The mood during the evacuation was heated: an activist shouted out her frustration in the courtyard: “My family dies every day!” Loud shouts could be heard for hours from a demonstration in the immediate vicinity, including calls for violence or the now banned slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”, which denies Israel the right to exist.
After the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,200 people dead, more than 35,000 Palestinians died in the Gaza war that followed, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, although the figure, which is difficult to verify independently, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.