The conflict in the Middle East has also reached German universities. Activists occupied a courtyard at the Free University of Berlin for a few hours.
Around 100 pro-Palestinian activists temporarily occupied a courtyard at the Free University in Berlin on Tuesday. The police cleared the area in the afternoon. The university had previously announced rapid action. “The FU ordered the evacuation and called the police,” said a spokeswoman.
The occupiers of the theater yard called for solidarity with the people of Gaza. For this purpose, they also set up tents on the university grounds in the Dahlem district. “We are occupying the Free University of Berlin,” it said in a speech. This is done in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The actions of the Israeli army in Gaza were criticized. This required immediate reactions and international solidarity, it was said to justify the protest. The group, acting as the “Student Coalition Berlin,” called for the occupation of German universities and student resistance in solidarity with Gaza.
Slogans like “Viva, viva, Palestine!” were heard. Posters called for a strike as a form of resistance. Flags with the Palestinian colors could be seen. Police spokesman Michael Gassen said that forbidden slogans were also shouted. This is documented by the police, the people are identified and procedures are initiated.
Police accompany demonstrators from the area
The area was initially cordoned off and monitored by the police; other activists were not allowed through. In the early afternoon, individual groups of demonstrators were escorted from the site. Eventually the camp itself was evacuated. After repeated requests to leave the area, the emergency services began to remove individual participants. On the sidelines, there were individual scuffles between police forces and people from neighboring university buildings.
FU Berlin partially ceases operations
The university has partially stopped teaching. “This form of protest is not aimed at dialogue. An occupation is not acceptable on the grounds of the FU Berlin. We are available for scientific dialogue – but not in this way,” said university president Günter Ziegler in a statement.
According to the university, activists from the protest camp also attempted to break into rooms and lecture halls at the university in the course of the morning in order to occupy them. The group, which says it is made up of students from various Berlin universities and other people, has asked other students and professors to take part. The group made demands but rejected any dialogue or negotiations.
There was damage to property, the statement said. The university has filed criminal charges. Teaching operations in the Rust, Silver and Holzlaube buildings have been discontinued. The libraries in these buildings and the cafeteria were closed.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany criticized the management of the university. The occupation “clearly shows the fanatical character of the groups involved,” Central Council President Josef Schuster said in a statement. “The hatred of Israel and the anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic background of the action is obvious and is part of the DNA of these people,” said Schuster.
“The fact that the university management once again doesn’t use a word about this ideological underpinning in a statement is more than irritating to me. Ross and Reiter must be clearly named.” He expected a clear positioning. “Unfortunately, the events of the past few weeks and months do not seem to have brought about sufficient development in the FU management.”
Berlin’s Science Senator Ina Czyborra (SPD) does not want to tolerate such occupations. “In principle, it is legitimate to demonstrate against war, but not in the form of protest actions like three days ago at the HU and today at the FU, which are aimed at confrontation and not dialogue,” she told the German Press Agency. She emphasized: “Berlin’s universities are safe. The universities are clearly positioning themselves against anti-Semitism and are also taking action against it.”
In Leipzig, several people occupied the university’s auditorium in the afternoon. Police forces were on the way to get an idea of the situation, the police said on request. The university stated that 50 to 60 squatters were involved.
Protests in the USA
On Friday, activists protested at the Humboldt University in Berlin. According to the police, around 150 people came together for an unregistered rally. The protesters demanded a lecture hall as a rally location, which the university management did not grant. As a result, the police initiated 37 investigations into possible cases of sedition and resistance to law enforcement officers.
In the USA, there have been protests at numerous universities for more than two weeks against the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and in solidarity with the Palestinians living there. Critics accuse the radical part of the protest movement in particular of anti-Semitism and trivializing the terrorist organization Hamas. According to media reports, 2,000 people were arrested in connection with this.
The background is the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. Given the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel has come under international criticism.
Wegner: Don’t turn a blind eye to hatred of Jews at universities
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has condemned the occupation of the courtyard of the Free University (FU) by pro-Palestinian activists. At the same time, he supported the strategy of the university, which immediately informed the police and wanted to have the protest camp evacuated.
“We must not turn a blind eye at universities when anti-Semitic slogans and hatred of Jews are spread at universities,” said the CDU politician after a Senate meeting with the church leadership of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO). He is very grateful to the university for its approach: “I think this consistent approach is completely right.”
According to Wegner, he doesn’t want to experience a situation in Berlin like the one recently experienced at US universities. “We don’t have a situation like this yet. And yet we have a problem,” he said. “As the Berlin Senate, we will do everything we can to ensure that Jewish students are not afraid to enter universities.”
Wegner did not accept the argument of diversity of opinion with regard to the protests. “Anti-Semitism is not a political opinion. We will not allow that at universities.”