In the face of repeated pro-Palestinian activities at Berlin universities, the Federal Government’s Antisemitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, has criticized a lack of enlightenment in Berlin’s educational institutions. This is reported by the “Tagesspiegel” (Thursday edition).
The background is the occupation of a lecture hall at the Alice-Salomon University in the Hellersdorf district by pro-Palestinian activists, which has been going on since Monday morning. During the protest action in the auditorium, it is said that there were also incidents of anti-Semitic and terrorist glorification.
The events at the Hellersdorf university show “once again” that there is still a need for consultation on the topic of anti-Semitism at the university leadership, Klein said to the newspaper. In the current case, the difference between legitimate concerns for the Palestinian civilian population and Hamas solidarity, on the one hand, and hate and incitement against Jews, on the other, has been misunderstood.
Occupations of lecture halls, anti-Israel slogans, and expressions of sympathy for the terrorist organization Hamas are an expression of a lack of sensitivity from university leadership for anti-Semitic tendencies, Klein said. “The more important it is now that anti-Semitism commissioners are appointed at all universities” Klein demanded, whose office as Federal Commissioner for Anti-Semitism is located in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Klein also supports the proposal to create a superior coordinator position that bundles the work of the commissioners at the universities and develops “concepts, guidelines, and the like”.
According to Klein, there are many suitable people in the capital who could fill such a position “outstandingly”. Enlightenment, sensitization, and education are the “order of the day” to preserve universities as places of non-violent discourse, where all students can learn fearlessly.