Freie Universität Berlin: Caged within the Ivory Tower

February 5th, 2024

Freie Universität Berlin is grounded upon the fundamental values of truth, justice and freedom. These are the words engraved within the arches of the university’s seal. As of late these values and our ability to uphold them as students, lecturers and representatives of Freie Universität Berlin have been challenged on the daily within the premises of the campus.

On Saturday the 7th of October 2023 the terrorist group Hamas carried out the most vile and brutal assault on innocent Jewish and Israeli life on Israeli soil, in the history of the country’s existence. 1,200 people were brutally killed on that day with an additional 240 people being taken hostage by the terrorist group. Without a doubt Hamas must be condemned for all its crimes. Now, more than 100 days after this first Saturday, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been reduced to nothing more than their lifeless flesh lying limp on the ground, under rubble or in the arms of the family members that are still alive. It seems as though the innocent civilians in Gaza are the ones who are paying the price for the actions of Hamas. Their deaths, amputations, stillbirths, hunger, period cramps, loss of sight, sickness and trauma, however, is rarely ever addressed by German politicians or German mass media outlets.

With many of the students, lecturers and staff from Freie Universität Berlin having personal ties to Palestine and Israel, campus life has been shaped in a fundamental way. Walking down the hallways of the main building one will encounter a multitude of posters, stickers and graffiti embellishing the walls, reading appeals like: “Bring them back home”, “Call for a ceasefire”, or “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”. Most narratives fall back on compartmentalizing the advocacy surrounding the war between Palestine and Israel into a binary division: Pro-Palestine supporters are equated with Arabs and Muslims and Pro-Israel supporters are equated with Israelis and Jews. However, this is a fallacy. First and foremost, this simplified narrative leaves out the many people who are currently advocating for a ceasefire. Secondly, it overlooks the fact that the discussion as a whole is a lot more heterogenous than it is made out to be. Jewish students have joined outspoken student groups standing in solidarity with the Palestinian population. Students without a Jewish heritage strongly advocate for the lives of the hostages by putting up posters that remind us of the names and faces of those who were abducted and are still held in captivity by Hamas.

With so many people involved in the matter tensions are running high on campus. Multiple incidents of racist and antisemitic encounters on campus have been voiced by a growing body of concerned students. Tensions peaked on the 14th of December. On this day at 11:30 am multiple student groups including: Students for Palestine, The notinourname_fu initiative, Studierenden Kollektiv, Waffen der Kritik and Young Struggle, Students Defend Kurdistan, @arbeiterinnenmacht and Zora occupied lecture hall 1a. Shortly thereafter, a group of counter protesters gathered to demonstrate against the occupation. At 4 pm the executive board of the University made the decision to call the police, resulting in multiple students who had partaken in the occupation to be arrested. Now 21 of those students, many of whom are international students, are facing charges. The University has responded to the incident with a short press statement addressing the events and the decision to call the police.

In order to address this specific incident as well as the broader discourse on Palestine and Israel in relation to the terrorist attack and the war in Gaza an open discussion was organized on the 10th of January at 3 pm in room L115. Vice president 1, Blechinger-Talcott and vice president 3, Sven Chojnacki, as well as Dina Hammouda from the Office of Diversity and Anti-discrimination attended the discussion to talk about the University’s stance towards the matter and address any points which may have remained unclear to the student body. The aim of this event was that the University and the students of Freie Universität Berlin engage with one another regarding these issues. As such, long speeches were absent and the many people who came to room L115 on that day ranging from freshmen to lecturers posed questions to the University's representatives. Students standing in the solidarity with Palestine constituted the biggest number of those present at the event, which was evident by the questions raised.

Why wasn’t the role of the counter protesters during the occupation of lecture hall 1a mentioned in any press statement made by the University? Why can international students advocating for Palestinian lives be defamed as Nazis or terrorist sympathizers without any consequences? Ironically, during the open discussion this did in fact happen. An international student who had partaken in the occupation was indeed called a terrorist by another student present. Neither one of the vice-presidents nor the representative of the Office of Diversity and Anti-discrimination took any form of action when such allegations were raised in front of them. Other questions included: Why was the University so quick to proclaim its solidarity with the Israelis and Jewish civilians but not with Palestinians? Will the University retract the charges against the 21 students many of which are highly vulnerable due to their status as international students? What is done to circumvent Freie Universität from losing its reputation as a critical space for free and open discussion? What can be done to stop posters from being taken down? What is Freie Universität doing to keep its students safe?

Most of these questions were left largely unanswered. The responses given were quite repetitive. The University kept reiterating the fact that open and accessible discourse for all in form of public, equal and just debates held within safe spaces needs to be curated and that Freie Universität Berlin, offers such spaces for its students, while pointing towards the Office of Diversity and Anti-discrimination as the one-size-fits-all solution for anyone experiencing any type of discrimination. It should be mentioned however, that said office is quite small as of now, according to Dina Hammouda herself. As such, it seems as though the capacities for dealing with the wide range of problems students are currently facing regarding islamophobia, antisemitism and general hate are not yet fully established. The discussion also served as a reminder of the University’s role as a state facility. The low-tuition fees, rooms, and supplies the University offers its students, are only made possible due to Freie Universität Berlin being a state institution. Therefore, the University is bound to work within the framework of the state of Berlin as well as that of the federal government of Germany, as was stated by Ms. Blechinger-Talcott. 

The discussion itself was strongly characterized by raised voices, shouting and emotions erupting. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, nor should that deter anybody from listening to those who have been affected by the events. Free and fair discourse should be able to embrace emotionality, without falling apart the instance it erupts.

What was surprising however was hearing that the University limits itself to solely studying the events unfolding in Palestine and Israel, without attempting to solve them in any way, shape or form as was proclaimed during the opening statement of the University’s representatives. That right there is the Ivory Tower people so often mention when talking about the flaws within academia. Being able to engage with the suffering of thousands of people only to the extent that oneself deems necessary is the very definition of privilege. Hundreds of brilliant minds walk the hallways of the University every day and yet no one is actively looking for a solution to one of the biggest problems the international community has faced for the last 75 years. If no one knows anything that can be done to provide nourishment to the people in Gaza who are currently facing starvation, to provide hostages who have endured gender-based violence with adequate psychological help or to provide the world with an idea on what needs to be done to implement a two-state solution: Then what are we even doing here? What is the point of teaching and learning if it is not actively used to help others? Freie Universität Berlin was founded on principles that extend beyond the confines of the campus and should be accessible to all, not just to its lecturers and students. However, as of now it seems as though the University is  lacking the courage to engage with the topic of Palestine and Israel in a way that truly reflects its own values.