Pro-Palestinian protests at universities: Is academic freedom under threat?

For German Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger, freedom is the foundation "for the way we live in our country, for our democracy, our constitutional state and our prosperity," she said at the launch of the Science Year 2024, which focuses this year on freedom, a theme chosen to mark the 75th anniversary of Germany's Basic Law, the country's constitution.

But now more than 2,800 academics are accusing her of threatening freedom of expression and are calling for the minister's resignation in an open letter.

Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger is under fire for her reaction to a letter of protest from university professorsImage: Britta Pedersen/dpa/picture-alliance

What happened?

At the beginning of May, a pro-Palestinian protest camp on the campus of the Freie Universität Berlin was cleared by the police. More than 70 people were temporarily detained; 80 criminal investigations and 79 misdemeanor proceedings were initiated, according to the police. The some 150 activist students had been demonstrating against the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. They had also tried to enter rooms and lecture halls at the university.

In reaction to actions of the university management and the police, hundreds of lecturers published a statement against the eviction. As they stated in the open letter, regardless of whether they agree with the specific demands of the protest camp, they defend the students' right to peaceful protest, which also includes occupying university grounds.

The pro-Palestinian activists occupied a courtyard of the Freie Universität Berlin in MayImage: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo/picture alliance

The Education Minister was outraged by the letter. In an interview with daily Bild, she questioned whether the signatories were respecting the German constitution.

She apparently went even further: It was later revealed that her ministry wanted to examine whether academic funding of those who were critical of the measures could be cut.

The outcry was strong among academics and politicians. Among various reactions, German politicians asked if the minister herself was respecting the German constitution.

As pointed out by Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors' Conference, one does not need to share the signatories' position, but linking an opinion to access to funding is an outright violation of academic freedom.

A threat to Germany's academic reputation?

The letter of protest, which has meanwhile also been signed by international professors and lecturers, accuses the Education Minister of intimidation: "Repressive reviews of academics who make public their critical stance on governmental decisions are familiar from authoritarian regimes that systematically hinder free discussion, including at universities."

The police evicting the activists at the Berlin universityImage: Axel Schmidt/Getty Images

"Even giving the impression that free social debate is being curtailed by the state damages our democratic society and the reputation of Germany as a center of research in the world," the statement adds.  

The open letter was signed by well-known intellectuals such as democracy researcher Wolfgang Merkel, philosopher Rahel Jaeggi and sociologist Hartmut Rosa.

Another signatory is Susan Bernofsky, translator and professor at New York's Columbia University. She had already experienced the occupation of her university by students in April — and criticized its evacuation by the police: "I signed the letter because I am horrified at the attempts both in Germany and in the United States to stifle and silence pro-Palestinian speech in violation of academic freedom and free speech rights."

Such protests have been defamed as antisemitic. As Bernofsky told DW, she herself is Jewish and refutes such accusations.

Worldwide protests against the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on the population in Gaza have also been taking place at universities all over the world — in Europe, Australia and Mexico. The pressure on university management to curb these protests is great. Susan Bernofsky, like many of her colleagues, is alarmed that politicians want to gain control over the universities.

Education Ministry's State Secretary fired

In the wake of the funding scandal, the German Education Minister's State Secretary, Sabine Döring, was dismissed on Sunday.

Stark-Watzinger claims that she was not personally involved in asking for an examination of funding requirements.

She adds in a statement on X that she is "still stunned by how the terror of Hamas is one-sidedly ignored in the letter, as it leaves out the suffering of the Israeli population and the situation of Jews in Germany."

This article was originally written in German.