Tents have just been set up again at the Free University in southwest Berlin. People in Palestinian scarves, some of whom study here, others certainly don’t, will probably once again shout slogans that are partly critical of Israel, but in many cases are pure anti-Semitism.
Slogans like those recently left on the walls of the Humboldt University in the middle of the city when activists tore apart a faculty building. Or like those that can be heard and seen recently at other universities in the country.
This is not the first time that a camp has been set up at the Free University; the previous time, it was cleared out very quickly. The consequences of the measure have led to the Minister of Education coming under considerable pressure this week. The ministry responded to a letter from 100 professors who were outraged at the eviction by ordering an audit of the funding for the signatories.
Yes, such a process is delicate. After all, it is about very valuable goods: freedom of opinion and academic freedom. And about the relationship between science and the ministry. But it is also clear that the signatories not only wanted to protect their students, as they write, but that they expressed solidarity with activists who propagate hatred. It is clear – as the past few months, and the years since the Documenta at the latest, have shown – that more context often means only one thing: more anti-Semitic depths.
A state secretary has now taken on responsibility. This should not be the end, but the beginning of a long overdue discussion. Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) represents a liberal party. Liberals are currently failing to counter illiberals, and not only in Germany. This is also the case in science, where activists are succeeding in making it look exactly the other way round. Yet the freedom of science also lies in its distance from politics.