Historic pro-Palestine wave sweeps German universities

Nearly 700 students at the University of Leipzig gathered on the square outside the canteen next to crumbling ancient walls to vote last month. They raised yellow cards, and the result was nearly unanimous: the student council demanded the university end all cooperation with Israeli institutions.

“All five of Leipzig University’s Israeli partner universities are essential parts of the Israeli military complex: they develop weapons, surveillance systems and recruit on campus,” Orlando Becker, 22, a member of the Students for Palestine Leipzig group, told Al Jazeera. “We believe that cooperating with these schools is inherently problematic because it legitimises and normalises these institutions.”

The Leipzig vote is the latest success in a wave of Palestine solidarity at German universities that has been building since March. At least three other student councils in Berlin and Dusseldorf have passed similar resolutions.

Israeli universities have long been accused of complicity in the Israeli government’s war crimes and other abuses. Students prepared a report detailing how academic institutions contribute to Israel’s war machine, including in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, as well as promoting government narratives.

“One example is archaeological projects,” Becker said. “These projects often aim to prove that Palestinians do not exist and that Palestine was empty before settlers arrived. In the name of science, Israel justifies the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian village of Susya to conduct archaeological research, and then distorts the results to prove those who were cleansed never existed. Leipzig University has an archaeological project with Ben Gurion University.”

After sharing the report on campus, Students for Palestine collected 1,300 signatures to convene a student assembly. A day before the assembly, the university revoked permission to use the lecture hall.

A University of Leipzig spokesperson said the permit was denied because students made “partisan statements” and “intended to restrict academic freedom”.

Becker called it a “historic moment for Germany” as more students across the country join pro-Palestine campaigns. “We are not naive. If the past is any guide, the administration will care more about Israel than about their own democratic institutions and the collective will of students. Our struggle will not end until all of Palestine is free.”

In March, at Hertie School, a private university in Berlin, the student council voted on a resolution supporting BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) by cutting ties with Israeli institutions. It was the first student council in Germany to do so.

“Students have been organising for years to demand Hertie School end all cooperation with institutions complicit in human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories,” a member of the Hertie Student Representatives (HSR), who asked to remain anonymous, said. “The school leadership has responded inadequately to these student initiatives and ignored many of our demands. A student coalition therefore drafted this resolution to apply the BDS framework to student-managed funds. It passed with over 90% in favour and no votes against.”

Hertie School separated from the HSR, with the Hertie Foundation calling the resolution “unacceptable”. Reactions among students were mixed, with some reporting a tense campus atmosphere, and the HSR resigned after losing a no-confidence vote.

“The school used intimidation tactics, saying students’ job prospects could be harmed if involved with BDS, international students’ visa status could be threatened, and Hertie School’s funding could be cut,” the HSR member said. “Furthermore, the leadership implied that students supporting the resolution were acting outside the law.”

BDS is considered extremist by the German parliament, though it is not banned. “I attended a meeting about this situation at the school and was shocked. The whole discussion felt staged,” said Arshak Makichyan, an environmental and anti-war activist and final-year student at Hertie. “It almost made me feel like I was back in Russia. I am disappointed that instead of holding an honest discussion at a university where we read academic works about genocide and why Israeli actions violate international law, students cannot even raise these issues.”

Support for Israel is considered one of modern Germany’s core national interests, known as Staatsraison (reason of state). Peter Ullrich, an anti-Semitism researcher at the Technical University of Berlin, explained: “Support for Israel has always been a way to prove that Germany has learned from the past and belongs among the good countries. This leads to a strange discourse where Israel is almost untouchable in political circles, and the voices of Palestinians and their supporters are met with a lack of nuance and harsh treatment of protests.”

A Jewish student at Hertie, who asked to remain anonymous, said they felt “alienated”. “People imply that my commitment to fighting oppression contradicts my identity, history and love for Jewish people. For many Jews, supporting non-violent political pressure whenever rights are violated is an expression of moral responsibility that generations of persecution have placed on us. Accusing anti-Semitism in this context trivialises a term that should be reserved for real hatred and violence against Jews, and should not be used as a shield against criticism of state power.”

Pro-Palestine activism at German educational institutions is suppressed through event cancellations, police interventions and even legal proceedings against participating students. In November 2023, a lecture hall at the Free University of Berlin was occupied by students in solidarity with Gaza. In May 2024, the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University was occupied and renamed the Jabalia Institute, after a besieged Gaza refugee camp. Both times, police were called in and forcibly dispersed the students, leaving dozens injured. People of colour, including those of Arab descent, were reported to be treated more harshly. Some were charged with trespassing, and four protesters at FUB were deported from the country.

Meanwhile, in April, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf pledged to continue cooperation with Israeli institutions despite the student parliament’s resolution calling for an academic boycott, and last week, another BDS resolution was rejected at FUB. Uffa Jensen from the Centre for Research on Anti-Semitism at TU Berlin remarked: “I think you will see quite strong criticism of the current Israeli government at universities, but German universities are state-funded. The real question is the political support for Israel, and that comes first. Because in the case of Russian universities after the attack on Ukraine, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research officially ordered a halt to all cooperation. And they did it immediately. The difference in treatment is stark, even after two years of intense conflict in the Middle East.”