The state secretary of Germany’s Education Ministry has called for an analysis of whether funding could be cut for academics who condemned the removal of a pro-Palestinian camp at a Berlin university. The State Secretary of the German Ministry of Education, Sabine Döring, has been fired after a controversial move amid a dispute over academic freedom and the right to protest.
In the context of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the senior official sought information on a plan to punish with financial cuts researchers who spoke out against the clearance of a camp in solidarity with Palestinians at the Free University of Berlin ( FU Berlin). ).
As state broadcaster ARD reported, Döring had requested by email a legal analysis on the possibility of cutting teacher funding. Initially, the initiative was attributed to the Minister of Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, earning her harsh criticism.
After the ARD revelation, the head of the ministry asked the German Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to fire the state secretary, as revealed on Sunday (16/06). “I have ensured that the facts of the case are investigated in a comprehensive and transparent manner,” he said, confirming that “an examination of the possible consequences, in terms of the funding law, has indeed been requested by the relevant departments”.
Döring admitted that he “apparently expressed himself incorrectly when he requested the legal examination,” Stark-Watzinger added. “However, the impression was created that the Ministry of Education was considering the consequences [de um corte de verbas]on the basis of a charter protected by freedom of expression.”
The State Secretary is the second-highest official in the German Ministry of Education, responsible for universities. Unlike the minister, she is not elected to the position, but appointed.
The pro-Palestinian protest and the critical letter
In early May, 150 student activists occupied the FU Berlin campus in repudiation of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip, including attempting to invade rooms and auditoriums. The university immediately called the police, who summarily dispersed the May 7 demonstration. According to officials, 79 people were temporarily detained and 80 criminal cases and 79 investigations for minor crimes were opened.
In reaction, around 100 academics from Berlin universities published a letter reaffirming the students’ right to protest: “Regardless of whether we agree with the specific demands of the protest camp, we stand with our students and defend their right to peaceful protest.”
The signatories also urged the university council to “refrain from police operations against its students, as well as from pursuing criminal cases.”
At the time, Stark-Watzinger had criticized the academics’ letter for failing to mention the October 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel by the extremist group Hamas and other militants. This Sunday you repeated this criticism. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and others.
av (DPA,AFP)
Source: Terra
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