There is massive tension at the renowned Humboldt University in Berlin. After an occupation by pro-Palestinian activists, among others, Jewish student Noam Petri made serious allegations against the university management.
The university hesitated for too long and only brought police forces into action after 24 hours. “Unacceptable!” Noam Petri told “Bild” about the occupation of Humboldt University on Thursday.
Petri, 20 years old, a medical student at the Charité and deputy chairman of the Jewish Student Union Germany, sees what is happening as an alarming signal. “The myth of peaceful protests must stop now at the latest. The demonstrators are celebrating the events of October 7th and Hamas!” Petri told the newspaper worriedly. He refers to writings such as “From the river to the sea” and Hamas graffiti, which university president Julia von Blumenthal trivialized and described as normal graffiti.
The reaction of the university management has been heavily criticized. According to Petri, tolerating property damage and trespassing is a kowtow to extremists. “The university has become a lawless space,” emphasizes Petri, questioning whether right-wing extremist occupiers would have acted similarly hesitantly.
Noam Petri demands that von Blumenthal should have intervened and not invited dialogue. He is particularly critical of the fact that the university president has been drowned out by demonstrators in the past. “You don’t discuss things with Islamists,” says Petri, who sees the current trends as a dangerous precedent.
Petri also points out that it is not only Jewish students who feel unsafe coming to the HU. Recent events have also negatively impacted the sense of security of other student groups. Petri describes the atmosphere as “enormously frightening” and condemns the behavior of some professors who appear to share the protesters’ sentiments.
In conclusion, Petri notes that the actions of the demonstrators and the response of the university administration are causing concern not only on campus, but also throughout the academic community. He emphasizes that dialogue with extremists is not a viable option and calls on the university management to take decisive action to protect all students.
During the evacuation of the occupied Humboldt University building on Thursday evening, the police led out around 170 pro-Palestinian activists. Of these, 50 squatters were in the courtyard and another 120 in the building. 20 of them barricaded themselves on the upper floor of the four-story building. “A ram had to be used to open the barricaded door.” Around 530 officers were on site during the four-hour operation. During the operation at the Institute of Social Sciences at the HU, the police determined the identities of 169 occupiers. 25 criminal investigations were initiated.
At the rally near the HU building, the police counted around 300 demonstrators. Officers identified six people. There were also six criminal complaints on suspicion of trespassing and trespassing and one criminal complaint on suspicion of bodily harm.