Extremism: After an incident at the university: the Central Council demands strict consequences

After the alleged attack on a Jewish student at the Free University of Berlin, the Central Council of Jews is demanding strict consequences from the university. “Anyone who beats a Jewish fellow student into hospital because he is a Jew has no place at a German university,” explained Central Council President Josef Schuster in Berlin. “There is no alternative to exmatriculating the student in question.” According to the university, such expulsion is not legally possible.

The 30-year-old Jewish student Lahav Shapira was hospitalized at the weekend with broken bones in his face. A 23-year-old pro-Palestinian fellow student is said to have hit and kicked him in Berlin-Mitte. The police reported that the two initially got into an argument before the 23-year-old suddenly struck. The alleged perpetrator initially fled, but was then identified.

Central Council President Schuster emphasized: “The FU Berlin is responsible for ensuring that there is no place for extremism and anti-Semitism within its ranks. The appeasement tactics and the excuses of the university management must finally come to an end. If the fight against anti-Semitism is taken seriously, anti-Semitic ones must Criminal offenses lead to exmatriculation.”

University wants to “enforce a house ban if necessary”

The Free University had expressed dismay at the “supposedly anti-Semitic-motivated attack” and announced: “If it is confirmed that the perpetrator is a student at the Free University of Berlin, the university will immediately examine possible legal steps within the framework of house law and, if necessary, impose a ban on the house push through.”

The FU explains on its website that exmatriculation is impossible. “The so-called regulatory law of universities, which was the most far-reaching measure that also made exmatriculation possible, was abolished by changing the Berlin Higher Education Act in 2021. Exmatriculation is therefore not formally possible.” To ensure orderly university operations, “measures against disruptions lasting a maximum of three months could be taken (e.g. house ban)”.

The Jewish Student Union nevertheless warned the FU management. “Jewish students finally expect clear consequences for anti-Semites on campus,” said association president Hanna Veiler to the editorial network Germany. “University management must assume their responsibility. Public statements are no longer enough.” The university must remove the breeding ground for hatred of Jews among students and employees.

“Is the FU now to blame for my brother being attacked?”

Since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th, there have been repeated conflicts between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students at German universities. Jewish students at the FU are afraid, the “Bild” newspaper reported.

The injured student’s brother, Shahak Shapira, told the Berliner Zeitung that there are many unanswered questions about the university’s behavior in recent months. According to the report, his brother Lahav had tried to take part in pro-Palestinian actions as an observer and to hang up posters of people kidnapped by Hamas. He was filmed.

“Instead of raising awareness, some dubious Twitter accounts were left to frame certain students as right-wing extremists or violent with meaningless video clips, where they were the ones who were physically attacked and excluded from public demonstrations or even lecture halls at their university,” Shahak Shapira told the newspaper. “Is the FU now to blame for my brother being attacked? No. But the fact that the FU has allowed an atmosphere to develop in which such an attack can arise is difficult to deny.”