By Nico Göricke
The weeks since the terrorist attack of Hamas against Israel should have been a wakeup call for many politicians and academics in the Western world. The slaughter of Israeli civilians, fuelled by hatred, is an unspeakable crime. The horror felt, seeing Jews being attacked by pro-Hamas protesters in Europe and the doors being marked with the Star of David at houses inhabited by German Jews in Berlin, is indescribable. While this should have warranted unanimous support for Israel and against the antisemitism on our streets, this is not the case. Against this hatred, most of the left has been quiet.
Some even blame Israel, often hiding behind pseudo-scientific activism called “post-colonialism”. Here we see the fruits of the unholy alliance between the dominating ideology at our universities, intolerant leftism, and Islamic antisemitism. Antisemitic sentiments in the academic environment stem from the same sources as the suppression of critical voices at our universities: an intolerant climate of uniformity. In many departments, being pro-Israel is as unacceptable as upholding conservative values. A radical minority often dominates the public discourse and fosters the type of hateful antisemitism we see now.
The Political Climate at our Universities
The root of this problem is the political climate at our universities. Many, if not most, students are not interested in discussing politics at the universities. This gives the radical students space to dominate the debate and contributes to an unchallenged rise in intolerant ideologies. Often supported by professors, students monopolise the debates, closing them off to conservatives and exacerbating this climate of uniformity. We can see the consequences of this climate in occurrences of “cancel culture”. For us students, it is a daily reality.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the pro-Hamas students and faculty could infiltrate our universities with such ease. When the political climate at universities does not allow for open discussions anymore, critical students and faculty have no other choice than to self-censor or to live in fear. The prominent case of Professor Klaus Kinzler shows the latter. Kinzler became a target of radical factions within his university in France following several discussions about the word “islamophobia” with fellow professors. After severe accusations surrounding his person, including that he is a right extremist, he has been bullied into silence.
Post-Colonial Antisemitism
This intolerant culture not only stifles the freedom of expression but also emboldens anti-Semitic attitudes through so-called “post-colonialism”. When Susanne Schröter, a known advocate for free speech and an expert on Islam, organised a conference at the University of Frankfurt to explore migration issues, an institute at the University of Bayreuth tried to silence the conference. In an open letter, the institute did not only try to discredit Schröter and her scientific work but called on the University to cancel her. Their opposition was framed using a concept called “necropolitics” by philosopher and antisemite Achille Mbembe, and is a term often utilised by Mbembe to justify the killing of Jews and the “liberation” of Palestine. Necropolitics refers in Mbembe’s theory to the alleged situation that people under “colonial oppression” becoming “living dead” due to the exercise of power upon them
By referring to Mbembe’s concept in the context of Schröter’s research, the institute makes the accusation that by expressing the problems of migration in Europe, Schröter is assisting in genocide. In such ways post-colonialists at the cultural studies departments in the West are legitimising the terrorism of Hamas and the silencing of Jewish and conservative students. On a side note: The research institute in question is considered by the German state as “excellent” and strongly funded. Currently, the state of Germany and Bavaria is constructing a building for the institute to the tune of 40 million Euro.
Leftist antisemitism is nothing new, but in the last few years it seems that the antisemitic movement have felt increasingly confident to publicly argue in favour of their inhumane worldview – anti-Israel anti-Semitism has become en vogue. This has directly translated into the harassment of Jewish students. A report by the Community Security Trust (CST) highlighted 150 anti-Semitic incidents affecting Jewish students, academics, and student bodies in UK universities from 2020 to 2022. This is a significant increase (22%) in university incident totals since the period 2018-2020.
The United States and what is to come
Although the situation at European universities is worsening every day, the news arriving from American college campuses paint a darker picture. On many college campuses pro-Palestine (or rather pro-Hamas) supporters have been protesting against Jews and Israel and 34 Harvard student organisations claimed Israel is solely responsible for the violence. The concern about such occurrences increases when examining the response, or lack thereof, from university administrations.
Harvard, otherwise happy to criticise every form of discrimination, refused to sanction the anti-Semites in their institution. Harvard President Gay claimed to embrace “a commitment to free expression”. Here the universities are hiding behind so-called neutrality without realising that there is no neutrality in regard to terrorism. One cannot be silent when children, women and the elderly are slaughtered en masse. Especially not if this is supported by people you are responsible for, people protesting for it on your property, and people incited by professors at your university.
Universities here in Europe might not have yielded to these forces to the same extent, but the current state of freedom of speech indicates that such a reality is not far off. As students, we are particularly aware of the radical movements at our universities and experience the consequences of their ideology every day. Ignoring this is not an option. We will continue to combat these radical minorities, even though the climate gets harsher and more aggressive every day, and we call on our respective parties to take these developments seriously.
Nico Göricke