Middle East University of Bern responds to protests with events
The University of Bern has announced events in the fall semester in response to the protests by pro-Palestinian activists. According to Rector Virginia Richter, the events are intended to address the "in part quite justified questions of the protesters".
03.08.2024, 05:35
SDA
The university continues to reject the call for a boycott of Israeli universities, Richter said in an interview with the Bern-based Tamedia newspapers published on Saturday. This is not negotiable. A boycott would contradict academic freedom.
Science must endure complexity. "If you divide the world into good and evil, that is under-complex," said Richter. At the events, one could talk about what is happening in Gaza, for example. Many universities have been destroyed. This raises the question of how the University of Bern can help.
Workshops on anti-Semitism are also planned. "We need to make it clearer where anti-Semitism begins and where legitimate criticism of Israel ends," said the Rector. Anti-Semitism has "absolutely no place" at the University of Bern.
Pro-Palestinian activists had occupied buildings at the University of Bern several times in May. The university management, then still under Rector Christian Leumann, requested that the police evacuate the buildings on each occasion. Protests also took place at other Swiss universities.
