History of Censorship
The University of Freiburg's Systematic Censorship of Palestinian, Pro-Palestinian and Arab Voices - A Collective Statement
We, a collective of university groups composed of students, postgraduates, PhD students, academics and employees, wish to expose and denounce the University of Freiburg’s systematic crackdown on and censorship of Palestinian, Arab and allied voices, following the recent cancellation of rooms.
This month alone, the university has denied rooms for the following events:
Movie Night: The “No Pride in Genocide” short film program by Queer Cinema for Palestine organised by Regenbogenreferat in collaboration with Queers for Palestine on 12 June 2025 was denied the request for a lecture hall on the grounds that Queer Cinema for Palestine is affiliated with the “Boycott Divest Sanction” (BDS) movement. It was argued that the screening was incompatible with the university’s obligation of political neutrality under Section 65(4) Land Hochschulgesetz. They further cited the Baden-Württemberg state parliament and the Bundestag’s condemnation of BDS and their recommendation not to provide space for BDS-related events.
Presentation and discussion with Prof. Dr. Helga Baumgarten of her book “Völkermord in Gaza: Eine politische und rechtliche Analyse”, organised by the Freiburg Initiative for Decoloniality, Jüdische Stimme and Academics for Palestine Freiburg on 16 June 2025. After more than a month of delay and multiple reminders, the university rejected the room request, citing a supposed lack of balance, plurality, and neutrality. This reasoning contradicts their own internal guidelines, which refer only to party-political neutrality—not ideological or academic neutrality.
These room rejections do not come without context. The university has a long history of silencing Palestinian voices and denying them spaces, a practice that dates back to at least 2013, such as with events from Café Palestine.
In light of the unprecedented violence and the rapidly escalating genocide in Gaza since October 2023, the intensified expansion of Israeli settler colonies in Palestine and the ongoing forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, members of the university community who are directly affected by this violence have been left without any form of support.
Those impacted and concerned by the escalation of violence in Palestine and around it—and by its open justification within German society through military and academic collaboration—are also confronting a surge in racist discourse and attacks targeting Palestinian and Arab identities, histories and lived experiences. In response, they have chosen to come together, to organise, and to speak about the history of Palestine.
“We protect plurality and scientific knowledge from anti-scientific and undemocratic currents.” – Uni Freiburg’s Mission Statement
Despite presenting itself as a bastion of academic freedom and a defender of pluralism and anti-discrimination, the University of Freiburg has consistently suppressed and banned initiatives by university members to address Palestine, the erasure of Palestinian history, culture, and identity, and broader anti-racist and anti-colonial struggles.
In doing so, often under the guise of "fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination", as the discourse around the silencing of Palestine solidarity in Germany is often framed, the university has actively censored all those, including Jewish voices, who seek to speak about the history and reality of Palestine and Palestinians.
Since October 2023, including the two recent events, the university has shut down the voices of members of its community over 14 times for wanting to talk about Palestine:
April 2024: The request to show the exhibition “The Nakba: Flight and Expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948” at the University Library was denied by the rectorate, citing concerns over “one-sidedness” and potential “polarisation.” Previously hosted in prestigious venues such as the EU Parliament and United Nations, this exhibition is founded on verified historical facts.
26.06.2024: Despite his status as a guest professor at the University of Freiburg, a lecture by Palestinian Prof. Dr. Khaled Furani, organised by Students for Palestine, on Palestinian experiences at Israeli universities, was denied a room at the university, with his criticism of Israel cited as the reason.
27.06.2024: A regular bi-weekly event request by Students for Palestine was denied, citing lack of staff capacities. Consequently, the university claimed it could only provide rooms for academic and research purposes. However, this decision was never announced publicly and, afterwards, it was inconsistently applied to other student groups who could benefit from using lecture halls for their events.
05.07.2024: During Alumni Day, a student affected by the escalation of violence in Palestine attempted to ask the Alumni Board for support, since the university refused to support anyone affected. However, they were silenced and expelled from the room by the rector and organisers the moment they mentioned Palestine. Other students who had not participated in the discussion were escorted out of the venue by police at the organisers’ request after being racially profiled for wearing a kuffiyeh, and were subjected to police violence. See the press release and video of the events.
08.08.2024: An event titled “Academic complicity in the occupation of Palestine” organised by Referat gegen Rassismus and Students for Palestine featuring Dr. Shir Hever from Jüdische Stimme was denied due to his affiliation with the Boycott Divest Sanction movement. Dr. Hever recently testified on the same topic at the UN General Assembly.
09.08.2024: A screening of a short film on the Nakba, directed by a student of the university, was denied on the grounds of being “one-sided”. The film contains material from historical archives on the Nakba and was recently screened in the Freiburger Film Festival 2025 – Festival of Transcultural Cinema.
24.10.2024: A screening of the documentary film “Concerning Violence”, organised by Students for Palestine, the Referat gegen Rassismus and Free Congo Freiburg, was initially approved and then revoked a day before the event. The university claimed the screening would be illegal, despite the film being available on the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung’s website. As students attempted to screen the documentary in a university hallway in protest, the university sent 30 police officers to evict them, violently pushing students down the stairs. Here is a video of the events.
30.10.2024: The Kritische Einführungstage (KrEta) alliance of leftist Freiburg groups was pressured into cancelling events of Students for Palestine after the university interfered directly with the funding sponsors (Informationszentrum 3. Welt and Demokratie Leben).
13.11.2024: A screening of “Gaza Fights for Freedom” by Students for Palestine as part of the KrEta events was explicitly denied a room, although other groups part of KrETA were granted rooms. For more information: the KrEta statement on the events.
23.01.2025 and 30.01.2025: Screenings of “Where Should the Birds Fly and The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation” by Students for Palestine were denied, citing vague “content” and “security” concerns. The university also claimed that Students for Palestine had issued statements they deemed unlawful.
06.02.2025: A screening of “Gaza Fights for Freedom” by Students for Palestine in collaboration with Jüdische Stimme was denied on the basis of “content” without further justification.
12.06.2025: A screening of the “No Pride in Genocide” short film program, part of the Queer Cinema for Palestine initiative was denied to Regenbogenreferat on the basis of the organisers’ connection to BDS. The university cited the Baden-Württemberg state parliament’s and Bundestag’s rejection of BDS and misapplied neutrality provisions under Section 65(4) LHG.
16.06.2025: On 28 May 2025 the University of Freiburg rejected the application submitted by the Freiburg Initiative for Decoloniality, Academics for Palestine and Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost e.V. to host the presentation of the book “Völkermord in Gaza: Eine politische und rechtliche Analyse” (Baumgarten & Paech, published by Promedia) by co-author Prof. Dr. Helga Baumgarten, political scientist and expert on Palestine and the Middle East. The UFR accused this event of lacking “balance”, “plurality”, “neutrality” and of its “one-sidedness”. Furthermore, the renowned co-author of the book and presenter, Prof. Dr. Helga Baumgarten was mentioned in the rejection letter to be not only one-sided, but also holding extreme opinions. Hence, the UFR defamed an internationally recognized political scientist, and a critical examination of a human rights crime was rendered political taboo. Lastly, the rejection insinuated an antisemitic nature of the event. For more information, find the statement of the organizing groups here.
The university repeats the claim of ‘neutrality’ and rejects events as being ‘one-sided’. Yet at the same time, it gives space to racist and colonial narratives by allowing or hosting speakers who defend Israel’s occupation, colonisation and genocidal war on Palestine.
In May-June 2023 the University hosted an unacademic exhibition from DEIN e.V. called “1948: How the State of Israel came into being”. This exhibition completely erases the colonial history of Palestine and revisits it in a way that supports the Zionist narrative and obstructs proven historical facts about the Nakba.
In its recent series of events “Stay Silent, Shout, Fail? On the Difficulty of Talking about the Israel-Palestine Conflict in Germany” (November 2024 – February 2025), the University invited speakers who often amplify the one-sided Zionist narrative and distort the reality of the Zionist occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lives and land.
Combined with police repression, racial profiling, and the silencing of dissent, the University of Freiburg is complicit in reinforcing a racist and authoritarian structure. This structure dehumanises Palestinians, erases their history and culture, and legitimises their destruction. In doing so, it attacks academic freedom and contributes to an environment in which fascism thrives: inciting fear, repressing dissent, and imposing authority and censorship, especially in a country where fascism is, once again, on the rise.
This is not neutrality. This is siding with genocide.
As Palestinians are massacred and erased, the University of Freiburg maintains and deepens its ties with institutions involved in their oppression. Its silence is not passive. It is a deliberate choice.
We call on all students and staff to reject this complicity. Speak up. Organise. Expose the hypocrisy. Stand against genocide and colonisation. Demand an end to censorship and repression.
Let’s reclaim our spaces together and in solidarity.
Uni Freiburg, you will see: Palestine will be free!
Signed
Students for Palestine Freiburg
Freiburg Initiative for Decoloniality
Students for Future Freiburg
Regenbogenreferat
Studis gegen Rechts Freiburg
Academics for Palestine Freiburg
German version here.
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