Lahav Shapira, a Jewish university student, was attacked on a Berlin street in what is suspected to be an antisemitic incident in early February 2024. The attack occurred following his expression of opinion about the conflict in the Middle East at his university. The alleged perpetrator, a former fellow student, is due to stand trial at the Tiergarten District Court on April 8, 2025.
Since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which led to Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, Jewish students in Germany have reported a concerning level of fear in university environments due to intimidation and attacks. This has been one of the most significant antisemitic incidents in Germany following the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The German Union of Jewish Students (JSUD) and the American Jewish Committee Berlin (AJC) have released a “Situation Report on Antisemitism at German Universities,” including a detailed account of incidents such as the attack on Shapira, along with the numerous university occupations and protest camps with pro-Palestinian slogans that have led to calls for the erasure of Israel.
JSUD president Hanna Veiler has described the situation as a “tsunami of antisemitism” within universities, with incidents involving antisemitic statements and activities having risen from 16 in 2021 and 23 in 2022 to 151 in 2023.
Due to the lack of research on university-based antisemitism, the report does not present new statistics but uses data from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS). According to the report, Berlin has been identified as a hotspot for such incidents, with several university buildings occupied by protesters and vandalized with anti-Israeli graffiti.
The authors of the report call for stricter prosecution of antisemitic crimes, mandatory training about modern forms of antisemitism for staff and students, and clearer mechanisms for Jewish students to report incidents without fear of retribution. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is also recommended to be incorporated into university statutes to formally address the issue.
University administrations have been criticized for their inadequate response to these incidents. A lawsuit against the Free University of Berlin, initiated in June 2024, accuses the university of failing to prevent systematic antisemitic behavior and language, violating Berlin’s Higher Education Act and sparking debate on the responsibilities of educational institutions in safeguarding against such acts.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/tsunami-of-antisemitism-on-german-campuses-report-finds/a-71794171?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
