Recently, the Berlin-based student Lior Steiner (18) has been receiving alarming messages on his mobile phone. “I would like to come over to your place with a few Shabab (people),” writes a person named “Jamil” to him through Instagram.
“There are a few statements that you have made that my guys and I don’t like.” In another message from “Jamil” to another Jewish person, it says, “I think you will soon be wearing braces.”
For students who can be identified as Jewish based on their name, remarks, or Star of David pendant, life at some Berlin universities is no longer the same. Pro-Palestinian activists are vocally opposing pro-Israel and Jewish fellow students.
Pro-Palestinian Activist Occupies Lecture Hall at Berlin University – Police Intervene
Like-minded individuals, who otherwise have no affiliation with the university, are joining through social networks. Particularly sensitive is the ease with which the WhatsApp groups of the departments make it possible to find the phone numbers of individual students. “I received an anonymous call, and they played some Hitler quotes,” reports one of Steiner’s peers.
Just a few days ago, a lecture hall at Freie Universität Berlin had to be evacuated by the police, after it was occupied by pro-Palestinian activists who demanded the abolition of Israel. In mid-November, the president of the University of the Arts, Norbert Palz, was shouted down during a pro-Palestinian action. Since then, Jewish students have felt uneasy when going to the cafeteria.
Students Hardly Find Time for Studies Due to Anti-Israel Incidents
Various leftist groups get behind the Hamas terrorism, showing sympathies for violent strategies against Israel. However, the atmosphere is not heated everywhere. Steiner states that it is calm in the business administration or law seminars. However, this differs in social science classes. He wishes that uninformed non-Jewish students would step in when the aggression gets out of hand. “But I can also understand if someone doesn’t dare to do that.”
Isabel, another student, hardly finds time for studies anymore. “Instead of preparing for the seminar, I only have to deal with these people,” she reports. “We file complaints with the police, write to the university administration, raise awareness about open anti-Semitism.”But the university leadership seems completely overwhelmed and does not help us.”
