Germany's Departure from Reason

Global Scholars' Letter Condemning Germany's Role in Silencing and Contributing to Palestinian Genocide

A hundred and one days ago, the world was split in two. A month past, more than three hundred scholars and thinkers—Arturo Escobar, Gloria Wekker, Helen Verran, Erik Swyngedouw, Zoe Todd, Rashid Khalidi, Catherine Walsh among them—signed an open letter denouncing German complicity in the genocide against Palestine and the internal censorship against its critics. From that time, each word of this letter was brutally confirmed, and the dreadful events increased, as the recent South African allegation to the International Court of Justice has shown. Yet, the German state's stance is not altered a micron. Conversely, the censorship and suppression intensify, instances of institutional harassment pile up, and the military and diplomatic backing for extermination violence persists. We, as the [decoco] decolonial research group, based in Berlin, share the alarm of colleagues and friends regarding the censorship and persecution of critical voices, and want to echo what Ilan Pappé posed to students in Berlin a few days ago: “Should we, therefore, treat Germany as a dictatorship of knowledge when it comes to Palestine?” In memory of this critical exercise and in favor of defending freedom of speech, we share here their open letter, thirty days belated, yet timelier than ever.

(Beginning of the Original Letter) 

“

Germany's Departure from Reason: Global Scholars' Letter Condemning Germany's Role in Silencing and Contributing to Palestinian Genocide

We, as academics from various global regions, wish to voice our concerns:

The recent censorship, persecution, and threats faced by both German and non-German academics in Germany due to their critiques of Israel's state policies towards Palestinians are entirely unacceptable.

The public statements from Israel's state representatives and its military and political leaders unequivocally indicate their will to dispossess Palestinians of their land, colonize it, and engage in ethnic cleansing.

In essence, the State of Israel is pursuing a genocidal policy against Palestinians, aiming to strip them of their homeland.

The indiscriminate attacks on civilians, hospitals, and health centers, which amount to war crimes under international law, clearly demonstrate Israel's willingness to operate beyond any legal or ethical boundaries.

Instead of denouncing these actions or joining calls for a ceasefire alongside other nations, the German State's has chosen to provide unwavering support to the State of Israel, dismissing any criticism of these policies as absurd.

What is apparent and evident to the international community seems unrecognized by the German State. 

Censorship efforts, cancellations of academic events, and threats of job loss or funding withdrawal against academics who speak out against these issues have become commonplace in German universities, cultural bodies, and governmental institutions. 

German government and media platforms misuse Holocaust memories, conflating all criticism of Israel's state with antisemitism. Simultaneously, they propagate the baseless notion that Germany's immigrant population, particularly Muslims, are inherently antisemitic. 

This represents a manipulation of German historical memory to silence dissent while fostering xenophobia and Islamophobia. 

These developments coincide with the rise of new anti-immigration policies and an increase in supremacist, racist, and far-right political movements across Europe. 

As international academics frequently interacting with our counterparts facing these challenges, we ponder the direction in which the German State and German universities are headed. Both seem to be forsaking pluralistic and democratic principles, opting for a singular narrative, persecuting those who challenge its policies, and censoring and stifling any discourse not aligned with the state agenda, thereby enabling the rise of xenophobia and genuine hate speech within its institutions. 

We urgently call for an end to these censorship, persecution, and stigmatization trends and advocate for the restoration of respect for free academic, cultural, and intellectual expression. 

Furthermore, we urge the German State to join the global demand for a comprehensive ceasefire and an end to the occupation, to adhere to international law, and to cease all political and discursive support for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people.

Signatories:

Arturo Escobar, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, US

Gloria Wekker, Professor Emeritus Gender Studies, Faculty of the Humanities, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Yvonne Haddad, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University, US

Rita Segato, Professor Emeritus, University of Brasilia, Brazil

Salima Hashmi, Professor Emeritus, Beaconhouse National University, Pakistan

Alberto Gomes, Professor Emeritus, La Trobe University in Melbourne & Director of Global DEEP Network, Australia

Catherine Walsh, International Scholar, Ecuador/US

Rosalba Icaza, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Nelson Maldonado-Torres, International Scholar, US/Puerto Rico

Breny Mendoza, California State University, Northbridge, US

Sylvia Marcos, International Scholar, Mexico

Lisa Lowe, Samuel Knight Professor of American Studies and Professor of Ethnicity, Race, & Migration, Yale University, US

Zoe Todd

Helen Verran, Charles Darwin University, Australia

Erik Swyngedouw, Professor of Human Geography, the University of Manchester, UK

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University, US

Andrea Cornwall, Professor of Global Development and Anthropology, King's College, London, UK

Svati Shah, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay

John Keane, Professor of Politics, University of Sydney, Australia

Laleh Khalili, Professor, University of Exeter, UK

Hoda Elsadda, Professor, Cairo University

Saeed Elmasry, Professor of Sociology, Cairo University, Egypt

Jodi Melamed, Professor, Marquette University, US

Don Kalb, Professor, University of Bergen, Norway

Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Cemil Aydin, Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US

Juliane Hammer, Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US

Alison Phipps, Professor, Newcastle University, UK

Julia Suárez-Krabbe, Associate Professor, Roskilde University, Denmark

Nikita Sud, Professor, University of Oxford, UK

María Eugenia Borsani, Professor of Political Philosophy, Universidad Nacional del Comahue / CEAPEDI, Neuquén, Argentina

Ramsey McGlazer, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley, US

Sarah Bracke, Professor, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rolando Vázquez, Professor, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Jean Casimir, Professor, University of Haiti, Haiti

Rebecca Schneider, Professor, Brown University, US

Roderick A. Ferguson, William Robertson Coe Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and American Studies, Yale University, US

Tor Krever, University of Cambridge, UK

Mayssoun Sukarieh, King’s College London, UK

Alexander Dunlap, University of Helsinki, Finland & Boston University, US

Sascha Cornejo, [decoco] decolonial research group, Chile/Germany

Shamil Jeppie, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Dilip Menon, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Hassina Mouri, Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Heidi Grunebaum, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Meeta Rani Jha, University of California, Berkeley, US

Martijn de Koning, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Theo van der Meer, Independent Scholar, The Netherlands

Ochy Curiel Pichardo, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia

Yuderkys Espinosa-Miñoso, Instituto Caribeño de Pensamiento e Investigación Descolonial (INCAPID/GLEFAS), República Dominicana

Dinah Orozco Herrera, Harvard University, US

Lapoujade David, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

Omar Jabary Salamanca, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Younes Saramifar, Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rogier van Reekum, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Ana Ivasiuc, Maynooth University, Ireland

Paola Bacchetta, University of California, Berkeley, US

George Shire, Retired Academic and Independent International Scholar

Nadia Fadil, KU Leuven, Belgium

Tamara Soukotta, Radboud University/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Anya Topolski, Associate Professor in Philosophical Ethics and Political Philosophy, Radboud University, Netherlands

Assem Dandashly, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Maastricht University

Pascale Ghazaleh, Chair and Associate Professor of History, the American University in Cairo, Egypt

Penelope Papailias, Associate Professor Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly, Greece

Fotini Tsibiridou, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Macedonia-Thessaloniki

Felicity Callard, Professor in Human Geography, University of Glasgow, UK

Grace Kyungwon Hong, Professor of Gender Studies and Asian American Studies, UCLA, US

Eddie Bruce-Jones, Professor of Law, SOAS, University of London

Nikolas Kosmatopoulos, Assistant Professor of Politics and Anthropology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Mohammed Bamyeh, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, US

Dina Heshmat, Associate Professor, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Nelly Hanna, Distinguished University Professor, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Fadi A. Bardawil, Duke University, US

Fida Adely, Georgetown University, US

Anaheed Al-Hardan, Howard University, US

Charlotte M. Sáenz, CIIS, Bay Area, US

Barbara Van Dyck, Coventry University, UK

Faisal Chaudhry, University of Massachusetts School of Law, US

Noha Aboueldahab, Georgetown University in Qatar

Sanaa Alimia, Aga Khan University, UK/Pakistan/Kenya

Ahmet Karapunar, European University Institute, Germany/Turkey

Fernanda Carvajal, UBA-CONICET, Argentina

Macarena Gómez-Barris

Lo Moran, Portland State University, US

Stathis Papastathopoulos, University of Ioannina, Greece

Milena Bonilla, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam

Paul Mepschen, University College Utrecht, Netherlands

Alex Heffron, Lancaster University, UK

Joshua Makalintal, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Sadia Abbas, Rutgers University, US

Nina Köll, Utrecht University/UCU, The Netherlands

Berenice Bento, Professora Associada do Departamento de Sociologia, Brazil

Markha Valenta, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Konstantina Georgelou, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Shazia Rahman, University of Dayton, US

Christian Henderson, Leiden University

Anand Sheombar, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands

Alberto Daniel Teszkiewicz, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

James Beirne, Maynooth University, Ireland

Dan Weissmann, Bournemouth University, UK

Niels Niessen, Assistant Professor of Culture Studies, University of Tilburg, Netherlands

Anca Wilkening, Graduate Student and German Citizen, Harvard University, US

Chance Bonar, Tufts University, US

Lara Fricke, University of Exeter, UK

Luisa Steur, Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam

Damineh Vaezpour, Universität Hamburg

Danu Gontijo, Associate-Researcher, UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, University of Brazilia, Brazil

Sushila Mesquita, University of Vienna, Austria

Vincenzo Lauriola, INPA - Amazonia Research Institute, Brazil

Luiz Eduardo Soares - UFRJ - Brazil

Carolina Franch, Professor Universidad de Chile, Chile

Ines González de Prada, Facultad de Filosogia y Letras, Universidad de Bs As., Argentina

Lewis Turner, Newcastle University, UK

Alejandra Bello Urrego, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia

José Luis Grosso, Centro Internacional de Investigación PIRKA / Universidad Nacional de Catamarca, Argentina

Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Roschanack Shaery, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Tiziana Terranova, Università di Napoli L'Orientale

Iain Chambers, Professor of Cultural, Postcolonial and Mediterranean Studies, Oriental University, Naples, Italy

Marina De Chiara, University of Naples L'Orientale, Italy

Laymert Garcia dos Santos, State University of Campinas (retired), Brazil

Lincoln Secco, Professor, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Annaclaudia Martini, University of Bologna, Italy

Georgia Twigg, Senior Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire, UK

Laura Maghețiu, CLaSP at Queen Mary University of London, UK

Marlene Schäfers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Selin Çağatay, Central European University, Austria

Gwendolyn Kulick, German University in Cairo, Egypt

Eman Elbana, Helwan University, Egypt

Hanan Sabea, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Syed M Ali, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University, US

Carmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude

Mônica Dias Martins

Tina Lehnhardt

Nisrine Sinno

Stella Lee, US

Waleed Barakat, Helwan University, Egypt

Nike Dieterich, German University in Cairo, Egypt

Lotika Singha, Writer and Member, International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India, InSAF, India

Natasha Tanna, Lecturer in World Literature and the Co-Director of the Modern Research School, University of York, UK

Alexandra Viteri Arturo

Elva Orozco Mendoza, PhD researcher, Mexico/US

Simone Rowe, University of New South Wales, Australia

Karine Vanthuyne, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa

Siti Nur Hidayah, University of South Australia, Australia

George Ygarza, University of Pennsylvania, US

Norman Saadi Nikro

Dina M. Sidddiqi, Clinical Associate Professor, New York University

Alejandra Jaramillo Aristizabal, University of Auckland

Assel Tutumlu, Near East University, Northern Cyprus

Nadia Badran, German University in Cairo, Egypt

Quraysha Ismail Sooliman

Luciana Mendes Barbosa, Lancaster University, UK

Halima Shah, University College London, UK

Ana Pandal de la Peza

Christine Ayorinde, Independent Scholar, UK

Zaki Habib Gomez

Eva Willems, Ghent University, Belgium

Marianne Dhenin, Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Germany

Sandeep Bakshi, Université Paris Cité, France

marcela polanco, Associate Professor, SDSU, US/ Colombia

Carlos Azevedo, The Open University, UK

Simone Tulumello, University of Lisbon

Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye

Bayan Haddad, Birzeit University, Palestine

Liz Morrish, Independent Scholar, UK

Doerthe Rosenow, Department of War Studies, King’s College London

Maria Juncos, Latino Education Institute, Worcester, MA, US

Clive Gabay, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Leila Mouhib, Université libre de Bruxelles & Université de Mons, Belgium

Torsten Menge, Northwestern University in Qatar

Aerin Lai, PhD researcher, University of Edinburgh

Faisal Hamadah, Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Maastricht

Gabriela A. Karasik, Centro de Estudios del Sur Andino, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, Argentina

Brigitte Le Normand, Associate Professor of History, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Nisan Alici, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland

Patricia Guernelli Palazzo Tsai, Universidade Metodista de São Paulo/University of St. Andrews UK, Brasil

Nidhi Srinivas, The New School, US

Gargi Bhattacharyya, University of the Arts

Claude Verges, University of Panama, Panama

Lukasz Dziedzic, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Takis Politis, Full Professor, University of Thessaly, Greece

Claire M Massey, Spain

Andrew Delatolla, University of Leeds, UK

Patrick Jaojoco, PhD Candidate, School of Architecture, Princeton University, US

Neni Panourgia, Columbia University, US

Muhannad Ayyash, Professor of Sociology, Mount Royal University, Canada

Antonis Vradis, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK

Katharina Grueneisl, University of Nottingham, UK

Cindy Cruz, University of Arizona, US

Polly Pallister-Wilkins, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Fatima Sajjad

Penelope Quinton, King’s College London

Koen Stroeken, Ghent University, Belgium

Harry Pettit, Radboud University Nijmegen

Ludovico Rella, Durham University

Hela Yousfi, Université Paris Dauphine

Pieter du Plessis, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Fazil Moradi

Sarah Kunz, University of Essex, UK

Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores, Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies, Texas Tech University

Ana Carolina Díaz Beltrán, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Kiran Grewal, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

Ana Poças, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Sobia Kaker/Lecturer, University of Essex, UK

Tara Mahfoud, University of Essex, UK

Olivia Mason, Northumbria University

Samer Abdelnour, University of Edinburgh, UK

Jorge Vega, [decoco] decolonial research group, Mexico/Germany

Philipp Nolz, Université Paris 8, France

Michael Alszer, DAAD/UM5 de Rabat, Morocco

Daniel Segal, Jean M Pitzer Professor at Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges

Laura Clancy, Lancaster University

Jonas Fossli Gjersø, Associate Professor, University of Stavanger, Norway

Wael Alkhatib, University of Gent

Wesam Wekhyan, University of Bath, UK

Raed AlSaleh German Jordanian University

Rana Sabri, GJU, Jordan

Yasser Munif, Emerson College, Boston

Mohammad Alhamas, UK

Friederike Haumann, Deutsch-Jordanische Hochschulen Amman, Jordan

Annapurna Menon, University of Sheffield

Rawan Ibrahim, Independent Scholar

Shawky Nasser, University of Northampton, UK

Hadil Kamal, AlQuds University, Occupied Palestine

Maud Anne Bracke, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Joshua A. Sabih, Roskilde University, Denmark

Ahmed Ibrahim Abushouk, Qatar University, Qatar

Mariam Al-Hammadi, Qatar University, Qatar

Yağmur Heffron, University College London, UK

Lachhab Mohamed, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco

Waseem Ahmed, University College London, UK

Sozen Basturk, Independent Scholar, Denmark

Alessandro Corso, Research Associate at the University of Witwatersrand

Livia Perosino, PhD Candidate at Les Afriques dans le Monde (LAM) - Institut français du Proche Orient (Ifpo)

Francesco Correale, CNRS, UMR 7324 CITERES, Tours

William A. Booth, University College London, UK

Ohoud Kamal, American University of Madaba, Jordan

Mandy Turner, University of Manchester, UK

Ehab Galal, Associate Professor (Emeritus), University of Copenhagen

Lise Paulsen Galal, Roskilde University

Sara Ababneh, University of Sheffield, UK

Marina Calculli, Columbia University and Leiden University

Melanie Asdodi, German Jordanian University, Jordan

Robin Zheng, University of Glasgow

Estella Carpi, University College London, UK

Enrico De Angelis, Independent Researcher, Italy/Germany

Lamia Moghnieh

Ghassan Hage, University of Melbourne, Australia

Mattia Fumanti, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, The University of St Andrews

Uri Horesh, University of Essex

Shivani Kaul, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Veronica Ferreri, University of Waterloo, Canada

Butet Manurung, University of Amsterdam

Hassan Najmi, writer and poet, Morocco

Aydogan Kars, Australia

Rafał Krela

Helmut Krieger, University of Vienna, Austria

Stéphane Valter, Professor, University of Lyon 2, France

Jonas Ecke

Diego Ballestero, Bonn University

Esra Mungan, Bogazici University, Turkey

Kaoru Yamamoto, Keio University, Japan

Pável Aguilar, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

Amir Moosavi, Rutgers University, US

Caner Ercan, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, US

Matthea Westerduin, KU Leuven

Hisham Abad, Purdue University Northwest

Abdulhamit Kırmızı, Marmara University, Istanbul

M. Imran Khan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Leandros Fischer, Assistant Professor, Aalborg University

Jack McGinn, London School of Economics

Adriana Capaldo, Universidad Academia Humanismo Cristiano, Chile

Alexandra Lopez, University of Amsterdam (UvA), The Netherlands

Johannes Waldmüller, Universität Wien, Austria

Yazan Badran, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Omar Da’na, Former Human Rights Education Programme Manager, Amnesty International, Jordan

Ana Abril, Central European University, Austria

Anna Meier, University of Nottingham, UK

Melanie Richter-Montpetit, Associate Professor, University of Sussex, UK

Cathy-Mae Karelse, Independent Scholar

Noor Blaas, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Omar Núñez, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México

Geoffrey Aung, University of Vienna, Austria

Edson Krenak, Cutural Survival USA/Brazil

Birgit Kaiser, Utrecht University

Manuela Ciotti, Professor, University of Vienna

Layal Ftouni, Assistant Professor, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Kathrin Thiele, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Maira Arriagada Universidad de Santiago de Chile

Juliane Müller, University of Barcelona

Jennifer Manikkam

Domitilla (domi) Olivieri

Masoud Kamali, Professor of Sociology and Social Work, Mid Sweden University

Lusvic Torrellas, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile.

Joel Sandoval Lopez, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile.

Wesam Amer, Dean of Faculty of Communication and Languages, Gaza University

Soledad Araya Pérez, Pedagogía en inglés, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago de Chile

Masato Tanaka, PhD Candidate, Universität Heidelberg, Germany/Japan

Mary Jane Abrahams, Associate professor., U. A. Hurtado, Santiago, Chile

Lioba Hirsch, University of Edinburgh, UK

Spencer Adams, LMU, München, Germany

Asli Zengin, Rutgers University, US

Jason Hickel, Professor, ICTA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Amira Mittermaier, University of Toronto

Francois Jonker, Cape Town Creative Academy

Ahmed Tarek, Michigan State University, US

Alejandra Gonzalez Jimenez, University of Toronto

Maria Luz Trautmann, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Chile

Nermin Elsherif, lecturer and postdoc researcher, University of Amsterdam

Magdalena Górska, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Prince Guma, Research Associate, University of Sheffield

Shahid Vawda Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town

Irene van Oorschot, Assistant Professor Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Nashwa Abdel-Tawab, Egypt

Saleem Badat, Professor, University of the Free State, South Africa

Nasima Badsha, South Africa

Salim Vally, Professor, University of Johannesburg

Ruba Salih, Professor of Anthropology, University of Bologna

Ntando Sindane, University of the Free State, South Africa

Sarah Farag, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Martín Arboleda, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile.

Aslam Fataar, Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Amparo Baquerizas, Lecturer, German University in Cairo

Adam Tooze, Columbia University NY

Vitória da Silveira, UFSC, Brazil

Sarah Irving, Staffordshire University, UK

Nina C. Krickel-Choi, Lund University, Sweden

Sana Tannoury-Karam, Lebanese American University

Lucas Alcazar, Independent Researcher, Paraguay

Fatima Alvarez Castillo, Professor, University of the Philippines

Tamara El Khoury, Adjunct Professor of Constitutional Law, IE University, Spain

Ilaria Giglioli

Adam Ferron, Edinburgh University, UK

Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London

Damien Short, UK

Elena Vezzadini, CNRS, Paris

Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura, Genocide Studies Lecturer, UK

* We respected the signatories' choices on their representation, with or without institutional ties, and without regard to national entities.

The writing team removed the names of the majority of signatories living in Germany as a precautionary measure due to the escalating environment of persecution. 

“

(Conclusion of the Original Letter)  

The original letter is available for consultation here.

Ilan Pappé's remarks to students in Berlin can be viewed at this link.

—The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the position of IRI THESys or Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin—