The college lecture by an Israeli historian in Leipzig is canceled after protests. An artist who praised the “creativity” of the October 7 Hamas bloodbath is scheduled to talk at a school within the metropolis.
Part of educational life is respecting the opinions of those that assume otherwise. But as Leipzig exhibits, this isn’t a given in German lecture halls.
The college had canceled a lecture by Benny Morris deliberate for Thursday. The famend Israeli historian has made statements prior to now that might be understood as hurtful and even racist, the Faculty of Theology mentioned. An “understandable” protest – however particular person scholar teams protested in a method that was perceived by the college as “frightening”. “Safety concerns” arose that led to the cancellation.
Professor Morris criticized the cancellation as “disgraceful” and spoke in an Israeli newspaper of “cowardice and appeasement par excellence”. Even the Faculty of Theology warned in its press launch in opposition to the institution of a “double standard (…) that is applied to Israeli scholars.” These are “increasingly marginalized” and excluded, “while other voices receive unhindered access to the university.”
While an Israeli scientist is disinvited resulting from protests which can be perceived as “threatening,” the participation of the artist Jumana Manna in a panel dialogue on the University of Graphics and Book Arts (HGB) apparently doesn’t pose an issue for the Leipzig scholar physique.
Manna’s posts glorify the homicide of civilians
Manna had a video from October 7, 2023, which exhibits fleeing guests to the Israeli Nova Festival, with the remark “Ain’t no fun raving in the vicinity of the world’s biggest prison” (German: “It’s no fun, in near the largest prison in the world”) posted on Instagram. She also captioned a picture showing Hamas terrorist paragliders taking part in the attack on Israel with the words “Long live the creativity of Resistance.”
According to the HGB program, Manna is supposed to show her film “Foragers” in a Leipzig cinema on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the Palestinian-born artist and other participants will hold a conversation, which will take place after a lecture by Michael Rothberg. Rothberg holds the Samuel Goetz Chair in Holocaust Studies at the University of California.
Organizers see Palestinian narratives underrepresented
The accompanying text of the HGB states: “The haste to uninvite artists and to question funding promises seems to follow the script of a culture of remembrance, which starts from supposed clarity and ultimately (re)produces exclusions: under the premise of German raison d’état, in The focus of which is unconditional support for Israel’s policies, Jewish life should be protected through sometimes repressive measures (see draft resolution), which, among other things, lead to: Palestinian life and Palestinian narratives often go unnoticed.”
The American-born artist has made installations and short films in the past. Her work has been exhibited at, among others, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA PS1) and the NS Documentation Center in Munich. The latter distances itself on its own website “expressly and comprehensively from the statements made by Jumana Manna and posts shared on social media regarding the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent events.”
University discusses the aim of the event
A spokeswoman for the HGB explained that Manna was invited because of her artistic and filmic merits. How the HGB assesses the artist’s postings has not yet been answered by the university.
Apparently there at the moment are doubts there about Manna’s suitability as a dialogue participant. Discussions are being held with everybody concerned “whether the event meets the requirements for the intended objective,” mentioned WELT in response to a question.
https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article254742356/Uni-laedt-israelischen-Historiker-aus-Hamas-Sympathisantin-darf-an-Hochschule-auftreten.html