OBJECTION against language rules for universities

09.12.2021 г., 1:11

Liebe Unterstützende,
der Petent oder die Petentin hat innerhalb der letzten 12 Monate nach Ende der Unterschriftensammlung keine Neuigkeiten erstellt und den Status nicht geändert. openPetition geht davon aus, dass die Petition nicht eingereicht oder übergeben wurde.

Wir bedanken uns herzlich für Ihr Engagement und die Unterstützung,
Ihr openPetition-Team

18.04.2020 г., 22:26

Dear signatories of our petition to the HRK,

A foretaste of what is to come at our universities if the HRK Resolution on Anti-Semitism is complied with is given by this recent event:

At this year's Ruhrtrienniale 2020 (cultural festival in the Ruhr region), Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian historian and political scientist who has taught for many years in the USA and now in South Africa, is to deliver the opening speech. Among other awards, he has received the Geschwister Scholl Prize of the City of Munich in 2015 and both a prize from Gerda Henkel Foundation and the Ernst Bloch Prize of the City of Ludwigshafen in 2018.

Now Lorenz Deutsch, the FDP's [liberal democrats] cultural policy spokesman in the state parliament or Nordrhein Westfalen [where the Ruhr region is], has discovered that Mbembe is critical of Israel's politics. He even signed a BDS list in 2010.
If there was not method in it, this would be nothing more than a parochial farce. But in nowadays Germany everyone is wiggling their heads in concern: BDS - that's a nogo.

If you understand German:

(1) Open letter from Lorenz Deutsch of 23.3. to the artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale Stefanie Carp, Ph.D.:
www.lorenz-deutsch.de/antisemitismus-keine-buehne-bieten/2234/
(2) Report in the WELT from 6.4:
www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article207061925/Eine-bewusste-Provokation.html
(3) A more reasonable comment from 15.4. in DLF Culture:
www.deutschlandfunk.de/ruhrtriennale-und-bds-aerger-wegen-einladung-von-achille.691.de.html?dram:article_id=474701
(4) And even better in the FAZ of 17.4:
www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/philosoph-achille-mbembe-unter-antisemitismusverdacht-16728300.html

(5) I wrote a letter to the initiator of this matter, Mr. Lorenz Deutsch, Member of the Nordrhein-Westfalen state Parliament, on April 17 and also sent it to other parties involved in this conflict. You can read it here:
www.rolf-verleger.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NRW-MdL_LorenzDeutsch_FDP.pdf
(or via www.rolf-verleger.de, then Aufsätze and there "zur Meinungsfreiheit ")

An internationally important voice such as Mbembe would no longer be allowed to speak at German universities in accordance with the criteria propagated by the HRK, which we are opposing here.

With best regards
Rolf Verleger

30.03.2020 г., 14:57

Dear signatories of our petition

At this moment, our petition seems a little out of time: We campaign for particular lectures and events to be allowed to take place, at a time when there are no lectures and events at all.
But we may and should have a positive look at this: We are shaping the future here.

I am writing you to notify that, since my last letter (March 14) we were joined by further prominent signatories. Accordingly, I would like to express my thanks for their recent support for freedom of teaching and speech at German universities, among others of you (to whom I sincerely apologize for not being named here)
- to the courageous Israelis teaching in England: linguist Hagit Borer, political scientist Neve Gordon and historian Ilan Pappe
- to the European philosophers Josef Früchtl (D/NL), Herman de Ley (B) and Alois Pichler (South Tyrol/Norway)
- to the mathematicians Ivar Ekeland (F) and Michael Harris (USA/F)
- and, last but not least, to the German cultural scientists Aleida Assmann and Jan Assmann, the winners of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2018

With hope for further spread and final success, and best wishes
Rolf Verleger

www.openpetition.de/petition/online/einspruch-gegen-sprachregelungen-fuer-hochschulen
www.openpetition.de/petition/online/objection-against-language-rules-for-universities
www.openpetition.de/petition/online/obiezione-contro-limposizione-di-norme-linguistiche-alle-universita
www.openpetition.de/petition/online/opposition-a-des-regles-de-langage-dans-les-universites

14.03.2020 г., 15:27

Resolution of the HRK General Assembly of 19.11.2019

[Cf. my previous message for the reason why I send this message]

No place for anti-Semitism

The HRK [Hochschulrektorenkonferenz = academies’ rectors’ conference] General Assembly is appalled by the terrorist attack in Halle/Saale on 9 October 2019, the day of the Jewish Day of Atonement, and by the increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany (at least 1799 in 2018 alone). The HRK opposes anti-Semitism in any form.

There is no place for anti-Semitism at German universities. The HRK General Assembly supports the resolution "Against BDS[1] and all forms of anti-Semitism" adopted by the Young Forum of the German-Israeli Society, the Jewish Students' Union Germany, the free association of student bodies, the Student Council of Darmstadt University of Technology and the Student Council of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, as well as university groups close to the political parties, such as the Juso [young socialists] University Groups, the Liberal University Groups, Campus Grün and the Circle of Christian Democratic Students[2].

German universities are centres of democratic culture, places of dialogue and places of diversity.[3] With the campaign "Universities open to the world against xenophobia" the universities have already set an example and called for clear commitments and decisive action in favour of a tolerant and cosmopolitan society.[4] In addition, the universities in Germany have a special historical responsibility to resolutely oppose all forms of anti-Semitism.

The anti-Semitism definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) [5], which is also recognized by the German government [6], provides a clear basis for recognizing hatred of Jews and is thus an important tool in combating it. It also takes into account Israel-related anti-Semitism. The member universities of the German Rectors' Conference expressly welcome this definition of anti-Semitism and would like to see it established at all university locations. It is applied in their institutions and communicated to their members. Jewish life on campus must not be endangered; Jewish researchers, teachers and students must be able to feel safe at all universities. Research on anti-Semitism, its genesis and mode of action, corresponding curricula in studies and teaching, and the transfer of knowledge to multipliers and decision-makers are of paramount importance for the successful fight against anti-Semitism.

Footnotes

[1] BDS stands for "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions"; the German Bundestag, by accepting motion Ds. 19/10191 "To resolutely oppose the BDS movement - to combat anti-Semitism", decided to condemn the BDS campaign and the call to boycott Israeli goods or companies as well as Israeli scientists, artists or sportsmen and women (17.05.2019).
[2] Cf. www.fzs.de/positionen/feminismus-antidiskriminierung/gegen-antisemitismus/
[3] Resolution of the Senate of the German Rectors' Conference of 13 October 2016: The universities as central players in science and society. Key points on the role and challenges of the higher education system (status 2018), p. 1f. As a partner of the European association Universities for Enlightenment, the HRK has already explicitly committed itself to condemning anti-Semitism. Compare the statement of 13.12.2018 at www.u4e.eu/viennastatement
[4] Universities open to the world - Against xenophobia: Nation-wide campaign by HRK member universities, www.hrk.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilung/meldung/weltoffene-hochschulen-gegen-fremdenfeindlichkeit-bundesweite-aktion-der-hrk-mitgliedshochschulen/ retrieved 15.10.2019
[5] www.holocaustremembrance.com/de/node/196 retrieved 20.09.2019
[6] www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/themen/kulturdialog/-/216610 retrieved 20.09.2019: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews that can express itself as hatred towards Jews. Anti-Semitism is directed in word or deed against Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, as well as against Jewish community institutions or religious bodies. In addition, the State of Israel, understood as a Jewish collective, may also be the target of such attacks."

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) followed by corrections made by Rolf Verleger

14.03.2020 г., 15:24

Dear signatories,

Triggered by the letter recently sent from the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies to the president of Germany’s conference of academic rectors (HRK), we made contact with Gilbert Achcar, professor at the SOAS University of London.
Yesterday he became a signatory of this petition and inspired several other people to sign, such that overnight we have two dozen more signatories, including professors John Chalcraft, Lutz Marten, and Avi Shlaim from Great Britain, Karima Laachir from Australia, and Rashid Khalidi and Stephen R. Shalom from the U.S.A.
At this moment, we are 1,627 signatories, including about 130 German professors and about 50 professors from abroad.

Thanks to all of you! And let’s keep on raising our voices for freedom of speech in general, and for academic freedom in particular.

Just yesterday I was asked whether the German text of the resolution by HRK could be translated to English, so everybody signing this English version of the petition may actually know what she/he objects to.
I will send out that text in a separate message, due to limitations on message length imposed by this system.

Stay healthy (zy gezind, as my ancestors used to say in Yiddish)
Rolf Verleger

09.03.2020 г., 15:15

Dear signatories of our petition,

Since some time, the number of signatories of our petition has been stagnant. We are now 1587, of which about 130 are German professors.

Yet today I got knowledge of a letter of February 26 to the HRK president. This letter may be found here:
www.brismes.ac.uk/images/BRISMES2020/caf_26022020_signed.pdf
It is from the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, signed by its president, the Baroness Prof. em. Haleh Afshar, peer of the House of Lords.
The letter does not leave any explicitness to be desired: The HRK recommendation of applying the IHRA definition of antisemitism is “incompatible with the principles of academic freedom". Likewise, the HRK’s claim that the BDS movement is antisemitic will “impede the right of academics to speak about and research the BDS movement, for students to learn about, discuss, and debate the movement in a free and open manner, and for students and academics to engage in entirely legitimate political activity on and off university campuses”. Undoubtedly the resolution will “have a chilling effect on academic freedom” particularly because “85 percent of staff in universities and research institutes below the rank of full professor are working on fixed-term contracts”.

Against that “chilling effect” we warmly recommend this letter as an example for imitation.

Cordially, for the initiators,
Rolf Verleger

17.12.2019 г., 13:55

Dear supporters of the petition,

Here I would like to provide some background material on the IHRA "definition".

There is not much to object to the definition per se, except that it is imprecise and too broad.

Pragmatically, that was fine when it was introduced.
Indeed, its lack of precision and broad range was fully intended by its creator, Kenneth Stern. Its purpose was to be a "working definition": Stern wanted to give the police in the EU a framework about which misdemeanors and crimes might be anti-Semitic.
Kenneth Stern registers with shock and protest that this broad definition and especially its examples of application to Israel are now being used worldwide to restrict freedom of speech about Israel's policies, see recently [1] or more detailed [2].

As a definition, the IHRA working definition is, as already mentioned, imprecise and vague. (See the detailed criticism in Peter Ulrich's expertise [English version: 3] as well as the shorter criticisms of my co-initiators Georg Meggle and Norman Paech [4,5]). Its significance lies in the fact that, through a number of apparently arbitrarily arranged examples, it also places opposition to Israel's policies, partisanship for the Palestinians, and even an attitude based on peace and reconciliation of the conflict under the general suspicion of anti-Semitism (even towards Jewish people [6,7,8]) and thus has already justified prohibitions of speech in the eyes of its supporters ([6,7,8,9]). Actually, anti-Semitism may be defined precisely and comprehensively [here by Georg Meggle: 10], even though differentiated considerations are always appropriate for evaluating its actual presence instead of the quick shots widespread today [11].

In general, the climate created by politics through the propagation of the IHRA definition endangers the freedoms of opinion and assembly guaranteed by the German Basic Law. (S. decisions by the Higher Administrative Court Lüneburg and the Administrative Court Cologne, [12,13]). Especially at universities this may develop into endangering the freedom of research and teaching and the free discourse.

This well-intentioned resolution of the HRK shows in deplorable clarity: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Anti-Semitism cannot be combated by banning free speech about obvious injustice - the human rights violations committed by Israel's policies.
This has nothing at all to do with combating the Halle assassin’s sympathizers. Compare the furor with which the non-violent Palestinian resistance movement BDS (Boycott, Divestments, Sanctions against Israel) is fought in Germany on all levels and especially by "anti-Semitism commissioners" with the deafening silence on the Halle assassin’s ideological influencers. He justified his violent action against Jews with the fact that "the Jews" under the leadership of George Soros want to disintegrate the Occident with Muslim immigration and women's emancipation. This line of argument against Soros comes from Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and has already been used by Donald Trump. I happened to be in Budapest in July 2017 and, to my horror, saw the underground stations paved with posters commissioned by Orban showing a grinning George Soros, subtitled "Don't let him be the last to laugh" in Hungarian. The Halle assassin stuck by this ...

Best regards
Rolf Publisher

References:
[1] www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism-executive-order-trump-chilling-effect?CMP=share_btn_fb
[2] docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20171107/106610/HHRG-115-JU00-Wstate-SternK-20171107.pdf
[3https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/rls_papers/Papers_3-2019_Antisemitism.pdf
[4] www.heise.de/tp/features/Grundrecht-auf-freie-Meinungsaeusserung-und-Rede-ist-bedroht-4602337.html
[5] www.heise.de/tp/features/Sprachregelung-fuer-unsere-Unis-Einspruch-4598877.html
[6] www.heise.de/tp/features/Beschluss-der-HRK-zur-IHRA-Definition-von-Antisemitismus-4602268.html
[7] www.jrbernstein.de/blog-1/2019/10/20/meinungsfreiheit-oder-zensur
[8] bibjetzt.wordpress.com/2019/09/28/bip-aktuell-87-muenchner-gesinnungsschnueffelei/
[9] www.rolf-verleger.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Brief-an-Flugblattverfasser.pdf
[10] www.heise.de/tp/features/Genau-wann-bin-ich-Antisemit-4547202.html
[11] www.jmberlin.de/sites/default/files/antisemitism-in-europe-today_2-klug.pdf
[12] www.lebenshaus-alb.de/magazin/012513.html
[13] www.rechtsprechung.niedersachsen.de/jportal/portal/page/bsndprod.psml?doc.id=MWRE190001146&st=null&showdoccase=1

17.12.2019 г., 11:41

Deutsche Version folgt in zweitem Schreiben.
***
Dear supporters,

Our petition has been on-line for nine days. Now it is time for some interim appraisal.

We have been asked several times what exactly may be objected against the IHRA “definition" of antisemitism. I will comment on this in a second letter.

Well, here is an interim appraisal:

Today, Dec 17, 9:30h a.m. MET, we are 845 supporters of the petition: 764 at the German version and 81 at the English one.

Originally we had planned to restrict the circle of supporters to academics at German universities, being the immediately affected persons. But we dismissed this restriction, after so many people had signed who are either not academics or have not been active at German universities.
Therefore, we thank all of you for your solidarity and would like to encourage you in bringing this petition to the attention of as many people as possible.

Before Georg Meggle and I had started this petition, Georg had written to the president of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK). In the near future, we will further write to the rectors of all 268 universities and academies that are HRK members, in order to suggest that they may revise their resolution on the IHRA “definition”. When doing so, we will inform them about this petition, of course.

It was particularly encouraging when, three days ago, Amos Goldberg from Jerusalem sent our call to his list of addressees. Prof. Goldberg is the initiator of the letter to the German parliament (Bundestag) from 240 Jewish academics opposing against the anti-BDS resolution in May (and, recently, of a similar letter to the French assemblée nationale). It is mainly through his help that we have a nice number of Jewish/Israeli academics as supporters, thereby providing us with a strong argument justifying our request.

It is in this vein that I will do a little bit of name dropping about who signed so far (asking all those that remain unmentioned for their mercy):

Professors (mostly) of Jewish descent, international:
USA: Noam Chomsky, Richard Falk, Lawrence Davidson, Daniel Boyarin, Susan Slyomovics, Elsa Auerbach, Lisa Rofel, Joel Beinin, Colin Dayan, Rush Rehm, Andrew S. Bergerson
Israel: Amos Goldberg, Gadi Algazi, Yonathan Anson, Micah Leshem, Ofer Aharony, David Enoch, Nomi Erteshik-Shir, Avner Ben-Amos, Tommy Dreyfus
Belgium: Henri Hurwitz, Marc David, Willie van Peer, Victor Ginsburgh
France: James Cohen, Marc Steinling, Pascal Lederer, Jeanne Lichtenstein Fagnani, Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun
Great Britain: Donald Sassoon, Yosefa Loshitzky, Yossef Rapoport, Engin Isin
Others: Igor Primoratz (IL, AUS), Larry Haiven (CAN), Yakov Rabkin (CAN), Roy Wagner (CH), Michel Legrand (LUX)

We have plenty of other powerful personalities among these international supporters, like the psychiatrist Georges Yoram Federmann (fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Yoram_Federmann), the saxophonist Lena Bloch, the author Danièle Gervais-Marx

Professors in Germany on the list of signatories (insofar the title of professor either was indicated or is known to me; to my knowledge, five of us are of Jewish):
Philosophy: Georg Meggle, Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer, Helmut Pape, Olivier Ndjimbi-Tshiende, Lothar Kreiser, Christoph Lumer
Law: Norman Paech, Kai Ambos, Jörg Arnold
Theology: Ulrich Duchrow, Dorothee Roer, Ulrich Hübner, Gottfried Orth, Johannes Wallmann
Mathematics: Hans Bandelt, Günter Törner
German studies: Eberhard Ockel
Political science: Srirupa Roy, Helga Baumgarten, Karin Kulow, Michael Klundt, Werner Ruf, Bodo Zeuner
Music: Sidney Corbett
Photography: Heiner Schmitz
Pedagogics: Micha Brumlik, Eva Borst, Iman Attia, Peter Rödler, Wolfgang Jantzen
Communication: Michael Meyen
History: Paul Münch
Medicine: Michael Kochen, Jan Hildebrandt, Otwin Linderkamp, Michael Falkenstein, Wulf Dietrich
Physics: Franz Fujara, Georg Bastian, Christian Jooß
Oriental studies: Udo Steinbach, Martin Beck (DK), Irene Schneider, Rupa Viswanath
Informatics: Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Eberhard von Goldammer
Sociology: Eva Senghaas-Knobloch, Richard Sorg
Economy: Jürgen Kunze
Agriculture: Hans Haußmann
Psychology: Rolf Verleger, Wilhelm Kempf, Birgit Kröner-Herwig, Werner Sommer, Günter Knoblich (Ö), Peter Kirsch, Andrea Kiesel, Wolfgang Kallus (Ö), Markus Kiefer, Hartmut Schächinger, Markus Junghöfer, Stefan Debener, Hans Markowitsch, Nele Wild-Wall

Whoever is missing on this list or feels being misclassified: please write me.

On behalf of Georg Meggle, I thank all of you for your support. Please help us in making the number of signatories increase further.

Rolf Verleger

14.12.2019 г., 23:56

As a matter of course, we do not mind the first and third paragraphs of the resolution. On the contrary, we have already quoted these paragraphs positively in the text. This is better captured by this changed phrasing.


Neuer Petitionstext: Every form of discrimination is reprehensible: this is also true of anti-Semitism, that is, discrimination against Jews. This is also the assumption behind the resolution "No place for anti-Semitism" (1) adopted by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) of 19 November 2019.
This is precisely why we object to two of the rest four paragraphs of this resolution. It demands There, the adoption of the "IHRA definition" of anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism is demanded, a definition propagated for clearly political purposes and which is highly controversial. Approved by the German Bundestag and Federal Government, this definition should now be "established in all places of higher learning", in other words, this definition should now become the compulsory basis for our speech, thought and research in all such institutions.
Our objection to this HRK resolution is based on two grounds, one being more formal in nature while the other is a question of substance. To begin with, we contest the HRK's assumption that it can impose any sort of binding rules of speech upon institutions of higher education and further we protest against any concrete restrictions (e.g. bans on public demonstrations) associated with this "IHRA definition" which are already being applied to hinder public reflection upon Israel's policy of occupation, a policy which has been in place now for more than 50 years. This reflection being restricted is one which is oriented toward international law and universal human rights.
In both of these respects we see our fundamental freedoms of speech, teaching and research threatened. And that this threat emanates from the HRK, which calls itself "the voice of the universities" and which, quite rightly regards universities as the "centers of democratic culture, locus of dialogue and places of diversity" is particularly troubling. We see in this decision a blatant contradiction, one which has evidently escaped the attention of the last HRK General Assembly.
We therefore appeal to the President of the HRK and to all members of the HRK - i.e. to all rectors of the 268 institutions of higher education in Germany - to revise this resolution so as not to include any parts which go beyond the general condemnation of anti-Semitism and further not to allow the kinds of restrictions of speech prescribed above, restrictions which moreover are clearly inadequate as regulative and compulsory norms for the use of language at our universities.
We would therefore like to ask all those who are directly affected by this HRK resolution - our academic colleagues from all disciplines at German institutions of higher education - to support us in this effort. Support our OBJECTION with your signature to this petition addressed to the HRK leadership!
In the "Comment" field ("Why is the petition important to you?"), please enter your subject area and your (former) university.
(1) www.hrk.de/positionen/gesamtliste-beschluesse/beschluss/detail/kein-platz-fuer-antisemitismus/

Unterschriften zum Zeitpunkt der Änderung: 708

14.12.2019 г., 23:36

Incorrect arithmetics!! (2019-1967 = 52 years of occupation, which is "more than 50" but not "more than 60"


Neuer Petitionstext: Every form of discrimination is reprehensible: this is also true of anti-Semitism, that is, discrimination against Jews. This is also the assumption behind the resolution "No place for anti-Semitism" (1) adopted by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) of 19 November 2019.
This is precisely why we object to the rest of this resolution. It demands the adoption of the "IHRA definition" of anti-Semitism, a definition propagated for clearly political purposes and which is highly controversial. Approved by the German Bundestag and Federal Government, this definition should now be "established in all places of higher learning", in other words, this definition should now become the compulsory basis for our speech, thought and research in all such institutions.
Our objection to this HRK resolution is based on two grounds, one being more formal in nature while the other is a question of substance. To begin with, we contest the HRK's assumption that it can impose any sort of binding rules of speech upon institutions of higher education and further we protest against any concrete restrictions (e.g. bans on public demonstrations) associated with this "IHRA definition" which are already being applied to hinder public reflection upon Israel's policy of occupation, a policy which has been in place now for more than 60 50 years. This reflection being restricted is one which is oriented toward international law and universal human rights.
In both of these respects we see our fundamental freedoms of speech, teaching and research threatened. And that this threat emanates from the HRK, which calls itself "the voice of the universities" and which, quite rightly regards universities as the "centers of democratic culture, locus of dialogue and places of diversity" is particularly troubling. We see in this decision a blatant contradiction, one which has evidently escaped the attention of the last HRK General Assembly.
We therefore appeal to the President of the HRK and to all members of the HRK - i.e. to all rectors of the 268 institutions of higher education in Germany - to revise this resolution so as not to include any parts which go beyond the general condemnation of anti-Semitism and further not to allow the kinds of restrictions of speech prescribed above, restrictions which moreover are clearly inadequate as regulative and compulsory norms for the use of language at our universities.
We would therefore like to ask all those who are directly affected by this HRK resolution - our academic colleagues from all disciplines at German institutions of higher education - to support us in this effort. Support our OBJECTION with your signature to this petition addressed to the HRK leadership!
In the "Comment" field ("Why is the petition important to you?"), please enter your subject area and your (former) university.
(1) www.hrk.de/positionen/gesamtliste-beschluesse/beschluss/detail/kein-platz-fuer-antisemitismus/

Unterschriften zum Zeitpunkt der Änderung: 705