Scores of professors, researchers, and staff have signed a petition demanding a German university allow the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, to deliver a scheduled lecture this weekend.
Ms. Albanese was due to lecture on colonialism, human rights, and international law on Sunday at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), but the university promptly canceled the event after it was made public.
LMU told organizers that the cancellation was down to the “political orientation of the lecture” and security concerns over a “clash of opinions.” Ms. Albanese has been outspoken in challenging Israeli violations of international law in the Palestinian territories.
“The cancellation sets a dangerous precedent for universities — one in which shunning international human rights lawyers and UN representatives becomes a reality,” the petition reads.
“Cancel culture for political reasons at German universities is taking frightening shape,” BSW MP Sevim Dagdelen said, blaming the CDU, SPD, Greens, and AfD for defaming solidarity with Palestine as anti-semitic.
She slammed a “serious attack on the autonomy of higher education and academic freedom.”
CONTRIBUTOR
