German university rescinds Jewish American’s job offer over pro-Palestinian letter | Higher education

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/10/nancy-fraser-cologne-university-germany-job-offer-palestine

by aknb

19 comments

  2. >“After all, I was canceled in the name of German responsibility for the Holocaust. This responsibility should also apply to Jewish people. But in [Germany](https://www.theguardian.com/world/germany) it is narrowed down to the state policy of the currently ruling Israeli government. Philosemitic McCarthyism sums it up quite well. A way to silence people under the pretext of supposedly supporting Jews,” Fraser said.

    >In an interview with [Die Zeit](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2024-04/nancy-fraser-uni-koeln-albertus-magnus-professur) addressing the issue of Germany’s responsibility as perpetrator of the Holocaust for protecting Jewish life, Fraser said this duty was being wrongly applied to exclude criticism of the Israeli government.

    >“**I completely agree that Germans have a special responsibility towards the Jews in light of the Holocaust. But to equate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism is simply wrong.** And may I add that as a Jew I also feel a special responsibility. But … that doesn’t mean giving this government carte blanche. **What is happening in** [**Gaza**](https://www.theguardian.com/world/gaza) **should not happen – and especially not in my name. I strongly reject the equation of Israel and Judaism.** Judaism has a rich secular and, above all, universalist tradition. It pains me when it is reduced to Israel’s current hyper-ethno-nationalist politics.”

  3. 6 levels

    13 dimensions

    146 quadrants

    1 love

    🙂 when you are strong I shall be your backbone

    when you are weak I shall be the air you breathe

    when you are right I shall be your future

    when you are wrong I shall be your memory.

  5. Germany just hates Jewish opinions. The far-right and far-left ensure any Jew that supports Israel shuts up. And the rest of the country ensures that any Jew that doesn’t support Israel shuts up. Ergo, all Jews shut up, while non-Jewish Germans attempt to define and understand antisemitism without actually talking to German Jews.

  6. The criticsm is not that the letter is “pro-Palestinian” but that it questions Israel’s right to exist, downplays hamas terror and calls for a boycott of Israel which was condemned by the democratically elected German parliament. So it’s not really far fetched that such a person should not be paid with German tax payers’ money at a public university.

  7. Crying about being canceled would ring a lot more true if that didn’t happen because you called for a “cultural and academic boycott” of people.

    Uno reverse card.

  9. Let’s get some context here so everyone can get the whole picture:

    1. It’s barely a job, but an honorary professorship that includes a limited series of lectures and a stay of a couple of days. She is and continues to be a full time professor in New York.
    2. She supports the Boycott Israel movement, and signed a letter giving a completely one-sided overview of the situation, downplaying Hamas’ actions and not giving a flying fuck about 7th October. You can support boycotting Israel or be against it, both are valid positions, but what she does and calls for is a little more than just being critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

    The University of Cologne is entirely within its rights to decide that they don’t want to give an honorary professorship to someone who does not share certain values they expect.

    It is particularly comedic when someone whines about being ‘cancelled’, just after they called for the ‘boycot’ of academic institutions in another country.

  10. Silencing one side of an argument or debate is what leads to shit like dictatorships.

    I could prance the streets of Berlin and say the UK doesn’t have a right to exist, I’d be fine.

    I could prance the streets of Berlin and say China doesn’t have a right to exist, I’d be fine.

    I could prance the streets of Berlin and say France doesn’t have a right to exist, I’d rightfully get a round of applause.

    But Israel is the exception to this rule.

    Also people are saying it “downplays Hamas”. Well of course it fucking does, it’s a letter from the Palestinian view, that’s like saying someone should be banned for a book on Catholic plight and oppression in Northern Ireland because it doesn’t mention every single PIRA attack.

    Of course a university is free to do as they choose, but backing these things up legally, and legally banning certain opinions if they aren’t directly harmful, is dangerous and problematic.

  13. If German guilt is so strong that you can’tbe allowed to separate Israels zionism with Jewish rights, then something has gone horribly wrong.

  15. I thought I was reading an “r/nottheonion” title.

  17. What’s with the entitlement of Americans coming to Germany lol

    In the US it’s commonly understood that individual freedoms are a two-way street: Just as you can say whatever, persons and organizations outside of the government can decide to reject being affiliated with you because of whatever

    Then they cone to the US, say or sign stuff that is extremely controversial here and would likely cause a shitstorm for their future employer, and they cry about it

    Germany did not LeArN tHe WrOnG lEsSoNs or SuCcUmB tO gUiLt. Everyone is perfectly able to criticize Israel, even onesidedly. On their own blog, event, whatever.

    But people and organizations might clearly state that they think doing so sucks, and that’s fine, too.

    Not willing to handle that? Find an employer who shares your belief 🤷‍♂️ in the US they would do that. In Germany they start whining

    Ffs when I would start a job at an Arab bank like KT Bank in Frankfurt, the last thing I would do is filling my social media with pro Israel statements or signing anti Palestine letters. If I want to do that I don’t even apply for an employer that I know won’t share my core beliefs. What I won’t do is applying there fully aware of their beliefs, publicly attack their beliefs, then be shocked they want us to part ways.

    Edit: Also, this letter is connected to groups that ask for a cultural boycott of Israeli organizations. Asking for boycott of others but whining when the UNO reverse card is drawn? I am perfectly fine with every European university that doesn’t want these voices at their campus which perpetually paint themselves as the victims. Let’s keep this infantilization of academic debate in the US

    Edit: it’s too late, so many typos 😔

  18. Germans once again supporting genocide, good job guys!

  19. Gonna show this to western people who says why don’t western people support and voice out against the wars in middle East but are vocal against the war in Ukraine

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