An unusual alliance of party-affiliated student associations and other university groups is calling for the end of German-Iranian university cooperation. A corresponding resolution, which WELT has received, is to be passed on Wednesday in Jerusalem as part of the preparations for the second German-Israeli student conference.
For this purpose, the federal associations of the Ring of Christian-Democratic Students (RCDS), the Juso university groups and Liberal university groups as well as Campusgrün have joined forces with the “free union of student bodies” (fzs), the youth association of the German Federation of Trade Unions, the Young Forum of German -Israeli Society and the Jewish Student Union Germany.
The Iranian regime poses the greatest threat to Israel and Jewish life worldwide, is a key player in the conflicts in the region and regularly threatens Israel with its annihilation, according to the resolution justifying the demand. “Universities and cultural institutions in Iran are also being co-opted for anti-Semitic propaganda. The formation of an opposition to this is virtually impossible,” write the student associations. “We therefore reject the cooperation of German universities with Iranian institutions at the present time.” Threats of annihilation against Israel and the denial of the Holocaust could not be a basis for cooperation.
Such a broad alliance of student associations is extremely rare in university politics. The RCDS, which is close to the union, and the liberal university groups, which are close to the FDP, often reject cooperation with the left-wing “free association of student bodies”. The Federal Association of the Left Party’s student union, Die Linke.SDS, declined to sign it. The signatories did not want cooperation with the university groups of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative.
According to the German Rectors’ Conference, there are currently 90 cooperation agreements with 38 Iranian universities. The main partner universities are the University of Tehran, the University of Isfahan and the Amirkabir University of Technology. Only three Iranian universities are subject to European Union sanctions. No European funding or other resources may go to these universities.
According to the German Rectors’ Conference, a total of eleven German universities cooperate with the University of Tehran and seven with the University of Isfahan. Both are state universities. In Isfahan, US and Israeli flags are repeatedly placed on the ground in front of the entrance to force students to step on them.
A 2018 video by American-Iranian human rights activist Masih Alinejad shows students denying the denigration of the two countries by jumping over or walking around the flags. Photos showing US and Israeli flags lying on the ground are also known from the Amirkabir University of Technology.
The federal chairman of the ring of Christian-Democratic students, Franca Bauernfeind, told WELT that “ideological, religious and any form of content-related influence” should have no place in teaching and research. “Of course, it always requires a case-by-case analysis. In the case of Iran, however, I think that’s a clear case.” Lina Eilers from the national board of the Juso university groups said that good cooperation requires “a clear stance on the terrorist regime of Iran, the greatest threat to the state of Israel”. “Iranian universities are not isolated from the Iranian regime’s aggressive anti-Semitic propaganda.”
Matthias Konrad, board member of the “free association of student bodies”, said: “German-Iranian university cooperation uses the clerical-fascist Iranian regime as a legitimizing factor to the outside world. This cooperation is not only a great danger for Israel, but also lacks any solidarity with the current protests in Iran.”
In Iran, protests for women’s rights are currently taking place in several cities, which are also explicitly directed against those in power. Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died last Friday after she was arrested by the vice squad for wearing a headscarf that they considered inadequate.
After the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, people took to the streets in many Iranian cities. The arch-conservative state leadership is in need of explanation. The young woman had been arrested by the religious police because of her “un-Islamic outfit”.
Source: WORLD
The foreign policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Ulrich Lechte, is critical of a complete rejection of German-Iranian university cooperation. “It needs mutual exchange of knowledge and open channels of conversation – without being naïve,” he said. “It would be more effective to sanction the Iranian leadership than the people of Iran who have been suffering from their regime’s decisions for years.”
SPD education politician Ruppert Stüwe said: “The regime in Iran is not a cooperation partner like any other. Wherever we cooperate with Iran and thus open up spaces for dialogue, a clear stance and detailed consideration are required.”
A spokesman for the German Rectors’ Conference said that international cooperation is essential for German universities and provides significant impetus for innovation in teaching, study and research. Cooperation with universities in illiberal and non-democratic states “undoubtedly poses a particular challenge,” said the spokesman. Standards of academic freedom and the protection of human rights would be “advised where necessary”. In the past, concrete incidents have repeatedly led to interruptions in scientific cooperation.
The President of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Joybrato Mukherjee, said that the German government’s line that Israel’s security is part of Germany’s raison d’etat is “guiding for action” for the organization. Furthermore, it is a basic idea of the DAAD to maintain relationships with “challenging partner countries, even if they do not share our values”. The DAAD is the world’s largest funding organization for the international exchange of students and scientists.
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