According to the Panorama program of the first German public television channel ARD, in an internal correspondence document of the Ministry of Education, Minister Bettina Stark-Wächinger (FDP) was asking to be examined whether it was possible to stop the funding of hundreds of university researchers.
The Deputy Minister of Education and Research, Zabine Döring, was forced to resign today, after the disclosure of internal correspondence about the possibility of withdrawing funding from scientists who criticized the treatment reserved a few months ago by the Free University of Berlin to occupying students demonstrating in favor of the Palestinians.
According to the Panorama program of the first German public television channel ARD, in an internal correspondence document of the Ministry of Education, Minister Bettina Stark-Wächinger (FDP) asked to be examined whether it was possible to stop the funding of hundreds of university researchers, who in May signed open letter against the administration of the Free University of Berlin and the treatment of the students who were demonstrating in favor of Palestine and had occupied the premises of the university in the previous days.
In the letter, the scientists defended the students’ right to protest, even though they did not agree with the protesters’ specific demands.
The professors also asked the administration to “refrain from police operations against the students and from further criminal charges.”
The Minister of Education had then expressed surprise at the content of the letter and had accused its authors that “instead of taking a clear stand against hatred of Israel and Jews, university occupiers are victimized and violence trivialized”.
The revelation of internal correspondence asking the legal service to rule on whether the funding law can be revised, as well as whether the letter constitutes a criminal offence, has sparked outrage in the scientific community and many have called for Ms Stark-Watchinger’s resignation.
According to Der Spiegel magazine, Undersecretary Dering admitted in another internal email that she was to blame and called it a “misunderstanding”.
The services of the Ministry of Education had responded that the open letter “is still within the constitutionally protected field of freedom of expression”.
Zabine Dering is a university professor herself. Until her appointment to the Ministry of Education and Research in February 2023, she held the Chair of Philosophy with specialization in Ethics at the University of Tübingen.
Source :Skai
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