On December 1, 2024, the University of Leipzig (UL) cancelled a previously approved lecture by Israeli historian Benny Morris, an emeritus professor of history at Ben Gurion University.
The event, titled “The 1948 War and Jihad” was scheduled to take place on December 5, as part of a series on antisemitism, hosted by the Faculty of Theology. Leading up to the event, multiple university groups, including Students for Palestine Leipzig, had called for the lecture to be cancelled. The groups argued that Morris has expressed racist views, pointing to comments that he made in a 2004 interview, in which he stated “when the choice is between ethnic cleansing and genocide — the annihilation of your people — I prefer ethnic cleansing,” and called for “something like a cage has to be built for” the Palestinians.
Against the backdrop of the protests, UL cancelled the lecture pointing to concerns over Morris’s views and security concerns surrounding the event. The university released a statement noting that, while the intention behind the event was to make space for “critical engagement with ideas,” Morris’s views had led to “understandable, but frightening in nature, protests from individual student groups.”
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the cancellation of a previously approved on-campus, academic event. Higher education leaders should respect academic freedom and make space for a diversity of views on campus by refraining from restrictions on academic activity. Where there are legitimate security concerns, the university is obligated to take reasonable available measures to ensure security. In the absence of such concerns, content-based restrictions on otherwise legitimate university events undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/12/02/german-university-cancels-lecture-israeli-historian-benny-morris-due-student-protests-security-concerns/
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2024-12-01/ty-article/.premium/german-university-cancels-lecture-by-leading-israeli-historian-following-student-protests/00000193-81ac-de89-abff-99ff0e1c0000
https://www.theol.uni-leipzig.de/fakultaet/veranstaltungsportal/veranstaltungsdetail/termin/the-1948-war-and-jihad
https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en/newsdetail/artikel/statement-from-leipzig-university-following-the-cancellation-of-the-event-the-1948-war-and-jihad-with-professor-benny-morris-2024-12-02