On June 28, 2025, the University of Bremen canceled a previously approved lecture on “Silence and Guilt – Psychological Mechanisms in Dealing with the Genocide in Gaza” by German-Israeli trauma specialist and Holocaust remembrance scholar Iris Hefets.

Several student groups, including the University of Bremen’s student union, organized the event. Shortly before the scheduled date, university rector Jutta Günther announced the event’s cancellation, citing Hefets’s board membership with Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East (EJJP). The German Ministry of the Interior classified EJJP as “extremist” in a 2024 report because of the group’s support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and alleged use of slogans deemed “antisemitic” according to the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, which some groups view as overly broad and restrictive of protected political speech. Bremen’s Evangelical Zionskirche church later provided an alternative venue for the event.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the cancellation of a previously approved on-campus, academic event based on a scholar’s exercise of their freedom of association. Higher education leaders should respect academic freedom by refraining from restrictions on scholarly activity. Event cancellations based on political or ideological, rather than academic, considerations limit academic discussion and exchange and undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20250707154305241
https://www.endangeredscholarsworldwide.net/post/university-of-bremen-cancels-lecture-over-extremism-concerns