We sent the following letter today to the President of Freie Universität Berlin, Prof. Dr. Günter M. Ziegler.Dear Prof. Ziegler, it is with great consternation that we have learned that Francesca Albanese is due to give a lecture at Freie Universität Berlin on 19 February. Albanese has repeatedly drawn attention to herself by spreading antisemitic world views. In July 2024, for example, Albanese relativised the Holocaust by reposting an image on X comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler, commenting: “That is exactly what I thought today.”[1]She also repeatedly draws attention to herself by spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories. In October 2024, for instance, she endorsed a post on X which claimed, with regard to the policy of the USA, that “the Israel lobby had bought and paid for Congress and both governing parties and had intimidated the media and universities.”[2]
Time and again she plays down the massacre of 7 October and denies its antisemitic nature. In February 2024, in response to the statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, who described the massacre of 7 October as “the greatest antisemitic massacre of our century”, Albanese tweeted: “The greatest antisemitic massacre of our century? No, @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.”[3] Her sympathy for Hamas is nothing new: in 2014, Albanese expressed her delight on Facebook that Hamas had been removed from the list of terrorist organisations by the EU court, and described this as “good news”.[4] (The EU’s decision to de-categorise Hamas as a terrorist organisation was overturned again by the European Court of Justice in 2017.) Because of these statements she became the first UN Special Rapporteur in the history of the United Nations to be officially condemned for antisemitism by Germany, France and the USA, as well as by several leading Jewish organisations worldwide.[5]
Alongside Albanese, Eyal Weizman, founder and director of Forensic Architecture, is also expected as a speaker. Weizman describes himself as a supporter of the antisemitic BDS movement.[6] In 2020 he was refused entry to the United States after the US Department of Homeland Security had classified him as a “security threat”.[7] On 7 February 2025 he tweeted enthusiastically about his collaboration with Salman Abu Sitta, a well-known Hamas sympathiser.[8] Abu Sitta’s online participation in a Palestine congress in Berlin in April 2024 was a decisive factor in the police having the event shut down.[9]
We are highly disconcerted that such individuals are to be given a platform at Freie Universität. In view of the recent cancellation of the exhibition “The Vicious Circle” by the British “National Holocaust Centre and Museum”, this decision appears in a very particular light. That exhibition, which examines critically the more than 2,000-year history of antisemitism, was cancelled by the university leadership out of fear of “emotional reactions” and “intense debates”.
It is telling that the university leadership evidently shows concern about controversial reactions only when it comes to events that engage critically with antisemitism. At the same time, radical, antisemitic voices are generously given space. This double standard raises the question of whether Freie Universität still lives up to its own claims to neutrality, responsibility and academic integrity.
The Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München decided differently in a similar situation a few days ago. It has shown what a clear stance against antisemitic tendencies can look like. It is time for Freie Universität Berlin to follow this example.
We urgently ask you to cancel this event, to prevent such events in future and finally to take the safety of Jewish students seriously.
Yours sincerely
Elio Adler
– Chairman of the Board –
[1] https://x.com/ADL/status/1816581111050375178
[2] https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1846879867180036293
[3] https://x.com/USAmbHRC/status/1757103240817078396?lang=en
[4] https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2022/12/Untitled-2-2.jpg
[5] https://unwatch.org/antisemitic-un-official-set-to-visit-us-for-general-assembly-campus-tour/
[6]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b8050f6b10598702dccbad1/t/5bc40c50ec212d91115facd4/1539574864433/Estefan-Weizman_Extending-CoResistance_Assuming-Boycott.pdf
[7] https://news.artnet.com/art-world/forensic-architecture-algorithm-us-ban-1782441
[8] https://x.com/weizman_eyal/status/1887941876055163049
[9] https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/berlin-polizei-loest-umstrittenen-palaestina-kongress-auf-a-cf8e36e8-8333-408d-beb9-93567015b2c5
