Overview
- The three-day Academic Boycott Conference opened Friday in Berlin with roughly 200 expected participants, is closed to the public, allows accredited press only on Saturday, and has no demonstration planned.
- Organizers from the Internationalistische Bündnis Berlin call on European universities to suspend institutional cooperation with Israeli institutions, alleging university links to Israel’s military‑industrial sector and arms makers.
- Berlin antisemitism commissioner Samuel Salzborn condemns the gathering as promoting anti‑Israel and antisemitic hate and urges security scrutiny, and police confirm they are aware of the event.
- The Berliner Hochschulkonferenz reiterates its stance against boycotts of Israeli academia, and the student group Tacheles warns the campaign risks exclusion of Jewish or Israeli students.
- The organizing coalition lists about 20 groups, including the VPNK cited in Berlin’s domestic intelligence report for involvement of adherents of Hamas and the PFLP, and a Left caucus leader says the party does not support an academic boycott.