At our university there are not only German-speaking students but increasingly also internationals. We very much welcome this development. There should be more university offers in English.
We stand for a General Students’ Committee that does not drive a national agenda, but is connected to the students and the progressive forces around the world. In this spirit, and especially in view of the Erdogan-friendly German domestic policy, we call for a partnership with a university in Rojava, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria which is supported by the West.
Against the nationalist and the Islamist Right
At our university we are far too often confronted with political organizations adhering to inhumane and reactionary ideology. The General Students’ Committee must oppose both the ethnopluralist ideology of the new European right as well as political Islam, which are both expressions of a global reactionary shift to the right.
Thanks to the autonomous departments, there is a clear anchoring of educational work, which is directed against sexism and heteronormativity. Equally important issues such as internationalism, antifascism or especially the fight against antisemitism however, are not anchored in any way in the written student body at the moment. We therefore demand the creation of a department that addresses these issues and, in cooperation with relevant political groups, conducts educational and publicity work and, whenever necessary, intervenes.
The university, of course, has to be a secular area. Every human being should be allowed to study, which of course includes worshippers of all religions. However, religion has to remain a private matter. The practice of religion on campus should not be actively supported by the university or the student body. Therefore we are sceptical of prayer rooms or religious events hold in the university’s premises. The General Students’ Committee must stand up for a secular university.
At many universities especially in the UK and the US, the antisemitic boycott movement against Israel “BDS” is a great problem. It is important to actively prevent antisemitism, not only because BDS tries to gain a foothold in the German-speaking academic area as well.
