Protest at Free University Berlin Following Albanese Lecture Cancellation

Approximately 40 individuals staged a sit-in at a lecture hall at the Free University of Berlin (FU) on Wednesday morning. This action comes in response to the cancellation of a lecture by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. The university confirmed the incident and stated that it had requested police assistance due to concerns over safety and control of the situation.

The lecture, originally scheduled at FU, was to be streamed live from an alternate location in Berlin after the university decided to cancel it. The university indicated that the student body's General Student Committee (AStA) had offered their facilities for the event. Subsequently, the group occupying the lecture hall left the AStA premises and took over the lecture hall instead.

Currently, the university is engaged in discussions with the occupying group, aiming for a voluntary resolution that would allow them to vacate the space once the lecture concludes, anticipated around noon.

The organization 'Students for Palestine' shared several posts on Instagram regarding Albanese and the ongoing occupation of the lecture hall. Images from the posts also depict police presence within the university's building.

Albanese was invited by a collective of professors from the social and humanities departments to address the topic "Living Conditions Designed for Destruction: Legal and Forensic Perspectives on the Ongoing Gaza Genocide." However, the FU faced intense backlash following its decision to cancel the lecture, a move that was also condemned by the AStA, which expressed strong dissatisfaction and vowed to challenge the decision.