Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Jannis Julien Grimm

Jannis Julien Grimm is the director of the research group “Radical Spaces” at the INTERACT Center for Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Research at Freie Universität Berlin (FUB).

The Palestine Test for German Universities — Police at the Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) on May 7, 2024, cordon off students as they demonstrate against Israel's war in Gaza and the university dismantles their protest tent camp in a campus courtyard. Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

The Palestine Test for German Universities

In February 2025, Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) cancelled a planned lecture by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The university cited polarization and security risks after intense political pressure from Berlin’s governing mayor and several pro-Israel advocacy groups. To

Jannis Julien Grimm, Lilian Mauthofer • 14 min read