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Lilian Mauthofer

Lilian Mauthofer is a doctoral researcher in the DFG Research Unit 5870 “The Promise of Security in Catastrophic Times” at the University of Hamburg and an associate researcher at FUB’s INTERACT Center.

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