German education minister calls for consequences to anti-Semitism

After an attack on a Jewish student in Berlin, German Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has called on universities to take firm action.

Anti-Semitism must have clear consequences, the minister told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) in an article published Wednesday.

"University management must therefore make use of all the legal options available to them," said Stark-Watzinger.

Over the weekend, 30-year-old Lahav Shapira, a student at Berlin's Free University, was hospitalized with broken bones in his face. A 23-year-old pro-Palestinian from the same school is said to have punched and kicked him.

The police had reported that the two had initially got into an argument before the 23-year-old suddenly attacked. The alleged perpetrator initially fled, but was later identified.

A spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that an anti-Semitic motive for the offence did not seem far-fetched based on the current state of the investigation.

Although universities are places of freedom, they are not lawless spaces, Stark-Watzinger told RND. She said that this violence leaves her stunned and shows where hatred of Israel and Jews leads.

"Everything must be done to combat this using constitutional means," she added.

Germany's Central Council of Jews had previously demanded strict consequences from the university on Tuesday. There was no alternative to exmatriculating the student in question.

The university, however, said an expulsion is not legal, only a ban on entering school premises of up to three months was possible.