Statement of the Association of Palestinian and Jewish Academics (PJA) (e.V. i.Gr.) on the Hertie School Representatives (HSR) for passing a resolution on 05.03.2026 that explicitly endorses BDS and defines concrete measures for the academic boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions
We are Palestinian and Jewish academics with personal, professional, and institutional ties to Germany and other German-speaking countries. We are organized to counter the repressive development of discourses, policies and actions related to Palestine/Israel. Our association includes scholars of the histories, religions, laws, cultures, and politics of the region, as well as of Palestinian and Jewish diasporas.
A central part of our scholarly activities is to uphold and strengthen the respect of international law with respect to Palestine and Israel. This includes the necessity to reiterate that central principles of international law (ius cogens) are currently being violated by Israel, such as the obligation to prevent a genocide, the prohibition to acquire territory by force (annexation), the obligation to promptly leave illegally occupied territory – Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem – and the obligation to end racial segregation and apartheid against Palestinians. These obligations were clearly and repeatedly expressed by the International Court of Justice in several of its decisions and advisory opinions, reflecting the current status of principles of international law. We also need to remind everyone that the crime of starvation (as laid out in the arrest warrants against Israeli politicians by the International Criminal Court) is also an issue at hand (see On international law and Gaza: critical reflections, London Review of International Law, Volume 12, Issue 2, July 2024, Pages 217–301; KJ Kritische Justiz, Schwerpunkt: Recht während Gaza, vol. 58 (2026), Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2026).
In light of the inaction of states under legal obligation to support the implementation of these norms, amongst them Germany, we strongly encourage non-state actors to help maintain the authority of international law.
It is against this backdrop that we support the decision by the Hertie Student body to pass a resolution requesting concrete measures to ensure their own institution is not participating in violations of international law. We also encourage the establishment of independent review committees to examine all financial ties of the Hertie Foundation that maintain these illegalities. This is in line with our vision of an ethically appropriate scheme for research.
We also need to remind everyone that boycotts are a legal instrument, as established by the German Federal Constitutional Court and the German Federal Administrative Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
Additionally, the public backlash that has followed the adoption of this resolution by German media, particularly in calls for consequences from the Hertie school, clashes with the idea of the university as a liberal place of ideas. Attempts at intimidating students and restricting legal political expression within the university is worrying and needs to be rejected, if we do not want universities to increasingly slide into illiberalism.
Association of Palestinian and Jewish Academics 