Statement by Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors‘ Conference, on the personal threat to Israeli and Jewish academics via an anonymous, now-closed website that offered financial rewards for intimidation and harassment attempts, including death threats, related to the Middle East conflict:
"This inhumane action is breaking taboos and shocks me deeply. Right now, we need a constructive, academic discourse and a rule-based culture of debate instead of boycotts, intimidation, open threats and hatred. Academic freedom and the personal integrity of scholars must be protected at all costs, even in situations of political conflict. That a bounty has been placed on the heads of individual academics, explicitly because they are leading Israeli and Jewish researchers, is intolerable, unprecedented and cannot be justified by any means. My solidarity is with the colleagues affected and their families."
Find a personal report by Professor Daniel Chamovitz, President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, here.
