Protest against Israel. Dörthe Engelcke (MPI) on the Academic Boycott Conference, January 24, 2026, https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/academic-boycott-konferenz-in-berlin-interview-doerthe-engelcke-rechtswiss-100.html.
The conference on the background and strategies of the academic boycott, organized primarily by students and held in Berlin from January 23 to 25, at least took place without disruption—at a location that was only revealed to participants at short notice. Dörthe Engelcke explains on Deutschlandfunk radio from a legal perspective that the demands of the BDS, as a peaceful response to illegal occupation and gravest war crimes, are in accordance with international law and are now also supported in part by EU governments. Even in Israel itself, opponents of the illegal occupation and expulsions usually see no alternative to institutional boycotts, because only international pressure will bring about change. Universities in Israel have particularly close ties to the arms industry and the military. The growing support for the BDS movement in Germany can also be seen as a reaction to German policy on the Middle East, in particular the failure since October 7 to clearly identify and politically address serious violations of international law by the Israeli army. This has shaken many people’s confidence that the German state and government respect international law and still want to contribute to a solution to the conflict, which is why more and more individuals and organizations are asking themselves what options for action they still have.