STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY BY STUDENTS OF THE DFFB

"Dialogue cannot occur between those who want to name the world and those who do not wish this naming — between those who deny others the right to speak their word and those whose right to speak has been denied them. Those who have been denied their primordial right to speak their word must first reclaim this right and prevent the continuation of this dehumanizing aggression."
- Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
We, a group of students from the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) stand in solidarity with students protesting the genocide in Palestine and Germany’s active complicity in carrying it out. Furthermore, we condemn the German state, media and police’s vilification of these students, and the violence they are constantly met with. Police raids on university campuses and physical attacks targeting students are unacceptable and a gross violation of our rights. KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OUR CAMPUSES! We want to reiterate that civil disobedience is a legitimate form of protest. The occupation of university buildings and sit-ins by students are justified reactions in the face of the suppression of any and all open dialogue and public debate. State institutions do not have the unilateral right to set the terms of what “dialogue” should look like. Especially in protected spaces like universities, which should be devoted to the praxis of freedom of thought, speech, expression and resistance. UNIVERSITIES BELONG TO THEIR STUDENTS! It has become our reality: fear is spread as a mechanism of repression, and the German state wields terror against those who dare name these horrors. The police raiding and eviction of the Jabalia Institute, demanded by Berlin mayor Kai Wegner perfectly proves a threatening lack of commitment to the autonomy and sanctity of educational institutions in Germany under the guise of law and order. How dare you demand 'civility' while funding and enabling a genocide? We stand in solidarity with the student protests and support the demands of the Student Coalition Berlin. STOP THE GENOCIDE END THE OCCUPATION FREE PALESTINE DEATH TO COLONIALISM
This statement is supported by the Student Council of DFFB.