Dear all,
While I full understand the sentiments being expressed here, please do
remember that there is an important difference between the Max Planck
Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, where there is widespread,
although perhaps not unanimous, support for our friend and colleague
Ghassan Hage, and where the directors argued tirelessly for days in his
favour with the management of the Max Planck Society in Munich; and the
latter: the Max Planck Society, headquartered in Munich, who decided
that Ghassan Hage's appointment at the MPI for Social Anthropology
should be terminated.
The president of the Max Planck Society, Patrick Cramer, seems to have
taken his lead from a right wing tabloid and remains unswerving in his
censure of a man who, for 30 years, has been calling for peace in the
Middle East and condemning atrocities regardless of who commits them.
Hage's output, in the press, in scholarly journals and in social media,
is clear evidence that, contrary to the public statement issued by
Cramer, he is neither anti-semitic, Islamophobic or racist, Barely a
week prior to this episode, he posted a condemnation of ethnonationalism
on his Facebook page, suggesting that Jews, Christians and Muslims
should live in peace - hardly the rantings of an anti-semite.
Cramer's decision seems to be based both on a fear of adverse public
opinion and on legal advice that Hage's statements in condemnation of
violence of all kinds in Israel and the occupied territories (and
indeed, elsewhere) might be illegal in Germany. Instead of standing up
for one of his most distinguished and respected employees, supporting
the right to freedom of expression in academia, and testing in court
(were this ever to actually reach a court) what exactly is legal and
illegal under German law, Cramer cravenly capitulated to the gutter
press and a handful of politicians in Berlin, and terminated Ghassan
Hage's contract.
This whole pisode is very difficut for us at the MPI for Social
Anthropology, and obviously we are not being supported by the Max Planck
Society. If you do wish to protest against the treatment of Ghassan
Hage, please direct your anger towards Patrick Cramer. His email address
is [log in to unmask]
Iain Walker.
--
Iain Walker
Senior Research Fellow
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Max-Planck-Institut für ethnologische Forschung
Advokatenweg 36
06114 Halle (Saale)
Germany
[log in to unmask]
Phone +49 (0)345 292 7219
https://www.eth.mpg.de/walker
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