German academia: When neutrality becomes complicity
ABI staff member Dina Wahba calls for moral responsibility within German academia in an essay written for and published by Qantara.de.
German academia often prides itself on Wissenschaftlichkeit, a scientific rigor presumed to be objective and politically neutral. Yet history shows that science is never truly free from social or political influence. Wahba argues for knowledge to be recognized as responsibility, stressing that neutrality is a political act. Especially regarding the shrinking spaces for open debate on Palestine and other issues in the Middle East, Wahba calls for German academics to recognize that a refusal to engage is a political act that typically favours the status quo: "In a democratic society, universities must be bastions of open debate, not enforcers of official narratives. [...] Neutrality can no longer be an alibi for inaction. We must re-embrace the notion that knowledge carries obligations."
Find Wahba's essay in English, Arabic and German on Qantara.de.