The Israel-Hamas War Is Killing Academic Freedom
Katharina Galor and Noga Wolff | 05 September 2025 | Times Higher Education
In the past two years, universities in Israel, Germany and the US have undergone an unsettling transformation. Once bastions of open enquiry, they are increasingly engaged in ideological gatekeeping.
Across all three self-described democracies, criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza or expressions of solidarity with Palestinians have led to resignations, rescinded appointments, defunded programmes, cancelled lectures, deportations, arrests and imprisonments. The mechanisms differ, yet the pattern is strikingly similar: dissent is reframed as a threat, academic freedom becomes conditional, and universities prioritise managing political risk over hosting scholarly debate…