About 30 On Wednesday, people disrupted a Bundeswehr advertising stand at the job fair at the University of Kassel with a spontaneous protest.
The invitation of the Bundeswehr officers was received by the local students and young people as part of a nationwide rearmament- and militarization efforts criticized. From their point of view, the effects are becoming increasingly apparent here on site: while politicians nationwide are discussing the reintroduction of compulsory military service, Areas are currently being actively sought in the Kassel district for the reconstruction of barracks and logistics centers. Most recently, the Kassel-based defense companies KNDS and Rheinmetall expanded their production capacities.
During the protest, opponents of the war broke away:internally also with the people affected by war in Palestine, Rally against Turkish air raids on Rojava, Solidarity with Sudan and Ukraine. They discussed the cuts in social services- and education sector, large parts of society are threatened by the rearmament policy. At the same time as 500 Mrd. Euro special funds there is a financial gap in the federal budget of 80 billion euro, those with significant cuts in citizens' money, Pensions and health insurance expenses should be offset.
In addition to a speech, the demonstrators unfurled two banners, who spoke out against war and militarization and for the enforcement of the civil clause at universities. The civil clause has existed at the University of Kassel since 2013 as a “self-commitment to peaceful goals and an orientation toward civilian purposes in research, Development, Teaching and studying”.
Many students see the civil clause as being cheated, because the University of Kassel repeatedly makes rooms available to the Bundeswehr at job fairs and in closed events for advertising purposes - without advertising them, probably out of fear of larger protests. That the concern about the civil clause is not unfounded, The coalition agreement of the black-red state government also shows this. This one proclaims one “Support for university management in reviewing civil clauses” – this can be assumed in concrete terms, that the state government will actively support universities in abolishing civil clauses and conducting military research.
However, the university management was apparently reluctant to take a critical stance on the prevailing militarization: In anticipation of the students' potential dissatisfaction, they had instructed the police, potential “troublemakers”.:inside” with a temporary ban on entering the house – which, however, did not seem to deter the demonstrators.
On the other hand, the police, together with the university's own security service, enforced the university management's line, carried out personal identification checks and quickly confiscated the banners.
The protesters themselves classified the actions of the University of Kassel as part of a nationwide development, which can be observed at German universities since the beginning of the protests against militarization and the war in Gaza. The commemoration of fellow student Yousef Shaben, who was murdered by an Israeli air strike in the fall 2023 dropped out of the University of Kassel.
In Berlin and other cities, student protests were repeatedly violently broken up by the police at universities. Students involved in protests face legal action or expulsion due to their political activities.
The Kassel local group of the Rheinmetall Disarm Alliance declared the protest in a press release: “That the Bundeswehr is not a normal employer, the demonstrators made it clear today. Work for the Bundeswehr always means work for the war. Krieg, on whose fronts the ordinary population has to fight and die for capital interests and the influence of those in power. That the University of Kassel invites the Bundeswehr and suppresses any criticism of it, fits into the nationwide rearmament course and yet is an indictment of an institution, which is dedicated to civil purposes and a supposedly critical teaching. The students understood this and reminded the university management of it today – confident, without being intimidated by harassment and threatening gestures from the police and security services. Young people are not ready to die in wars, who are not theirs. It is now time to build a broad anti-war movement together, at school, University and company, to nip the coming war madness in the bud!”
