Max Planck President Patrick Cramer and a small delegation from the Max Planck Society and the Minerva Stiftung traveled to Israel at the End of November 2023. A sign of solidarity with long-standing colleagues at Israeli universities and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Minerva Fellowship Programme was to be celebrated this year with a major ceremony in Jerusalem. 2,000 young scholarship holders have taken part in this exchange programme since 1973. 180 guests from the German and Israeli scientific communities wanted to come together to celebrate on the premises of the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem in the immediate vicinity of the official residence of President Isaac Herzog. Like his Israeli counterpart, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had promised to open the event in Jerusalem with a speech.
But after the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October, nothing is as it was. 1200 murdered children, women and men, more than 5000 injured and 239 kidnapped hostages. In addition, there is a horrific war in Gaza, which is also causing terrible suffering there. And despite the cancellation of the planned event, a small delegation from the Max Planck Society and the Minerva Stiftung, led by President Cramer, travelled to Israel at the end of November.
‘We wanted to express our solidarity with our long-standing colleagues at the Israeli universities and the Weizmann Institute of Science in these difficult times,’ said Cramer. ‘Our colleagues welcomed us with great joy and deep sadness at the same time. One colleague could not hide her tears. She was suffering from this silence, from the lack of sympathy from the global community,’ said the President.
In fact, foreign research institutions reacted late or never to the horror of 7 October. Israel is currently fighting two wars, said a colleague: one in Gaza and one on the Internet. There are anti-Israeli protests everywhere. The terrorist attack by Hamas is being relativised or hushed up. There is talk of colonialism, apartheid, even genocide on social media – but the atrocities committed by Hamas are hardly ever mentioned. The colleagues are concerned about the anti-Israel demonstrations taking place around the world, including in Europe and Germany. The Max Planck President’s speech was primarily intended to provide comfort, but also confidence.
The evening at the Van Leer Institute was attended by the presidents and vice presidents of Israeli universities and research institutions as well as the directors of the Minerva Centres – over 50 guests in total.
Source and additional information: Minerva Stiftung