Dear Professors and scholars engaged in the Studium in Israel program!
We, the graduates of a study-year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as part of the Studium in Israel program, are very grateful for your “Statement in Support of Academic Dialogue” from August 2025. Thanks to the dialogue with you, each of us has learned an infinite amount about our own lives, our own theology, and our understanding of the situation in the Middle East during our study-year. And not only that: we have made many friends in Israel and Palestine with whom we remain in close contact to this day. Many of us are involved in Jewish-Christian groups here in Germany, in the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft jüdisch und christlich beim Deutschen Evangelischen Kirchentag”, and so on.
We owe all of this to you and the study-year! Therefore, we view Israel and Palestine with great concern in light of the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and the resulting war in Gaza, as well as the divisions in Israeli and also in German society. Like you, we view academic dialogue as essential, especially in these times, to overcome prejudice, mistrust, and division. We hope for steps toward the release of the hostages and an end to the war with a vision of peaceful coexistence for all people in the region. We thank you for your commitment and willingness to engage in dialogue over the years. And we want to do our part to ensure that this academic dialogue continues and bears fruit.
Studium in Israel – Regionalgruppe Berlin