The Department of Student Affairs at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, has issued an apology after informing 14 Palestinian students that they would need to change their nationality entry to “stateless.”
The students received an email notification stating that they must change their nationality entry from “Palestinian Territories” to “stateless” due to a revision in the university statistics law (HStatG).
The email stated: “Palästinensische Gebiete” (Palestinian Territories) may no longer be used as a nationality in the next official student registration, as this is not a clarified nationality. Instead, the information “staatenlos” (stateless) must be entered. We will make this change in our student administration system in the next few days. We kindly ask for your understanding.”
However, after multiple inquiries by the students and further review of the legislative requirements, it was determined that this change was unnecessary at the present time. Consequently, the planned change will not be implemented.
Germany has shown full support for Israel during its ongoing conflict with Gaza. Berlin and other Western nations have faced protests, legal cases, and accusations of hypocrisy from campaign groups, alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, with over 34,000 Palestinians killed in six months, with over 70% being women and children, and over 85% of the population displaced, all with the support and arms of its Western allies.
Pro-Palestinian protests, Palestinian flags, pro-Palestinian speech, and the Palestinian keffiyeh headdress have been banned in Germany, with schools in Berlin given official permission to do so.
Berlin has been one of Israel’s staunchest allies since October 7. It is one of its largest arms suppliers, sending €326.5 million ($353.70 million) in military equipment and weapons in 2023, according to data from the Economy Ministry.
