The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Bern university lecturer fired for comments praising Hamas attacks

Leaders of the University of Bern talking to the press on October 17, 2023
The termination without notice is due to the intolerable behaviour and the resulting loss of trust, Christoph Pappa (right), Secretary-General of the University of Bern, told the media. © Keystone / Anthony Anex

The University of Bern has fired without notice a lecturer who had made positive comments about the Hamas attacks on Israel. An administrative investigation of the Middle East Institute has also been initiated and a co-director temporarily relieved of her duties.

“The University of Bern is confronted with an unprecedented case that has triggered an enormous public response,” the university said on Tuesday. The controversial posts made on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, are unacceptable, it added, and the institution condemns any kind of violence or support for it.

The lecturer from the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and Muslim Societies allegedly wrote on X that the Hamas attack was the best present he had received before his birthday.

In another post, he allegedly commented on a video of the Hamas raid with the words “Shabbat Shalom” (“Peace be Sabbath”). The online posts have since been deleted.

+ ‘Declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation contradicts Switzerland’s neutrality’

The termination without notice is due to the intolerable behaviour and the resulting loss of trust, Christoph Pappa, Secretary-General of the University of Bern, told the media.

As part of the administrative investigation, the management of the institute will go through an external assessment. Co-director Serena Tolino will be relieved of her duties during the investigation.

The public prosecutor’s office in Bern is currently examining the facts of the case to determine whether they are criminally relevant. The investigation is not yet complete, the spokesperson of the public prosecutor’s office told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday.

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Aargau police continue to search for escaped prisoner

More

Swiss police still hunting handcuffed escapee

This content was published on A prisoner who escaped on Thursday in Baden, canton Aargau, is still on the run. The 23-year-old Albanian, who was in custody for burglary, was wearing handcuffs when he escaped.

Read more: Swiss police still hunting handcuffed escapee
Switzerland reinforces its ground-air defence with German systems

More

Swiss reinforce ground-air defence with German systems

This content was published on Switzerland has purchased five IRIS-T SLM systems for ground-based air defence from Germany, the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse) said on Monday.

Read more: Swiss reinforce ground-air defence with German systems
Deer return to Winterthur cemetery

More

Evicted deer return to Swiss cemetery

This content was published on Individual deer are continuing to return to the Rosenberg cemetery in Winterthur, northeastern Switzerland, even after an eviction campaign last winter.

Read more: Evicted deer return to Swiss cemetery
You hardly earn any interest on savings accounts in Switzerland anymore

More

Hardly any interest earned on savings accounts in Switzerland

This content was published on Interest rates on savings accounts in Switzerland have fallen significantly. The brief high in savings interest rates is over, according to a study by online comparison service Moneyland.

Read more: Hardly any interest earned on savings accounts in Switzerland
Nazis

More

Nazi hikers questioned by Swiss police

This content was published on A group of around 25 men in uniforms of the Wehrmacht – the army of Nazi Germany – crossed the Wildhorn massif on Saturday and were questioned by Bern cantonal police.

Read more: Nazi hikers questioned by Swiss police

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR