Overview

• The Berlin Administrative Court admitted Lahav Shapira’s lawsuit against Freie Universität Berlin, determining that his claims require further examination.
• Shapira alleges that campus events included calls for violence against Jews and that the university failed to protect him before a February 2024 antisemitic assault left him with a brain hemorrhage.
• FU Berlin says it has appointed a contact person for antisemitism victims, removed hateful materials and adopted anti-discrimination policies but argues the suit lacks concrete demands.
• The case is based on the 2021 update to the Berlin Higher Education Law, which requires public universities to prevent and eliminate discrimination driven by antisemitism.
• Advocacy groups view the outcome as a potential precedent that could compel Berlin institutions to enforce stronger anti-discrimination measures.