From this winter semester onwards, students taking a teaching degree in Lower Saxony can take courses on how to combat antisemitism in schools. The University of Oldenburg is coordinating the programme. Andrea Strübind, Vice President for Studying and Teaching, talks about the motives, goals and content.
The certificate programme Antisemitism-Critical Education in Lower Saxony in the School Context (Zertifikat Antisemitismuskritische Bildung in Niedersachsen im Kontext Schule, ZABIN) was launched this October. It is open to all students taking a teaching degree in Lower Saxony, irrespective of their subjects or school type. What prompted you to create the ZABIN programme?
The specific motive was the devastating attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023. This shocking act of terror and the antisemitic riots and excesses that followed across the globe have created an urgent pressure for action, particularly in politics. However, the Lower Saxony Crime Prevention Council, of which we as a university are a member, had already set up an antisemitism working group in 2020. Within this framework, the teacher training universities in Lower Saxony, the Ministries for Science and Education of Lower Saxony, a memorial institute, representatives of the Jewish communities in Lower Saxony and the Lower Saxony State Commissioner against Antisemitism and for the Protection of Jewish Life, as well as other individuals and groups who oppose antisemitism all contributed to creating the ZABIN programme. The key objective of ZABIN is to teach students taking a teaching degree about the various forms of antisemitism, how they differ from each other and how they as teachers can take targeted action against antisemitism in schools.
Why is the programme being coordinated in Oldenburg?
The university has been successfully cooperating with the local Jewish community for more than 30 years. One result of this cooperation is the Intercultural Jewish Studies certificate programme, which has been open to master’s students at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences since 2011. This unique programme was certainly a decisive factor. We are very excited about ZABIN because we had been planning for some time to expand the Jewish Studies programme and open it up to other student groups. Now we are opening it up for all Lower Saxony, with the active engagement of two members of the Coordination Office, Dr Carina Branković and Friederike Henjes, who have proven expertise in the fields of contemporary Jewish life and criticism of antisemitism.
The programme is open to all student teachers – including those studying languages or natural sciences.
ZABIN is not just aimed at prospective teachers in social science subjects...
That’s right, and that’s what makes it special. The programme is open to all student teachers – including those studying languages or natural sciences who may otherwise have little or no contact with content that addresses antisemitism. We hope that these students in particular will benefit from ZABIN, especially at a time when antisemitic incidents are increasing at an almost exponential rate – in schools and as a general societal phenomenon. In both cases, educational work is essential, and teachers must sometimes do this work very spontaneously, making the task even more complex.
There are other forms of group-based misanthropy besides antisemitism, for instance racism or sexism. Why is there a certificate programme that specifically addresses antisemitism?
Firstly, I would like to make clear that the ZABIN programme’s content also deals with criticism of racism and other forms of group-based misanthropy. In this way, participants learn to relate antisemitism to other forms of discrimination and to highlight the similarities and differences. Secondly, we have come to the conclusion that against the backdrop of European history, the current war in the Middle East and the social upheavals it is particularly important to raise awareness of antisemitism, precisely because it is so complex and multi-layered and because it is often “concealed”.
What do you mean by that?
In many cases it's less about overt attacks or verbal slurs and more about “hidden” forms of antisemitism which many people have internalised – in most cases unintentionally. For example, many people still believe that Jews are particularly good with money. The conspiracy myth about a “global financial elite” which is trying to establish a “new world order” is also based on this antisemitic stereotype. Such diffuse antisemitic myths are also becoming increasingly prevalent in popular culture, for example in certain parts of the rap scene, whose music is popular with young people. Uncovering and understanding such antisemitic linguistic usage as well as antisemitic codes, metaphors and symbols is a key focus of the ZABIN programme.
Antisemitism directed against Israel is the current focus of public attention. How can we tell the difference between admissible criticism of Israel's policies and antisemitism? What definition of antisemitism is the programme based on?
We are guided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition. According to this definition, an attitude that not only criticises the actions of the Israeli government – which indeed deserve criticism – but also questions Israel's right to exist must be classified as anti-Israeli antisemitism. One way to differentiate between legitimate criticism and antisemitism is Natan Sharansky’s 3D test: the three Ds stand for delegitimisation, demonisation and double standards as applied to the state of Israel.
Can you give some examples?
The slogan “From the River to the Sea” used in reference to a Palestinian state is one example. It delegitimises Israel and questions its right to exist, because the river refers to the Jordan and the sea to the Mediterranean – so this area would cover the entire territory of Israel. The delegitimising thesis that Israel is a “colonial state” because Jewish settlers only arrived in Palestine from 1945 onwards and stole the land is also common – and deliberately ignores the fact that a large Jewish community was already living there. The old legend which originated in Christian-dominated medieval Europe, according to which Jews kill the children of non-believers for ritual purposes – expressed in the slogan “child murderer Israel” – falls into the category of demonisation and has a long history of reception as an antisemitic motif. This demonisation of Israel is transferred to Jews all over the world with almost religious zeal and has also spread to the cultural scene. This evokes bad memories.
In the current debate, labels are quickly attached to antisemitism.
ZABIN participants deal with antisemitism in the school context in three competence areas. For instance, they learn to identify and differentiate between various forms of antisemitism. Why is it important to be precise here?
In the current debate, labels are quickly attached to antisemitism – people talk about “far-right”, “far-left” or “Islamist-motivated” antisemitism, for example. Unfortunately, instead of increasing knowledge these labels are often used for political agitation, to present one’s own camp as faultless and political opponents as a problem. However, these labels are very inaccurate. In Germany, there is a centuries-old tradition of Christianity-driven antisemitism going all the way back to antiquity. Even after 1945, antisemitism was not “eradicated” but remained part of German society and was not confined to right-wing extremist circles. It takes the form of “anti-guilt antisemitism”, particularly in the calls for a “line to be drawn” under Holocaust remembrance, or in the fact that Jews themselves are blamed for antisemitism because they supposedly insisted on their role as victims and have prevented the majority society from coming to terms with the unpleasant past. It is therefore important to differentiate here and to shed light on the different forms of antisemitism. Incidentally, this is why we talk of “criticism” rather than “prevention” of antisemitism: because we can’t pretend that antisemitism isn’t widespread in society. Instead, we must learn to counter it effectively.
The ZABIN programme also teaches future teachers how to deal with both people who behave antisemitically and those who are targets of antisemitism. What are the main strategies?
Teachers are facing a difficult situation at the moment: there is and always has been latent antisemitism, for example in our language, but also deliberate provocations and openly expressed antisemitism in the form of physical attacks, insults or property being damaged with graffiti or swastika drawings. Since 7 October 2023, the debates have become extremely emotional. The ZABIN programme of course aims to promote tolerance of ambiguity, but also to make clear that antisemitism is not a legitimate viewpoint, and that a line must be drawn here. Naturally, the focus is on protecting and supporting those affected, which means that students learn how to deal with needs and requirements and how to initiate legal action if necessary. At the same time, ZABIN works with the Target-Involved-Trigger Model developed by the Anne Frank Educational Centre, an analytical tool designed for antisemitic situations that also looks at those involved and those who trigger them and examines the dynamics and “roles” in these situations in greater detail.
Another area of competence is the ability to convey a nuanced image of Jewish life. The fact that many textbooks fail to do this has been a recurring theme in German media in recent years. What methods does ZABIN use to help teachers fulfil this requirement?
In the ZABIN programme we teach students that there is not just “the one” form of Judaism but that many different forms of Jewish identity exist, including religious self-ascriptions such as “liberal”, “conservative” and “orthodox”, as well as secular identities. I myself spent a year studying in Israel and experienced how diverse Judaism can be. Yet we often see stereotypical images in the German media: ultra-orthodox Jewish men dressed in black and wearing hats and side curls are often shown as typical representatives of Judaism. In reality, Judaism is far more pluralistic: the ultra-orthodox are, of course, part of it, but so are many other religious and social groups.
We are living in times of a major shift because there are ever fewer witnesses of the Shoah who are still alive and can tell us about it.
The culture of remembrance of the Shoah is also a big topic. What can teachers do to convey this to an increasingly diverse, post-migrant body of pupils?
We are living in times of a major shift because there are ever fewer witnesses of the Shoah who are still alive and can tell us about it. New oral history formats in which pupils can watch interactive video-recorded interviews with witnesses can be a starting point. Memorial sites also play a key role in remembrance culture work – the Bergen-Belsen Memorial in Lower Saxony, for instance, which is also involved in the ZABIN programme. These non-university institutions have a great deal of expertise that teachers can draw on. Overall, however, many things are still in flux and new forms have yet to be found.
How attractive is the ZABIN programme based on the number of applications?
We had been advertising ZABIN since the beginning of July, and in less than two months we received 58 applications from all over Lower Saxony for places on the programme. I find these figures particularly impressive because many students will probably only be able to have a few of the 15 ECTS points for the programme recognised for their studies. But they still take this certificate programme voluntarily. I see this as a very encouraging sign.
What role do you think ZABIN will play in teacher training in Lower Saxony in the future?
My great hope, and that of the entire Presidential Board, is that the ZABIN project will develop into a centre for teacher education against antisemitism here in Oldenburg in the not-too-distant future, with its own professorship and research activities. This would be a way to consolidate and expand the important work of the certificate programme. The centre should then cover not just the first phase of teacher education – the teaching degree programme – but also the second phase, the practical training in schools (Referendariat), as well as the third phase, advanced training courses for teachers. The aim would be for all teachers to be able to take part in education against antisemitism. We are already receiving enquiries from this target group in particular.
Interview: Henning Kulbarsch
