Non-Academic Writing and Public Talks

• "The Statement We Wish the Humboldt Foundation and DAAD Had Issued on Gaza and Israel" (version with tracked changes)
  joint with Prof. Hanna Kienzler (King's College London) and Prof. Michael Barenboim (Barenboim-Said Academy). On 18 August 2025, the presidents of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) issued a joint statement. We present a rewritten version of their statement with tracked changes – it is the statement we would have wished to read. This revised statement asserts a firm commitment to human rights and international law. Consolidated version with hyperlinks: here.
  
  

• Event (in German): National Press Conference (Bundespressekonferenz) on "The humanitarian situation in Gaza and the EU's and Germany's role" (video)
  Together with Riad Othman (medico international e.V.), Dr. Julia Duchrow (Secretary General of  Amnesty International in Germany), and Prof. Dr. Ger Duijzings (University of Regensburg). All opening statements (in German): PDF. My opening statement in English: PDF. Date: July 29, 2025.
  
  

• Letter from Academics to the German government / Brief von Wissenschaftler:innen an die Bundesregierung
  "As academics, researchers, and university teachers from a wide range of disciplines, we appeal to you with the utmost resolve:  For 20 months, Germany has been supporting (politically, financially, and militarily) one of the greatest crimes of our time – the extermination and expulsion of the Palestinian population and the destruction of all means of livelihood in Gaza and increasingly in the West Bank.  For 20 months, we have been witnessing this horrendous genocide "live" every day, while German politics keeps on discussing and acting as if detached from it. As long as you, the newly appointed federal government, refuse to acknowledge this reality and take appropriate action, you, and indeed all of us, will remain complicit in this crime. Your current actions, like those of the previous government, are violating international law and are politically highly dangerous: Germany is actively undermining the international legal system that was established after the Second World War, partly as a response to German crimes." For the full letter, see the PDF.
  Initiated with Prof. Michael Barenboim (Barenboim-Said Academy), Prof. Hanna Kienzler (King's College London), and Dr. Britta Ohm (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz).
  
  

• Event on "Academic Freedom in the US and Germany" at LMU Munich (July 1, 2025)
  Joint with Dr. Nick Buchanan (Universität Freiburg, Science and Technology Studies) and hosted by Prof. Dr. Andreas Kaplony (LMU München, Arabic and Islamic Studies). What is academic freedom? Why is it under attack in the US and Germany? What is happening on university campuses in the US and Germany?
  
  

• USAID-Kahlschlag: Millionen Menschenleben bedroht (June 2, 2025)
  This article, written in collaboration with Prof. Matthias Schündeln (Goethe University Frankfurt), discusses the dismantling of USAID by President Trump and its consequences. It was published in the print edition of the German newspaper F.A.Z. in the section "Der Volkswirt" ("The Economist") on June 2, 2025.
  
  

• Panel discussion on the situation in Palestine at the University of Bayreuth, organized by The Olive Branch  (May 26, 2025)
  Further panelist: Prof. Matthias Goldmann (EBS Universität, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law).
  
  

• Gaza: "Never Again" Is Now — Or Why Germany Is Failing Morally and Under International Law (PDF) // Gaza: Nie wieder ist jetzt oder warum Deutschland moralisch und völkerrechtlich versagt (May 2025)
  Article written together with  Prof. Michael Barenboim (Barenboim-Said Academy) and Prof. Hanna Kienzler (King's College London) on the Middle East policy of the new German government, with special reference to the coalition agreement of April 2025. Published by the German weekly newspaper der Freitag on May 13, 2025 (online)/May 15, 2025 (print).
  
  

• Germany's "Respect" for International Law (PDF) // Deutschlands "Respekt" für das Völkerrecht (PDF) (April 2025)
  Response, written together with  Prof. Michael Barenboim (Barenboim-Said Academy) and Prof. Hanna Kienzler (King's College London), to the letter "Respect for International Law" by German-speaking international law scholars. Published as a comment on "Verfassungsblog" on April 8, 2025, in both English and German. A short version of our response was published as a letter to the editor in the German newspaper F.A.Z., which had published the letter by the law scholars.
  
  

• Silence is Not Neutral (PDF) // Schweigen ist nicht neutral (March 2025)
  A piece on how Germany's support of Israel's genocide in Gaza/Palestine and its disregard for international law massively suppresses internal critique. Jointly written with  Prof. Michael Barenboim (Barenboim-Said Academy) and Prof. Hanna Kienzler (King's College London). Published on March 21, 2025 in the German newspaper taz.
  
  

• Event: Scientific Perspectives on the Situation in the Middle East // Wissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die Situation in Nahost
  Jointly with Dr. Anja Zorob and Prof. Grażyna Baranowska. I covered the current situation in Gaza, Israel's genocide and international law, and Germany's complicity. See this flyer (PDF) for more information (in German). Date: February 25, 2025.
  
  

• Speaker at the rally "For a just peace in Palestine and Israel" on February 15, 2025, in Nuremberg, organized by a network of humanitarian and human rights organizations together with local initiatives and political groups.
  
  

• Event: National Press Conference (Bundespressekonferenz) on the ICC Arrest Warrants against Netanjahu and Gallant and Germany's Role (video)
  Together with Michael Barenboim (musician and professor, Barenboim-Said Akademie), Hanna Kienzler, Ph.D. (Professor of Global Health, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London), and Wolfgang Kaleck (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, ECCHR). Date: November 29, 2024.
  
  The introductory  statements (click here for the full statements in German) were:
  Prof. Dr. Christine Binzel: "Die IStGH-Haftbefehle, Israels Völkerrechtsverbrechen und Deutschlands Mitschuld“ ("The ICC arrest warrants, Israel's atrocity crimes and Germany's complicity"); Prof. Michael Barenboim: "Israels genozidale Sprache, die Vernichtung Gazas und Deutschlands Rolle" ("Israel's genocidal language, the destruction of Gaza and Germany's role"); Prof. Hanna Kienzler, Ph.D.: "Die langfristigen Konsequenzen von Israels Völkermord in Gaza, Reparationen und Deutschlands Mitverantwortung" ("The long-term consequences of Israel's genocide in Gaza, reparations and Germany's responsibility").
  
  

• Open letter "Germany must stop supporting the annihilation of Palestinians" (October 27, 2024)
  Part of the initiating group of this open letter sent to the German government. The initial signatories include renowned scholars, including Holocaust and genocide scholars. To see the signatories, click here.   
  
  

• Statement "Germany’s response to the Israel-Gaza conflict is out of line with its principles" (March 26, 2024)
  Initiated together with Prof. Macartan Humphreys (WZB, Humboldt Universität, and TCD) and Prof. Steffen Huck (WZB and UCL), signed by about 300 social scientists in/from Germany.
  
  

• Making the Most of Development Assistance (PDF) // Was kann Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bewirken?
  Piece jointly written with Prof. Matthias Schündeln (Goethe University Frankfurt) for the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik, or VfS). The article provides some background information on official development assistance, discusses the challenges of assessing the impact of development projects, and explains the tools economists and other social scientists use to estimate the causal effect of policies and interventions, including development assistance programs.  We hope it will prove valuable to teachers, university lecturers, and anyone interested in how to use data to learn about causal relationships, including the impact of past events and policies. For other contributions to the series, view the VfS page. Published in July 2023.