An interview with Noa Élie Monaé, co-director of the documentary film Protest Under Pressure.

All over the world students have joined the movement for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They have frequently borne the brunt of state-sanctioned police violence – often with the explicit approval of their universities. Be it on campus or on the streets, Palestinians as well as other racialised and marginalised groups face significant consequences in advocating for universal human rights, including legal procedures, smear campaigns, and threats of deportation.
The documentary Protest Under Pressure by Noa Élie Monaé, Elena Avolio, and Nora Weise situates the crackdown on dissent and academic freedom at Freie Universität Berlin within the wider context of repression in Germany, serving as a testament to the complicity of German universities in Israel's war crimes.

Interview by Síofra of the Irish Bloc Berlin.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/m6qIw_kuwSg

Protest Under Pressure linktree: https://linktr.ee/protestUP for applications for screenings, trailer, email, poster etc.

Information regarding institutions and people mentioned in the interview:

The ‘BILD Zeitung’ is a German tabloid newspaper, with the largest circulation in Europe. ‘After more than 300 lecturers from Berlin universities signed an open letter that accused Freie Universität Berlin of violating its duty towards dialogue and non-violent engagement with students ... Three days later, the right-wing tabloid, BILD, published the names and faces of several signatories under a headline that described them as “Tater”, the German word for “perpetrator”, which often carries an implied comparison with the Nazis.’ Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/25/punched-choked-kicked-german-police-crack-down-on-student-protests

FU: Freie Universität Berlin (Free University Berlin).

Udi Raz, author of ‘Jew. Despite Germany’, an illustrated autobiography with artwork by Ariel Victor:https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/germany-crackdown-israel-gaza-jewish-activist

Hebh Jamal: https://hebhjamal.substack.com/

Maya Wind, author of ‘Towers of Ivory and Steel’, book on how Israeli universities serve as pillars of Israel's system of oppression against Palestinians: https://www.mayaywind.com/book

Rudi Dutschke, German sociologist and political activist, considered the face of the 1968 student movement, shot by a right-wing extremist following smear campaigns in newspapers such as ‘BILD’ in 1968, died in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Dutschke

Shir Hever: https://www.shirhever.com/

The Palestine Test for German Universities: https://www.merip.org/2026/04/the-palestine-test-for-german-universities/

Urgent alert, Germany: your academy’s complacency has just been ruptured:https://etosmedia.de/politik/urgent-alert-germany-your-academys-complacency-has-just-been-ruptured/