{"id":11297,"date":"2026-09-24T13:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T11:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/nicht-kategorisiert\/due-to-an-appearance-by-an-anti-semitic-and-anti-israel-hate-speaker-zurich-cantonal-government-rebukes-university-administration\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:46:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:46:36","slug":"due-to-an-appearance-by-an-anti-semitic-and-anti-israel-hate-speaker-zurich-cantonal-government-rebukes-university-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/en\/news-en\/due-to-an-appearance-by-an-anti-semitic-and-anti-israel-hate-speaker-zurich-cantonal-government-rebukes-university-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Due to an appearance by an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate speaker: Zurich cantonal government rebukes university administration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is rare for the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich to publicly reprimand an institution under its jurisdiction. Yet it has now done so, calling on the leadership of the University of Zurich, under Rector Michael Schaepman, to exercise greater diligence in its response to a parliamentary inquiry. The reason for this was Schaepman\u2019s approval of an appearance at the University of Zurich by a Palestinian hate speaker known for his anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views. As expected, the speaker used his guest lecture to launch baseless attacks on the Jewish state.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

By Sacha Wigdorovits<\/p>\n\n

Mazin Qumsyieh is a biology professor in the West Bank. He abuses his teaching position there to spread Palestinian hate propaganda against Israel under the guise of supposedly scientific topics.<\/p>\n\n

University Rector Schaepman ignored warnings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

That is exactly what he did in early May 2026, when he was invited by the Palestine Student Association to give a guest lecture with the pseudo-academic title \u201cEcology under Occupation \u2013 \u00d6kologie unter der Besetzung.\u201d The university administration had approved the \u201cguest lecture\u201d despite several prior warnings. It explained that it had urged the organizers to adhere to the University of Zurich\u2019s \u201cCode of Conduct.\u201d \u201cDiscrimination of any kind, hate speech, bullying, sexual harassment, abuse of power, manipulation, violence, and threats have no place at UZH.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

16 instances of demonizing Israel, 10 proven falsehoods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Yet, as expected, this is exactly what happened. Based on the verbatim transcript of the \u201clecture,\u201d FokusIsrael.ch counted 16 instances of demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel by Mazin Qumsyieh and 10 instances of clearly proven falsehoods. When confronted with this, Marcel Niggli, a professor of criminal law at the University of Fribourg, stated \u201cthat this likely fulfills the requirements of Article261bis of<\/sup>the Penal Code\u201d\u2014the so-called anti-racism provision, which criminalizes public hate speech and incitement to discrimination.<\/p>\n\n

Written inquiry from the Cantonal Council<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In response to the relevant article on FokusIsrael.ch<\/a>, FDP cantonal council member Linda Camenisch, together with her two co-signers, Tobias Infortuna (SVP) and Markus Schaaf (EVP), submitted a written inquiry to the cantonal government in the cantonal parliament. Together with 18 other council members, Camenisch had already warned the university administration in the run-up to the event and called for the Palestinian activist\u2019s appearance to be canceled, arguing that it was incompatible with the values of the University of Zurich.<\/p>\n\n

In their written inquiry to the cantonal government, the three lawmakers requested information regarding University Rector Michael Schaepman\u2019s conduct in connection with his approval of Qumsyieh\u2019s appearance. In its recently published response, the Zurich cantonal government expressly notes that the first five answers are \u201cbased on information provided by the University of Zurich (UZH).\u201d <\/p>\n\n

University leadership shifts responsibility to the student association<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

This explains why the questions posed by the three cantonal council members were answered only evasively, with references to the university\u2019s internal organizational regulations and the framework conditions agreed upon with Qumsyieh for the event. The university administration shifts the blame for the fact that these framework conditions were ultimately not adhered to onto the University of Zurich Student Association. This is because the association assumed patronage of Qumsyieh\u2019s performance and thus also bears responsibility for its content.<\/p>\n\n

State Council Accuses University Administration of Inadequate Review<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

This statement apparently did not satisfy the State Council. At the end of its four-page response, it rebukes Rector Michael Schaepman and the administration of the University of Zurich, stating: \u201cThe State Council condemns all forms of anti-Semitism. It is a central concern of the State Council that everything be done to ensure the safety of religious and other minorities. Accordingly, greater attention must be paid to vetting speakers in the run-up to events.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Sacha Wigdorovits is President of the Fokus Israel und Nahost association, which runs the website fokusisrael.ch. He studied history, German and social psychology at the University of Zurich and has worked as a US correspondent for the SonntagsZeitung, was editor-in-chief of BLICK and co-founder of the commuter newspaper 20minuten. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is rare for the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich to publicly reprimand an institution under its jurisdiction. Yet it has now done so, calling on the leadership of the University of Zurich, under Rector Michael Schaepman, to exercise greater diligence in its response to a parliamentary inquiry. The reason for this was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_socialbar":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[823],"tags":[3915,626,3918,6298,1793,1606,6301,3240,654,3919,3917,6302,3913,3921,6303,1111,3174,6304,6297,3854,1607,3912,6299,6300],"class_list":["post-11297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-anti-racism-criminal-standard","tag-anti-semitism","tag-article-261bis","tag-canton-of-zurich","tag-focusisrael","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-hate-speech-2","tag-hatred-of-israel","tag-israel-en","tag-linda-camenisch-2","tag-marcel-niggli-2","tag-markus-schaaf","tag-mazin-qumsyieh-2","tag-michael-schaepman-2","tag-palestine-student-association","tag-sacha-wigdorovits","tag-swiss-politics","tag-tobias-infortuna","tag-university","tag-university-of-zurich","tag-university-policy","tag-uzh-2","tag-vsuzh","tag-zurich-cantonal-government"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t