The University of Bern has fired without notice a lecturer who had made positive comments about the Hamas attacks on Israel. An administrative investigation of the Middle East Institute has also been initiated and a co-director temporarily relieved of her duties.
“The University of Bern is confronted with an unprecedented case that has triggered an enormous public response,” the university said on Tuesday. The controversial posts made on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, are unacceptable, it added, and the institution condemns any kind of violence or support for it.
The lecturer from the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and Muslim Societies allegedly wrote on X that the Hamas attack was the best present he had received before his birthday.
In another post, he allegedly commented on a video of the Hamas raid with the words “Shabbat Shalom” (“Peace be Sabbath”). The online posts have since been deleted.
The termination without notice is due to the intolerable behaviour and the resulting loss of trust, Christoph Pappa, Secretary-General of the University of Bern, told the media.
As part of the administrative investigation, the management of the institute will go through an external assessment. Co-director Serena Tolino will be relieved of her duties during the investigation.
The public prosecutor’s office in Bern is currently examining the facts of the case to determine whether they are criminally relevant. The investigation is not yet complete, the spokesperson of the public prosecutor’s office told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
Thousands of emigrants’ descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship
This content was published on
The latest figures from the Federal Office of Public Health show that lab-confirmed cases dropped from nearly 2,340 to under 2,000 last week.
Swiss cities targeted by Russian hackers during WEF
This content was published on
Russian hackers have targeted canton Schaffhausen and the cities of Geneva and Sierre, paralysing their websites on Wednesday morning.
This content was published on
Paul Hottinguer, a member of one of Switzerland’s most famous banking families, will face trial in Paris for tax fraud and money laundering.
Swiss man who died in Iranian prison had photographed military site
This content was published on
The Iranian judiciary said that the Swiss man who died in an Iranian prison on January 9 had been detained for photographing a restricted military site.
Swiss researchers patent new device for avalanche detection
This content was published on
The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research said it has granted a group of Swiss researchers a patent for a device to enhance avalanche warnings.
Berset discusses ECHR climate ruling implementation at Davos
This content was published on
Switzerland has submitted a report on the court's ruling in Strasbourg. Berset told Justice Minister Beat Jans that the Council of Europe is reviewing it.
This content was published on
A 27-year-old ski tourer has died in the hospital in Sion, in southwestern Switzerland, after being caught in an avalanche on Saturday.
Swiss health minister criticises Trump’s ‘rash’ WHO exit
This content was published on
Switzerland has expressed “deep” regret over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the WHO, Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said in Davos.
This content was published on
Job vacancies in Switzerland fell by 10% in 2024, marking the first negative annual balance since the Covid-19 pandemic, says Adecco.
Swiss president meets Zelensky in Davos amid tensions with Europe
This content was published on
Swiss President met Zelensky at Davos. As Zelensky thanked Switzerland, Keller-Sutter said it's too early to discuss a new summit, awaiting Trump's actions.
This content was published on
Two days after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has announced the creation of a taskforce on the Middle East.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.