Pro-Palestinian demonstrators build barricade at UvA building | War Israel and Hamas

The barricades include pallets and bicycle racks. Furniture, such as chairs and tables, and construction fences are also used. Those items were taken from a nearby construction site.

Bricks are being removed from the ground in various places to strengthen barricades. Demonstrators stand in rows next to each other and pass the bricks to each other. Planks are also screwed to the barricades.

People shout “free free Palestine” and Palestinian flags can be seen. A woman chants “all eyes on Rafah” through a megaphone, prompting attendees to shout after her. Many are estimated to be 20 to 30 years old and wear face masks.

Sleeping supplies and large pots of soup are now being brought into the building. It appears the protesters have planned a long stay. According to Het Parool the police are discussing the next step with the municipality and the Public Prosecution Service.

According to universities, it is against the rules to occupy buildings and to spend the night there. “That is not part of the right to demonstrate,” says a spokesperson for the University of Amsterdam (UvA). It is not yet known whether the police will intervene.

Ontvang meldingen bij nieuwe berichten Stay informed with notifications

The demonstration started on Tuesday around 4 p.m. More than a thousand people were present. The crowd consisted mainly of students, but other people also joined. From the university the procession walked along Weesperstraat. A riot police line was ready at the Nieuwe Keizersgracht to stop the demonstrators.

That location was chosen to “protect potential sensitive points”, a police spokesperson told NU.nl. It is not clear which points are involved. The riot police had to intervene several times when demonstrators wanted to break through the line.

The activists shouted slogans, played music and helped raise large banners. They walked to the Oudemanhuispoort via Nieuwe Keizersgracht and Plantage Parklaan.

Protesters entered the Binnengasthuis at the beginning of the evening. At the former association The Amsterdam Academic Club, the windows are plastered from the inside with images of Palestinian flags. Graffiti slogans have been painted in many places in the city.

There was a protest on a UvA campus on Monday. Tents had been set up there. The protest camp was cleared by the police on the night of Tuesday. At least 169 people were arrested, two of whom are still in custody.

Dozens of people demonstrate against the war at the University Library in Utrecht. There has now been contact between the university and representatives of the demonstrators about the house rules and requirements.

The demonstrators say that they want the UU to terminate all active collaborations with Israeli institutions and organizations. By collaborating with Israel, the university would participate in “the oppression and occupation of the Palestinian people.”

The occupiers say they will not leave until the university has severed all ties with Israel. The demonstrators are in the courtyard of the building on Wittevrouwenstraat. According to the university, no lectures or research are being disrupted by the protest.

In Delft, forty people protested on the grounds of TU Delft in the afternoon. They also set up a tent. The demonstrators wanted to show their solidarity with the demonstrators who had set up the protest camp in Amsterdam on Monday. According to the university, the demonstration was peaceful and the protest ended as promised at the end of the afternoon.

Om een vraag te kunnen stellen dien je in te loggen. Log in of maak binnen 1 minuut jouw gratis account aan.