Loose paving stones and graffiti on facades are the silent witnesses of the UvA student protests in Amsterdam.
Photo: ANP / Ramon van Flymen
After the protest on the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam, which got out of hand, pro-Palestinian student protests continue. A protest camp near the University Library was also cleared in Utrecht. So far, 36 people have been arrested in Amsterdam. They spread the student protests that have come over from the United States no time about the rest of the world. Why is that and do they get what they demand?
After 140 people were arrested during the student protest in Amsterdam that got out of hand on the night from Monday to Tuesday, there was renewed unrest in the city last night and the situation threatened to escalate. The police reported today that 36 people have been arrested for public violence, destruction, assault and incitement. Five police officers were injured during the riots, during which they had ammonia thrown at them, among other things. It was also restless in Utrecht. The university building on the Drift was occupied there. The University of Utrecht has announced that it will remain closed until 8 a.m. on Monday morning.
The pro-Palestinian student protests began several weeks ago at Columbia University in New York. Fifty Protestants set up a tent camp there to protest against ties with Israeli universities and organizations.
Student protests followed worldwide
That protest was cleared by large-scale police action, but was followed by universities in the rest of the country. And now thousands of students worldwide are protesting at their universities for the same goal.
Since this week, Dutch students have been setting up protest camps at the University of Amsterdam, which were violently stopped on Monday evening. A protest camp was also set up at Utrecht University, which has now been cleared. The same thing is happening in many other European cities, such as Berlin, Ghent and Paris. Students from Lebanese and Indian universities are also making themselves heard.
Stop investing
The question is ‘why?’ The answer: all those students want pretty much the same thing. Namely, that their university stops investing in and collaborating with Israeli universities and provides transparency about those ties. The University of Amsterdam has now published a list of collaborations with Israeli organizations.
While the protests in Amsterdam and Utrecht have not yet led to concrete agreements, this has succeeded in several cities outside the Netherlands. For example, the board of the American University Brown announced that it would vote on stopping investments and the British Goldsmiths University agreed to introduce a new ethical investment policy.
Report against demonstrators at student protests
The University of Amsterdam yesterday filed a report against the demonstrators who occupied the Binnengasthuis site in Amsterdam because safety in and around the buildings was at risk.
Outgoing minister Robbert Dijkgraaf supports the declaration. “This is simply not possible,” he said in a talk show yesterday On 1. He looked with “horror” at the images of demonstrators who caused destruction, threw stones and intimidated and threatened people. “Of course that has nothing to do with a university. It must be a place that is safe and where everyone feels safe.”
‘Professional rioters’
According to Dijkgraaf, there were not only students and teachers among the demonstrators, but also “professional rioters”.
According to the minister, universities are the place to have the debate, “but you first have to create the environment for that. You must have the will to debate with each other. This must also be done in an orderly manner, and not under threat. That seems to be happening here a bit now.”
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