National protest in Utrecht cancelled over fears of violence from pro-Palestinian demonstrators

The national education protest, scheduled to take place on Thursday in Utrecht, has been cancelled. This was announced by Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma, who stated that she has concrete information suggesting that a pro-Palestinian organisation intended to hijack the demonstration.

The intelligence indicated that the pro-Palestinian demonstrators ‘would not shy away from violence’. Based on Dijksma’s advice, the organisers of the national protest decided to call off the demonstration.

The nationwide event was organised by FNV, the Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb), and the Landelijke Studentenvakbond (LSVb) and was planned to take place at 1.00 pm in a park near Utrecht Central Station. The Executive Board and deans of Erasmus University were among those expected to attend. Lecturers, students, and staff were also encouraged to join. FNV had anticipated thousands of protesters from across the country.

Dijksma told NOS she regrets that Thursday’s demonstration cannot proceed. “I am deeply concerned that, at a time when the ability to express and debate opinions is of great value, there are individuals who use threats of violence to take away this freedom from others.”

The government recently announced plans to cut 1 billion euros from higher education funding, equivalent to the entire budget of a large, multi-disciplinary university. Additionally, the government aims to reduce the number of international students, posing a further financial challenge for universities.

‘Very unfortunate’

Marlies Vreeswijk, chair of EUR’s union council ELC, called the cancellation ‘very unfortunate’. “I understand the decision. This protest is crucial, but the safety of the demonstrators is even more important. At the same time, I hope this is not a sign of things to come, with future demonstrations increasingly being thwarted by groups with less noble intentions.”

The unions AOb and FNV described it as ‘terrible that all those students, lecturers, and staff who wanted to take action tomorrow are now unable to make their voices heard’.

LSVb chair Abdelkader Karbache expressed deep disappointment but acknowledged there were few alternatives. “The municipality would have banned the demonstration regardless.”

 

Amsterdam

Recent days have seen unrest in Amsterdam, where hooligans from the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed with pro-Palestinian rioters. It is not known if there is any connection between the incidents in the capital and the cancellation of the Utrecht protest.