Tents protest gone, paint remains on Van der Goot

‘We’ll be back’, ‘EUR complicit in genocide’, ‘Free Palestine’ and similar messages could be seen on the Van der Goot building on Monday morning. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the demonstrators from the Occupy camp on the Erasmus Plaza left. All that remained was some paint, pavement chalk and a Palestinian flag. The university has filed a police report for vandalism.

“The constant repression and aggression from the university, the police and Zionists made it impossible for us to stay any longer”, a student said, in addition to the statement posted on Instagram. In that message, the demonstrators said they were forced to remove banners and posters, and that a power cable had been cut. Low turnout was also an issue. They admit their action should have been better planned. “But this only means we’ll be back stronger than ever.”

A university spokesperson said she was surprised by the group’s departure. At 12.30 am on Sunday night, security staff reported that students were packing up their belongings. “We deliberately chose a de-escalating approach”, said the spokesperson. “We did not send the students away.”

The spokesperson was unaware of any cable being cut. However, a banner with the message ‘Death to Israel’ was removed at the university’s request. EUR is strict when it comes to expressions inciting violence, the spokesperson stated. “These will not be tolerated, and the university will act immediately in such cases.”

Police report

Demonstrations are allowed on campus, the spokesperson stressed. Vandalism is not. On Friday, the university had already filed a report of property damage after paint was used on campus facilities. Saturday night, the Van der Goot building was painted. Red-pink, blood-like stains were visible, along with texts in blue paint. A report was also filed with the police for this incident. The university is looking into whether the cleaning costs can be recovered from the demonstrators.

On Monday morning, cleaners began using high-pressure cleaners to remove the texts from campus.